Leave Trenches, Not Trash
It frustrates me to see trash in the backcountry
I understand accidentally dropping or misplacing something. I lose my keys, phone or wallet almost hourly, but when there is a pile of cans and plastic food wrappers on the ground in a sledding area, that is deliberate and ignorant. If there was room in a pack or sled storage compartment to bring it in, then it’s mind boggling how it can’t go back out that way.
It’s a disgrace that this much trash was found littering the alpine in one zone after a single winter.
Equally frustrating is the notion of riding by a piece of trash, not picking it up, and then complaining about it; by doing this, you are part of the problem, and not the solution.
It would be impossible to police everyone else’s actions but it is easy to police our own. If you see something on the ground, put your ego and laziness aside and pick it up. Resist the urge to belittle someone else for their ignorance. Instead, take solace in your own corrective actions. If we want sledders to be seen as environmental stewards, we need to stop pointing fingers and chanting “It wasn’t me.”
Leave trenches, not trash.
The garbage sledders leave is a black eye on our community. Sadly, we’re ‘known’ for this ignorance and the stereotype has to change. Human waste has put our current global environmental situation into crisis. But it is an attainable goal to prevent ill action. And it starts with us. So in our quest for bliss in the alpine, let’s leave trenches and not trash.
— Colin Wallace
