The last I heard, very little money goes into promoting ‘The Countryside Code’ these days; just a few tens of thousands annually at most. Of course, the notion that littering the countryside is bad, has been widespread amongst responsible walkers for a very long time. When talking of ‘Leave no Trace’ ideology, I have been referring to the establishment of the the non-profit ‘Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics’ that was officially established in the USA to promote and educate the public about these principles in 1994.
73
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From 10 years ago: (eek, what happened to the 10 years??)
I haven’t noticed things getting worse. Today I walked a few Km in a popular parkland, along a waymarked route. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of litter, only finding and picking up two drink cans, two empty plastic bottles and a plastic food wrapper.
I think litter attracts litter, so it is worth picking up and removing if possible
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That’s not what I said. In fact litter is indeed mentioned, and not as an aside. “Care must also be taken to avoid leaving litter.” Appearing in the GR in the Code of Conduct makes it a requirement, not a suggestion, and it is made clear that penalties may be incurred by any activator who ignores this requirement.
In fact it seems that SOTA participants are quite careful. Even putting a SOTA badge on a tree is minor, considering how frequently trees have to carry waymarks!
I think its worth posting a link here to the “country code” on here… its certainly had some stuff added since i last read a good while ago!
While alot of it is UK specific, a good chunk of it will also be applicable acrross the world as an appropriate way of behaving!
Alan
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You are clearly aware that putting a badge on a tree is not littering, it is not the same as damaging a structure, nor is it graffiti, yet it is still wrong and to be discouraged. Can you explain why it is wrong (or why it brings SOTA into disrepute) using simple language, and how this should be codified in the rules?
73 Matt
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In my view nailing a badge on a tree - or fixing one to a rock, or indeed any structure on a summit, is wrong for the same reason that pasting up a poster advertising an event, a festival or a pop concert is wrong: it is a colourful and eye-catching intrusion into a valued natural environment, an intrusion that can be seen as damaging the experience of that environment. As such there will be people who dislike seeing it there, and therefore it brings SOTA into disrepute in their eyes. No addition to the rules is needed, it is common sense.
I can tell you this, Matt. Today saw the funeral of my younger brother, Dave. He loved the mountains as keenly as I do, and was a better rock climber until age brought his adventures to a close. He had no interest in SOTA, and if he had seen someone nailing up a SOTA badge on a summit, he would have made that person EAT the damned thing. Some people feel that strongly about the environment.
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My condolences Brian. I too am very much of the “leave no trace” lobby. Not always; I dabbled in geocaching and even SOTAcaching (when that was briefly a thing) to try it out. It didn’t take me long to realise I found it repulsive!
Hope you gave him a good send off. Take care.
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I haven’t noticed things getting worse.
With popularity of a region, the amount of tossed garbage obviously increases. I frequently go to Berdorf (Luxemburg) for some hiking for over 30 years. The amount of paper tissues and small wraps on the trails has increased tremendously over the years. It’s really a shame people litter the environment like that. But I think it’s really the attitude of the visitors and locals. Japan was a lot cleaner in this regard, but they have toilets every corner on popular sites.
73, Martin - PE1EEC,
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Yes, that’s true, but I’d like to believe those are unintentional. Tissues and little cookie wrappers tend to fall out of pockets easily.
On the other hand, the amount of deliberate littering may have decreased, even though the number of hikers has exploded. Here in the Pyrenees, people used to dump just about everything on the sides of roads or into ravines such as fridges, cars, sofas… Luckily, we don’t see that anymore. It’s the same in the mountains: we sometimes find bottles and tins hidden under rocks, but they always seem to be from the last century.
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Yes it´s true. But the increase in trash in recent years is alarming. I can understand that crows often scatter trash everywhere, or that the winds often do the same. Now, on roads or at highway access points, I’m tired of seeing bottles filled with urine or nylon bags full of waste thrown from car windows.
On less-than-popular mountain trails, I saw cars, refrigerators, pots, toys, car batteries, and an endless list of trash.
Yes, believe it or not, these shameful things happen in Japan too.
73, JP3PPL
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Oh, I am aware of the trash dumping. I saw plenty of it during my Henro. Along the paths, or abandoned houses filled to the roof with trash. It’s what you get if you charge too much for waste collection. But other trash like paper tissues etc, I hardly spotted it.
Maybe we, as SOTA colelctive, should start collecting trash along our hikes? A bit like geocachers do with their CITO.
73, Martin - PE1EEC
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