It’s a conundrum for campers of all stripes. We want to get back to the outdoors and feel at one with Mother Nature. But when we break camp, do we leave behind more than a molehill of trash. It can be no small mountain of shame. Whether camping to take in the outdoors or a music festival, how can we curb consumption and waste and leave the site better than we found it?
It goes beyond the old adage, “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints.” That’s been a warm and endearing mantra for years. Contrary to what Mr. McGuire told Dustin Hoffman’s Ben in The Graduate, plastics suck – especially when roadtripping. A frightening / sickening / maddening National Geographic report from a few years back noted that mankind has generated 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics in about six decades since its widespread introduction.
OK, we suck and have made short work of screwing up our precious planet. But what do we all do to curb waste – be less of a problem? Try these seven tips – and share what you’re doing beyond these…
Sharpies and Solo cups. Whether water, wine, whisky, or some other beverage of choice, we all drink. And the more people we have hanging around the campsite, the more cups we’re gonna go through. Short of having everyone bring their own re-usable metal cup (we’re not fans of glass at the campsite), Solo cups are simply convenient. But their ubiquity makes them easily confused with one another. So we’ll just throw them away and start over. We keep a half dozen Sharpie pens around the trailer. Mark your cup; make it yours. Later on, rinse and re-use.
No Plastic Bottles. Man, 12-ounce bottles are mighty convenient. Hope your offspring’s offspring’s offspring think so. Because 90% of plastics are never recycled – and they can take 450 years to degrade. Don’t even mention “microplastics” finding their way into the ocean food chain. To tackle single-use plastics, we no longer buy ANY single-use water bottles. We keep a Brita filtered pitcher on hand to filter all our water (water coming into the RV is filtered coming out of the campsite spigot, too). We also use refillable bottles around the campsite and festival grounds (just ask, we have bottles to share with our camping compatriots). Many fests have stopped dishing out plastic bottles altogether and put up “hydration stations.” Now, do your part.
Provision with a conscience. Those shopping bags you forget in your car when you hit Publix or Kroger or Piggly Wiggly? They have a place camping. Provision with them when stocking up; they can hold a figurative ton of camping vittles. That’s not to say we should buy a ton. Don’t provision like you’ve hit the medicinals and need an overflowing cart to quell your pangs. It can be tough, but try to buy what you need – and then, with more conscientious packaging that itself results in less waste. As or reusable bags, shove a draw-string knapsack into your pocket when walking merch row. We’ll even wear cargoes into the festival grounds to have a home for our empty cans – and occasionally those of others. Our gal Jean Marie Kennedy uses washable mesh bags for produce, instead of the bags provided at the grocery store (why they’re not using hemp in grocery stores is inexcusable, yet it delights the Single-Use Plastic Industrial Complex to no end).
Pretend your RV is your home. I mean, it is. You wouldn’t use plastic or paper at home, why do it on the road? Use ceramic or hard plastic plates, cups and glasses, and metal utensils while on the road. Napkins and paper towels can pretty unavoidable. We have lots of dishtowels for when cooking and drying dishes we’ve washed. But towels and napkins get used as chad for the fire (ditto for paper from our shredder back in the home office; it makes great kindling).
Recycle. OK, you’re gonna use plastics and there will be recyclable waste. Will it just end up in the white bag with the rest of the refuse, or will you make an effort to get it out of the trash stream? Do your part recycling. Even set up garbage bags or cans (even dragging over the venue’s receptacles) at the edge of your site to encourage others to pitch in.
Get wood. We’ll hike or bike around the campground the day of arrival – big blue IKEA bag slung over our back – ferreting out firewood others have left behind after breaking camp (the more charred, the better). The more we re-use, the less that’s brought into the user stream.
Do more than your part. Face it, we’re surrounded by heathens. Maybe not deliberately, but stuff gets left behind. Whether at the campsite, campgrounds, or festival grounds, these places can be a trash heap. Do your part; pick stuff up. Sure, it’s not your trash; but it is your planet.
Sure, it’s not easy being green, and some of this applies differently to tent campers and boondockers. But everyone has their place. Even major companies are climbing aboard the conservation movement (OK, maybe it’s good PR, but it’s a start). At last year’s Outdoor Retailer convention, a hundred companies committed to curb single-use plastic that pollutes, chokes, suffocates – for generations to come. Companies pledged to the Plastic Impact Alliance agreed to banish single-use plastic products from their booths.
Cynics may say it’s a fool’s errand. We’ve ignored the warnings and polluted Mother Earth with abandon like there was some Planet B in the offings. But as campers who profess to love the outdoors, here’s our chance to prove it.
What are you doing beyond these tips to repurpose, recycle, reuse and generally reduce our kinds’ wasteful ways? Please share – and help us all up our sustainability game.