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Be Ecological Friendly You manage to drag yourself off the couch, congratulations!  You've packed up your ride and are heading out to your favorite "secret" spot. Anticipation builds as you arrive and pull into the empty lot.  Your heart sinks however when you discover that your once pristine camp spot has been transformed into the new town dump. An old lawn chair, candy wrappers and beer cans litter the area that you once loved. Impromptu fire rings are strewn about and armies of weekend warriors have trampled your favorite meadow into a dust bowl. Disruptive teens, local yokels, urban mishaps, home boys, totally oblivious yuppies & even uneducated families . . . If it must be done . . . let's keep the trash & tagging in the cities! Give Mother Nature her respect!!!! Most campers make an effort not to litter,  but pollution is a major problem!  Many people do pollute -  not realizing that they are doing so.  Please be aware that anything unnatural that you introduce to the outdoors will have some impact. Litter and Pollution  Pollution Soap This includes dish soap, shampoo, and any other cleaner you may use. Many people use Comet or other powdered cleansers around their campsite to keep the ants away. These compounds contain bleach. When it rains, your campsite vegetation will get a bath in bleach. This is not healthy for your camping environment!  Water spigots are polluted regularly. these areas are for filling up your water containers. These areas areas are not for dish washing, hair washing, or dumping. Vegetation seeks out any source of water. Would you water your own plants with a healthy dose of Dawn dish detergent? Dirty dish water can contain all kinds of bacteria. Anything you dump from your dish drainer can contaminate the surrounding area. Please dump your dish water into a drain or a pit toilet!  Be kind to the environment and select an Earth friendly dish detergent especially when camping if you can. Other Chemicals Chemical toilets and RV's use special chemicals to dissolve the waste. These chemicals are not meant to prepare your sludge for public toilets! Gray water and black water should be dumped in the appropriate places - at a dumping facility! These wastes will clog most public bathrooms and actually erode pumping equipment used to empty pit toilets. If you put the toilets out of order in your camping area you may make a lot of people angry - as well as finding yourself with a large fine.  Please use the camping facilities wisely!  Litter Everyone knows that litter is a bad thing, but it doesn't seem to help too much in some areas! When you go camping please keep in mind that the following items do not bio-degrade easily! Cigarette Butts These are found everywhere.  I am a smoker myself, but please dispose of your butts correctly. Cigarette buttts are made of fiberglass - and they will not decompose. Make sure your cigarette is completely out - if you cause a forest fire, you get the bill for putting it out!  Many fires are caused by cigarettes added to a dumpster.  Please dispose of your cigarette butts -  but do it with care!  Styrofoam This is another chemical compound that will not decompose. Please do not try to burn styrofoam in your camp fire. Styrofoam is toxic when inhaled and could cause damage to your lungs. People have died while melting styrofoam in an inclosed space. If it can kill you under certain circumstances -  it should be left alone and not burned.  Better yet, don't buy styrofoam products at all.  They are not good for the environment.  Aluminum Foil This is an item you will find in almost every fire pit you see. This stuff doesn't burn or melt at the temperatures you will achieve with your camp fire. This includes aluminum cans -  beer cans do not burn. Another thing you may not know about aluminum cans is that they have a serial number on the bottom of the can. The serial numbers are sequential. If you toss a beer can outside of your vehicle - you can be caught!  All a park ranger has to do is match the serial number from the beer in your hand or car to a can found on the roadway. If the serial numbers match - you'll get one heck of a big ticket!  Diapers Pack out dirty Diapers!!! It is downright gross to see and smell and pretty cruel for the animals to eat it (for they will) Diapers are not biodegradable and nobody but you should have to touch them. You may feel comfortable handling dirty diapers -  but why should your campground hosts have to handle this waste?  Please dispose of dirty diapers on your own in an appropriate waste receptacle. (This does not include a fire pit or a toilet - use a trash can please!) Food Although you may not find leaving food items in your campsite litter -  others may.  Corn cobbs do not disappear overnight and neither do chicken bones. Some food items left behind can actually cause damage to the local wildlife. Chicken bones will splinter and can cause distress or death in local wildlife.  Food left behind attracts insects -  stinging ones.  Paper  is a terrible litter problem found in most parks.  Many people decide to clean out their glove box or purse while camping.   A freind of mine who used to be a Park Employee told me that about one quarter of the paper he picked up while working in the parks had either a credit card number on it or a name. If a ranger walks up to you with a handful of litter with your name on it -  you could have a problem!  Be smart and leave your parks clean.    Camping & Picnicking Take out some litter; Leave the site cleaner than you found it Use existing campsite to prevent impacting new areas Pitch tents in cleared camp spots only (when primitive camping)   Camp Fires Build campfires in designated rings ONLY!  If you must build a new rock ring, follow the guide on Campfire Safety  Gather wood for fuel -- use only down wood  Never burn plastics or other toxic materials in campfires  Tossing beer bottle caps into a campfire only litters the site for future campers Always douse campfire with water completely when breaking camp  See our Campfire page    Teach your children not to litter or deface nature  Obey signs & instruct kids on dangers of the wilderness.    Hiking Stay on designated trails  Don't cut switch backs  Pack out more than you packed in    Most people know the basic rule of camping.  Leave your site cleaner than you found it.  Camping fees have gotten out of hand in many places -  but I assure you that the employees who will clean your campsite are not benefiting from these cost increases. Many people seem to think that leaving the campsite a mess is a fair trade for the camping fees. Don't punish the wrong people!  Please help keep our parks clean!    "Every time I encounter a display of graffiti in a wilderness area, two questions pop into my mind. 1. Why would someone despoil a pristine area in that fashion?  2. Who the heck carries a can of spray paint with them when they're out hiking, camping, etc.?   It's tough enough maintaining the illusion of wilderness as we're out in areas that are close to populated areas maybe only a few miles from a highway, but it feels like wilderness to us. As we stare out into the mornings mist and gaze at the beauty of the wilderness and lose all concept of the reality of our daily busy lives! Graffiti is a visual affront that destroys that illusion.  It destroys the illusion for years and years to come.  Those that yield a can of spray paint must realize that they are destroying not just a rock face, but an entire section of scenery and landscape, and the damage they cause will remain for many years. Particularly despicable are those that have defaced historical / spiritual native pictograph sites with their modern day senseless graffiti. "   What's the worst that can happen?  Misuse & sheer disregard is how lands get closed & turned into "off limit" roads & closed wildernesses. Graffiti, Soda Cans, and Cigarette Butts are a nuisance to nature. As more and more office drones venture from their cubicles and out onto the unbeaten path, they leave behind the remnants of their bold treks for all to see. Refuse, human waste, smoldering campfires and crushed flora from selfish tent placements and trail blazing destroy our fragile eco-system and pollute the environment for years to come. Be cautious walking around to avoid destroying the fragile ecosystems, such as seedlings, wildlife & wildflowers. Pick up all your trash & even some left behind by previous campers. Leaving the site in better condition than you found it. Cleaning & Potty Breaks  No Soap in Streams, Creeks or Lakes: Even Biodegradable Soaps is not good for fish downstream. Bring a bucket or wash tub  - Wash dishes & yourself 100' from streams & lakes Tinkle break in the bushes? Don't leave that TP trash. Dispose of in your vehicle with a plastic bag. For human waste - Bring a shovel, dig holes 8" deep & pack out all toilet paper.  Do not bury paper as animals will just dig it up.       Simply clicking on the image above will open your default E-mail Writer and have a pre-determined subject line. You can simply send this E-mail with nothing to write and I will be alerted with the Page that has a broken link.  However it would be nice if some input from you of exactly which link is broke. Thank You!!!! Copyright © 2012 Jon's Images, Inc. All rights reserved DISCLAIMER: PLEASE READ - By printing, downloading, or using  any info from this site, you agree to our full terms. Review the full terms by clicking here. Below is a summary of some of the terms. If you do not agree to the full terms, do not use the information. All information on this web site is provided as a free service. Under no conditions does it constitute professional advice. No representations are made as to the completeness, accuracy, comprehensiveness or otherwise of the information provided. This site is considered publishers of this material, not authors. Information may have errors or be outdated. Some information is from historical sources or represents opinions of the author. 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