Green camping is an idea whose time has come
BY CRAIG MACARTNEY
Garbage. Everywhere. We’ve all arrived at campsites and
started picking up the empty cans, cigarette butts, beer caps, broken bottles, even toilet paper. What ever happened to “Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints”? Is this still a realistic expectation?
Should be, because “green” camping is not exactly rocket science, as these ideas for your next trip show.
A good time to start thinking
green is before you leave home. If you usually camp with an RV, is this a trip which could work with a tent? It may lack some of the luxuries of home but the change might be fun. A tent requires less space, does little or no harm to the environment, and you won’t burn extra gas hauling it to the campground. Closer to start time, pack extra
garbage and recycling bags to haul out your trash. Recycling facilities at home are not as rudimentary as at some campgrounds. Hang your trash bag in a tree at least 100 metres from your tent. Cook some meals ahead of time and pack them in reusable containers so you won’t be stuck with cans and other packaging you have to haul out. At your campsite, pick up other
people’s trash. The previous camper may have been inconsiderate, but at least you or your kids won’t cut your foot on a can or broken glass. For preservation of the terrain, use
the same place others have used for your tent. Campgrounds often have levelled tent sites; using them can help preserve a site for years without damage. Leave roots and big rocks undisturbed. Digging them up is hard work, and there’s room for your tent without damaging the land. Don’t cut living trees for firewood. Buy it locally, or pick deadfall in the woods during a hike, if that’s OK under local rules. Then there’s fire and human
waste. Don’t poop in the woods. Use the portapotty, bathroom, latrine, outhouse or pit, even at remote campsites. If none of the above is available, dig a small hole at least
200 metres away from any water or your campsite. When finished, bury everything including the toilet paper. No one wants a walk in the woods spoiled by your dump. Fire is always dangerous, and a
fire ban means business. Obey it. Campers have ignored bans and ignited forest fires in Gatineau, Algonquin and LaVerendrye parks. The scars will remain for many years. Never leave your fire unattended. When putting it out, drown the coals. Then stir the ashes and douse again. And a well-tended fire is for more than warmth and atmosphere. Cooking over your fire is greener than camp stoves, and food tastes better grilled, or wrapped in aluminum foil and baked in the coals. Don’t feed animals. They can end up dependent on camp food,
10 ottawaoutdoors
www.ottawaoutdoors.ca
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