Leave No Trace Life
Good hello friends! Today, September 26, 2020, is National Public Lands Day, and it just felt fitting that I write this for you today.
If you have been following along with me for a while, you know that I love eco-friendly and low waste solutions. I also get pretty frustrated at the amount of litter and destruction that we can leave behind as humans. Especially since COVID-19 struck, so many people have been on excursions and enjoying the great outdoors. I am excited that those who would normally not opt outside are changing their outlook, but it has also come at the detriment of our environment. I want everyone to be able to enjoy adventures in the great outdoors for life, so this one is for you.
Nearly every single time that I am out and about, I see masks littering the ground. What are you doing? Your mask is supposed to protect you, how did it end up in the grocery store parking lot? I apologize in advance if this shocks you, but the ground doesn't need a mask to protect it from COVID and no one else wants to touch the mask that was on someone's face and potentially extract germs.... You might remember this Instagram post that I shared a few weeks ago from one of my favorite parks -
It can be so disheartening to see all of the litter, but it doesn't have to be that way. We have a responsibility as humans to take care of this beautiful place we call home. I was at an engagement shoot a few weeks ago, and the area we wanted to shoot in had trash on the ground. You know what we did? We didn't turn a blind eye and look somewhere else, we picked up the trash and created the magic we wanted. It wasn't our mess, but it is still our responsibility to take care of Mother Earth.
Here's a little visual from The Balance Small Business to get the gears turning. You can also click there to learn more. Pretty eye opening though, huh? Most of our trash will outlive us... let that sink in.
So how do we keep her beautiful? Let me give you a few tips and tricks that you can use. Whether you're a fellow photographer, or a fellow adventurer in the great outdoors, take some time to consider these options -
Pack it in and pack it out - take only that which you need with you, and if you create trash on your journey, take it with you and dispose of it properly. Need a snack on the trail? Perfect! Just pack that wrapper away when you're done. Take a bag or a backpack with you, it will make it easier for any belongings that you need to carry - i.e. phone, wallet, keys - and it will give you an area to put any waste for a short period of time until you can find a trash receptacle… did I just say trash receptacle like I am way more proper than my silly American self? Why yes, yes I did.
Bring a plastic bag of sorts - now you might be saying, Kim plastic bags aren't the most eco friendly option, and I am right there with you. I have had the conversation with so many people that I think we have too many plastic options, and not enough other options, but hear me out for a moment. Trash bags are plastic. If you eat some food and have wetter waste that you don't feel comfortable sticking in your bag with your belongings, but you have a plastic bag of any sort, you can pack it away in there, and it protects your other items. And the plastic bag serves another purpose, which brings me to number 3.
Pick up trash - I briefly mentioned that while on a shoot we encountered trash, and we picked it up. I know that some trash is disgusting and you don't want to touch it, and I don't recommend that you always do, but if you are comfortable and you can. Pack out other trash you find. Someone else may not come across the trash for a long while, or ever clean it up. Some of my fond childhood memories consist of my dad and I walking down the road I grew up on with trash bags cleaning up the trash that people threw on the side of the road. We would find everything from beer cans to McDonald's happy meals. Life would be a whole lot better if we all just took care of our waste responsibly, but you and I both know that the sad reality is there are so many who don't. We can, however, choose to do the right thing ourselves. And this is where it comes in handy if you take a plastic bag or a trash bag with you. It gives you somewhere to put this garbage. If you can bring gloves with you as well, that helps. And keep all the hand sanitizer and wash your hands as soon as possible.
Be mindful of where you are walking - erosion is real. Destruction of land is real. Stay on the path and designated areas as much as you can. If there are signs telling you not to go off the path, please listen to them. These signs are in place for a reason, and often it is because the park is working on restoring the land or combatting erosion, which you will counteract if you go trouncing through that area. If you are going off the beaten path, and there are many places, especially in back country, where this is permitted and acceptable, please be mindful of the ground you are walking on. Make sure it is solid ground and safe for you or if you are with others, whether you are photographing a couple, or hiking with friends, that it is safe for those around you to also step on. Be mindful if there is vegetation or land that you are going to destroy by walking into an area. Fellow photographers, if there is a spot that you really want to photograph a client - say in a field of wildflowers - find a clearing that you can position them in. The following picture I shot by having my couple sit on solid packed earth that had no vegetation, and I positioned myself on the other side of wildflowers.
For my photographers and friends who love to post on social media be mindful of what you post - Now Kim, what do you mean by this? What I mean is we have a responsibility to be careful of what we post and how people will react to it. If you have an epic shot of you on a ledge of a cliff, is someone going to try to recreate it and possibly endanger themselves or the land if they aren't mindful or know what they are doing? When I was in Ireland at the Cliffs of Moher, there was a plethora of tourists who did not look like they were trained in extreme rock climbing, hanging out on a ledge to take selfies and pictures. One wrong step or loss of balance, and they would be gone. A helicopter flew overhead, and a local guide said that when helicopters fly over, it usually means that someone fell off of the cliff. I don't write this to be a downer, and I don't think that you shouldn't post the picture, but I do think we have a responsibility to post a disclaimer or advise individuals not to endanger themselves. If you are posting a picture of a lightly traveled area don't geotag the exact location, and don't tell people where it is, unless you know and trust that they will be kind to the area.
Stay mindful and stay awesome friends! Let's keep this earth lovely so that generations beyond us can appreciate it, and keep ourselves safe so that we can appreciate it for a long time to come.
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