Pack it in. Pack it out.
Walking through the forest, tree branches reach above my head creating a canopy of greens and golden hues, sunlight trickles through splattering soft pine needles beneath me. Peace overwhelms my soul, and I inhale deeply. I bend down to capture the fragrance of wild rose. At my feet I see a glitter of something. Curiosity beckons me to reach down…..
The beautiful glimmer was TRASH! 
Someone had carelessly tossed their garbage onto the trail. Who do they think is going to pick that up, Mother Nature? She’s not that type of mother.
Garbage mongers are NOT my friends. It is all really quite simple, pack it in, pack it out. Here are some easy tips to help in this task:
* For backpacking and hiking; carry a gallon size, freezer-duty ziploc baggie with you. This confines all your trash into one spot and contains the gooeyness. The baggie also makes for easy disposal when reaching civilization again.
* Have a dedicated stuff sack for your “trash baggie”. This helps even further in separating the garbage from everything else in your pack.
* While on the trail I use the mesh pocket in my hip belt to stuff any wrappers I may need to discard of later.
* For car camping, the gallon baggie trick works great as well. Or, we usually have a dedicated sack for trash, sometimes a few depending on how long we’re gone.
Try to remember when backpacking, or camping, to remove as much packaging as possible before heading out. This makes everything easier.
Thank you to those eco-warriors that pick up other’s trash. This is a beautiful world. It can be even better if we all work together.
~In Peace
