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Clean Vacationing |
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Author: Dave Brummet Article source: http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/. Used with author's permission.
Admit it. When the sun is out and you are at your favorite
campsite or cottage on the lake the last thing you want to do
is spend a lot of time cooking a meal. Often, when
vacationing, the lure to purchase instant foods is strong.
Unfortunately, these convenience foods often come over
packaged usually including some type of plastic. As we can
see when we come across trash in the wilderness, the
plastics tend to linger the longest - other than maybe glass
and metal. Nothing ruins the feel of a pristine, natural area
more than a bunch of garbage. Numerous studies prove
that tourists return to an area primarily for its cleanliness
and greenery. In this era where the economy has come to
rely more on tourism, cleaning up is truly a benefit for the
community.
We soon realized that walking by these messes and
complaining over such disrespect, we were behaving not
much better than the polluters who left it. Now when we hike
we pack a supply of plastic bags (grocery bags work well) to
clean up as we go. Often we earn up to $10 in returnable
bottles and cans in the process. When you take a bit of time
to clean up some trash not only do you have a better trail or
beach to come back to, you have helped to make it safer
and nicer for the next user. This simple measure just might
influence others to keep it clean, as well.
When on the water with the canoe we also clean as we go
by diving for garbage below the surface using a mask and
snorkel. It is amazing the finds we have from these
excursions under water. One of the first times we did this,
we found an expensive diving mask in about 30 feet of water
- enough incentive to continue this practice! We have found
antique bottles, jewelry, fishing lures and reels.
It feels very good to clear up a beach of shards of broken
glass hiding just below the surface before an unwary
swimmer splashes into it. It does not, however, feel as good
to find a large fish hook by imbedding it in the bottom of your
foot. Take heart in knowing you have done a good thing as
your expletive echoes off the far mountainside. Imagine an
innocent child stepping on that hook instead of you and
decide if it is worth taking the time... Dave and Lillian Brummet - Authors of the environmental
book Trash Talk, and of Towards Understanding, a
collection of poetry. (http://www.sunshinecable.com/~drumit)
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