by Shelia West

Created on: February 26, 2010

Camping is all about getting back to nature.  It's about being outside and enjoying the land, fresh air, and the beauty of our world.  All these things can be wiped out in an instant by pulling into a camp site and seeing  a mess left behind by the former campers. 

When you arrive at a campsite, it is with the expectations that this will be your little piece of nature for the length of your camping trip.  You expect it to be as clean and natural as, well, nature.  The last thing you want to do is have to begin your camping experience by stepping out of your vehicle and start cleaning up after humans.  That's suppose to come at the end of your trip.

Experienced and nature loving campers will automatically clean up their campsites.  They have come to realize from experience that you should practice what you preach.  True campers will leave their campsites with absolutely no trace of their visit.  They do this out of respect and love for nature.  They clean up their sites out of a sense of responsibility, not only to themselves, but to their children and to ours.

True campers will clean up after themselves to show respect for the next person to occupy the campsite.  Perhaps they have experienced the disappointment of arriving at a campsite and finding it full of garbage.  Nature lovers understand that the simple act of cleaning up after themselves leaves a message to the next camper.  That message being:  You found this site clean; you should leave this site clean.

Another practical reason for leaving no trace of human occupancy is to prevent animals from scavenging through the garbage in search of food.  That's why it is important to remove your trash completely from the site.  Most campgrounds provide dumpsters away from the actual sites to dispose of your garbage.  This way, even when the animals visit the campsite, they won't be tempted to stay if there is no food available.

Nature provides so many things to us.  The air we breathe and the water we drink are just two of the few things nature supplies us with.  But nature also provides home for all other living things, be it animals, insects or plants.  Nature is part of us.  That's why it is so important to show our respect for all that nature is and means to us.

The simple act of leaving no trace of our visit to a campsite is the very least we can do to honor nature.  And hopefully, it will instill the same sense of responsbility in the next camper to the site.  That way, everyone can begin their camping experience with the feeling that they are the very first campers to ever use that site.

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