Other People’s Trash

[CarpeDiem-FRF]

I am disappointed in campers who leave discarded food around their sites. I suspect the faulty logic goes like this. It is food for animals (Don’t feed the wildlife even after you leave)) or it will compost and be good for the soil. While composting is good, it is an eyesore for the next people who occupy your site. Imagine if the four campers before you tossed the egg shells, watermelon rinds and such three or four feet into the woods, would you happily spend the weekend enjoying the sights and smells of other people’s leftovers.

 

[Marine359]

We share your feelings. However, you didn’t say what kind of campgrounds are stricken by the blight. We try not to camp at commercial campgrounds. But generally they are well cleaned, and the only trash problems we notice is when their way too small dumpster battalion gets overloaded when people are checking out on weekends. Same at state parks and national parks. The really disturbing and disgusting stuff is to be found at dispersed camping lands. Much worse than jus trash, and since this is a family forum, I can’t be specific about the stuff left at campsites. We try to clean up some of it with nitrile gloves and plastic bags which we haul out, but we wonder what has gotten into people who are desecrating our open lands, which is leading to more and more dispersed campground closures by the BLM, forest service and park service. Are we just hallucinating thinking we just didn’t see this degree of disregard for nature 30 years ago?

 

[Scotty B]

I don't think it's our imagination and we can expand the view point to include other poor camping behaviors. Seems to me there is just a massive fall off in civility over the last several years...
Hey...look at me! I sound like an old fart! But I do agree with you both.

 

[CarpeDiem-FRF]

We camp exclusively at State Parks. Although I completely agree with you, I’m not talking about trash so much as people thinking it’s ok or a good idea to toss their compostable stuff in the woods.

 

[Morich]

Is there any aspect of life which is better than 40-50 years ago?
Anybody who has any idea of how to tend any animal will be able to spot what is happening to us as one of the animals on this planet.

TOO many people in too little space and it will end just like it does for many other animals.
The difference is that we tell ourselves we are too smart to do what we are doing!
Apparently we do LOVE to lie to ourself?

 

[creativepart]

Every generation has lamented the younger generations attitudes and actions. This is nothing new… you’re just getting older. Same reason for thinking how much better things were in your youth.

Come on, surely you guys know this. Wake up and smell the coffee!

Why every generation thinks people were nicer in the past

 

[Marine359]

We didn’t say it was the younger generation that is trashing up campgrounds. Frankly, I don’t know if it’s related to any age group, as I’ve not seen anybody in the act of doing the dirty deed. There is some indication in a couple of cases on BLM when we’ve been toting out other people’s trash that we’ve seen condoms on the ground, and we’ve also seen drug paraphernalia. Folks in my generation have no need for prophylaxis, and I don’t think we shoot up either.

 

[deckape]

A lot of folks today think that others ( you and me ) will clean it up . We do and those folks are going to mess it up for everyone else . At one county campground the fire pit had the last trash bag and about 100 cig butts in it ,that those before us though would burn up in a day long rain . After setup ,I cleaned it and around site ,walked to office and gave the garbage bag to them. They wanted ME to put it in the dumper . I left it with them .

 

[CarpeDiem-FRF]

Every generation has lamented the younger generations attitudes and actions. This is nothing new… you’re just getting older. Same reason for thinking how much better things were in your youth.

Come on, surely you guys know this. Wake up and smell the coffee!

Why every generation thinks people were nicer in the past

As I’m sure you know, thoughtless is multigenerational. I sure do love the smell & taste of my morning coffee.

 

[Raxel7851]

I don't think it's our imagination and we can expand the view point to include other poor camping behaviors. Seems to me there is just a massive fall off in civility over the last several years...
Hey...look at me! I sound like an old fart! But I do agree with you both.

We’ve camped more this year than in previous years. We typically stay in FHU campgrounds and to your point Scotty B, the number of people that take “shortcuts” through ours and other people’s sites seems to be ridiculous this year. And it’s not mostly kids, we get that, it’s adults of all ages. It seems as if they’re part of the family.