Leave No Trace

No-impact camping has become common practice among outdoor enthusiasts. The bad old days of dumping trash in the wilderness are generally long gone. While it's easy to pack up all of your garbage if you're on a short trip, on longer expeditions it takes more foresight in terms of packing, particularly for food and waste elimination. Generally speaking, the more people there are in your expedition, the harder it becomes to prevent littering from happening. On the other hand, it's easier to cook efficiently for larger groups, which means that there will be less packaging to deal with.

The ethic of "leave no trace" doesn't just include trash disposal. It also involves taking care not to damage vegetation and to maintain rock placements where they were before. When building fires, use only fallen branches - live branches don't burn as well, anyway. Don't strip birch bark from trees to start your fires. If you have garbage that can be safely burned in a fire, do so to cut down on the amount of trash that you have to carry around. The morning after you make camp, be sure to bury your ashes properly. Backpacking stoves don't leave ashes or burn marks, but they are fairly bulky.

Burying trash is pointless, as animals will dig it up and strew it around the campground. Don't use non-biodegradable soap or toothpaste to clean yourself. Minimizing your trash will also prevent scavenger animals from coming up to your campground to take your things. Hanging trash from trees doesn't work. There are many animals, including some bears, that can climb trees quite easily to get to your garbage.