Most of us have probably heard the phrase “Leave Nothing But Footprints” in regards to excusions in nature.

It’s really just a nice way of saying “Clean Up After Yourself and Take Your Garbage With You!”

Nothing ruins the view quite like someone’s garbage does. Snack wrappers and beverage containers seem to be the worst culprits but even something tiny like the wrapper from a piece of gum shouldn’t be tossed on the ground. How much fun is it to go to the beach and find it full of gum wrappers and other trash people couldn’t be bothered to pick up?

Pick up all your garbage and trash when you leave an area. It’s not much fun to pull into a campsite that’s littered with cigarette butts, especially if someone has small children who could pick one of them up and put it into their mouth in about 2 seconds.

“Leave Nothing But Footprints” doesn’t exclude the interior of the fire ring at your campsite either. I’ve lost count of how many non-burnable things I have found inside fire rings. The metal tops from beer bottles don’t burn or melt away into nothing. Neither do soda and pop cans but people still feel the need to toss them into a fire to see if they will (hint: you’ll never get your campfire hot enough to melt aluminum). If you feel the need to see for yourself that it won’t melt, then be kind enough to pluck it out of the fire ring the next day and put it into a recycling bin.

And although this may be the hardest thing of all to do, if you see trash someone else has left behind do nature and everyone who follows you a big favor by picking up that trash and disposing of it properly. Mother Nature will thank you.