Clean up your butts

[KiltDog]

Just got back from my second trip out with the new 26BH. Both times after getting the trailer on the lot and set up I had to spend a good 20 minutes going around the camp sites and picking up cigarette buts and bottle caps. First site had several broken beer bottles too. I camp with small kids, but even if I didn't I wouldn't want to have cigarette butts all over.

[howie]

Most smokers I see or know (not all) seem to think the world is their ashtray.
A lady at work had someone toss their butt out the window of the car inn front of her. It somehow lodged at the bottom of her windshield while still lit. Ended up melting a section of the rubber seal and she had to get it replaced.
Couple major fires in the town where I work from people throwing their butts in mulch near townhouses.
I don't get it. If you're going camping to enjoy the outdoors then respect the outdoors also and pick up after yourself.

[mcfarmall]

Thanks for getting me started. My biggest pet peeves is the crappy condition that people leave their site. For the first day or so that we camp I pick up bottle caps, cigarette butts, juice box straws & wrappers, zip ties, bread ties, aluminum tent "stakes" ad infinitum. If you really want to send me into orbit, leave a bunch or garbage in the fire pit or better yet, burn all your trash in there too so I can smell the wonderful aroma of burning paper and plastic.

Before we leave the site I make my kids police the area and pick up every tiny scrap of litter. I don't want to be "that guy."

[glsimms]

These stories make me appreciate the lengths Disney World goes to with keeping their campsites "ultra-clean" at Fort Wilderness!!

[Lifespalette]

I occasionally smoke, but I don't throw my butts on the ground or in the streams. They get field dressed and put in my pocket for discarding later. There's absolutely no reason to leave a camp site in a mess, but then I see folks who think nothing of tossing out McDonald's bags full of trash when the get done eating along the roadside and I've seen folks pull out of camp sites without a thought to pick up their trash........I always wonder why it's so hard to put something in a trash bag hanging in a convenient location on the camper or inside.........when I leave my site it's usually in better condition than when I arrived, but then that's just the way I was raised.

[Crabman]

They (the butt leavers) need a lesson in the "Leave no Trace" principles we teach to Scouts.

[TNCraig]

X2 Crabman! You should always leave the site cleaner or at least as clean as you find it. Scouting 101.

[norty1]

Just the effects of poor upbringing. No pride just the me me world that we try to leave behind when camping


Dang, you got my back up too!

[Jmooney]

Boy Scout training says " police the site when you leave. It should be in better condition then when you arrived "

I always police my site, and usually find lots of other trash. Camp right after me, and you won't have that problem.

[Tunce the traveler]

How about letting their dog take a big dump and they just keep on walking.

[SecretCoveDave]

First thing after set up TT, clean site of broken glass (dogs don't have shoes).

Next day, look for the rest.

Boy Scouts, EMT and Coast Guard. Guess if I carried white paint all the rocks would be white. :-)

[mcfarmall]

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

How about letting their dog take a big dump and they just keep on walking.

I love those jackwagons too!

[WVCamper]

I'll bite..............
All of the above aggravate me equally. We refer to them as holiday campers, true campers follow the code of leaver it as you found it.

One more to add to the list, half baked fires from wanna be pyromaniacs! They leave the pit filled with the entire forest burned half way sitting on a foot of ashes. I routinely clean the put for proper/safe fires.

To steal from mcfarmall "I love those jackwagons too!"

[robkelly]

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

How about letting their dog take a big dump and they just keep on walking.

Saw a guy the other day "clean up". His version was move the pile from the road to the base of a tree. If you're going to the effort of picking it up in the first place, put it in the trash!

[Seann45]

Originally Posted by Tunce the traveler

How about letting their dog take a big dump and they just keep on walking.

Anyone that does that around me will end up with the log on their camper steps at 3 am.

[OurJayco]

I will chime in here as well. I will also state that me and my wife smoke.
Here is a picture of our site this past weekend with grandkids, family, friends and parents. I have circled two areas where we place our garbage bags for EVERYONE to use.
When we leave our site, it is cleaner than the way it was when we arrived.
I make a point to EVERYONE at our site that I will not tolerate garbage left on the ground. You used it, your done with it, you throw it away in the GARBAGE.
There ....... I finished my rant for the day. Thank You!

[Camper_bob]

Dog logs get me going too. We ALWAYS make it a point to clean up after our pet. I've even been known to pick up others' pet's leavings if they're near my dog's logs. Most of the parks we go to even have special cans with free bags for your convenience!

Luckily most of the parks we go to are "glass free". One park even made that rule #1, "No glass", listed as more important than "Keep fires in fire pits"; and we're in a historic drought! DW thought it was kind of weird, but I appreciated it. And we ALWAYS police our site when we're done (it's the Eagle Scout in me).

As for the butts, when I was a smoker (quit now for over a decade) I didn't regularly police my butts in the beginning unless I was in a park or at a camp, but as I got older, I stopped dropping them altogether. It still annoys me when smokers drop their butts, I was a smoker so I understand, it's not that hard to snub the cherry and drop the butt in a trash can or put it in your pocket. Just make sure it's out first!

Now, if I'm around smokers, I make the first beer (or soda) a "designated butt can", put a little water in the bottom and put it in a convenient place, and that's where the butts go, no exceptions. If for no other reason, it decreases accidental fire risk.

[SecretCoveDave]

Thanks to all, especially those teaching the kids.

[Brownie]

Not only do I find campsite trash offensive, but I don't want my dog eating it. Did you know that ingesting cigarette butts can produce epileptic-like seizures in a dog? That's why the first and last thing I do at a campsite, is pick up after everyone else. As a dog owner, a smoker, and a hunter, I believe it is my responsibility to set an example to others of what is "responsible" behavior for each of these activities. We need to carry a plastic grocery bag or two to pick up after our dogs. We need to train them to pee in open areas or along the side of the road - not in the middle of someone else's campsite. We need to toss our "field dressed" (I like that term, Lifespalette) cigarette butts in the trash. We need to obey all hunting (and fishing) laws, handle firearms safely, don't hunt from the road, trespass, or "shine". And harvest only what you plan to eat. Let the rest go for someone else to enjoy - either on the wing, the hoof or the table.

When we purchase a camper, we also purchase membership into a very elite club: "Stewards of the Outdoors". We should set an example for all others to follow - not just other campers, but non-campers alike. Don't throw butts or trash out the window or around your campsite - lest someone think "they're just hick campers". Pick up around your campsite . . . and the next one over. Pay it forward! Leave a legacy!

Who knows? It just might catch on!

[mcfarmall]

Originally Posted by Brownie

Not only do I find campsite trash offensive, but I don't want my dog eating it. Did you know that ingesting cigarette butts can produce epileptic-like seizures in a dog? That's why the first and last thing I do at a campsite, is pick up after everyone else. As a dog owner, a smoker, and a hunter, I believe it is my responsibility to set an example to others of what is "responsible" behavior for each of these activities. We need to carry a plastic grocery bag or two to pick up after our dogs. We need to train them to pee in open areas or along the side of the road - not in the middle of someone else's campsite. We need to toss our "field dressed" (I like that term, Lefespalette) cigarette butts in the trash. We need to obey all hunting (and fishing) laws, handle firearms safely, don't hunt from the road, trespass, or "shine". And harvest only what you plan to eat. Let the rest go for someone else to enjoy - either on the wing, the hoof or the table.

When we purchase a camper, we also purchase membership into a very elite club: "Stewards of the Outdoors". We should set an example for all others to follow - not just other campers, but non-campers alike. Don't throw butts or trash out the window or around your campsite - lest someone think "they're just hick campers". Pick up around your campsite . . . and the next one over. Pay it forward! Leave a legacy!

Who knows? It just might catch on!

Right on, neighbor!! Very well stated!! These are the very things I try to impress on my kids when we enjoy the great Michigan outdoors.