KEEPING TRASH OFF OUR TRAILS

2015 The Year of Clean!

By Del Albright, Director of Operations, BRC

Keeping trash off our public lands is a big job and one that many of us take on willingly...often.  And yes, it's not usually OUR trash, not from those of us who love the backcountry; but rather it's from folks who don't get it and just go to the "outdoors" with careless attitudes and behaviors.

We have to educate them.  And yes, we have to pick up behind them.  Unfortunately. But until we educate them all and get our lands and waterways FREE of trash and garbage, we will need to be vigilant in our efforts at trash pick-up!

On the Rubicon Trail (FOTR) we have programs designed to remind folks to clean up and keep things like "white flowers" off the trail.  It all helps.  El Dorado County (wherein lies the Rubicon) is good about helping with educational programs like this:

Working with agencies that manage our public lands is a great way to do clean ups and show how WE care.  If we don't do it; who will? Take the initiative and start something to save your access for the future.

What to do:

1.  Carry a trash bag like a Trasharoo that hangs outside on your spare tire (http://www.trasharoo.com).

2.  Set the example.  Stop and pick up trash when you see it; be the one to initiate a clean up.

3.  Show kids (when you can) that you care and set the pack-it-out example for them.

Del's Article about trash and a "Date with a Paper Plate" here:http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/paper_plate.htm

More on Trasharoo: http://www.trasharoo.com

BRC Code of Ethics for Trail Behavior here: https://www.sharetrails.org/about/ethics

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Del

TRAIL ETHICS AND COMMON COURTESY

BUILD YOUR CLUB A TRAIL ETHICS/COMMON COURTESY LIST AND HELP SAVE OUR SPORTS!

By Del Albright

One primary way to save our sports and keep our trails open is to always set a good example for others...especially for those who are not members of organized recreation and might not know the rules of the road.  Your club or group should have a list of rules/ethics to play by.  It's not a hard thing to build (the list) and it just takes education to get folks to follow along.  Well, some folks might never get it and they just need to be busted by the law if needed.

But for most of us, given a simple set of common sense rules (trail ethics), we will follow them.  If you don't want to build your own, use something like these samples.  If you want to build your own and adapt it to your specific area, just sift and sort through these and pick the ones that make the most sense to your club.

Let's bring in the kids too!  Don't expect public schools, for the most part, to teach your kid common sense or even common courtesy....let alone manners.  It's just not happening in most places.  Seems like a lot of schools would rather indoctrinate your kid into hugging a tree or loving liberalism. Be that as it may, include your kids in the ethics you use for your club/group. Teach them young.

A lot of what folks think about us comes from our "image."  And image is perception sometimes....what people perceive; they believe.  So be careful when it comes to our image.  The minute we get lazy and don't stop for some trail trash, there will be someone who wants to blame that trash on us!

Here are some links to great Trail Ethics and some common courtesy stuff that will help you find the best list for you and your club/group.

Some Basic Training Rules for Life:

http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/basic_training.htm

More on common sense and courtesy:

http://www.delalbright.com/Articles/merging_traffic.htm

BRC Recreation Code of Ethics:

https://www.sharetrails.org/about/ethics

About the Image of Recreationists:

http://www.delalbright.com/articles/image.htm

Set the example; help save our sports and trails.

Del