Pick Up Litter While You Hike
Same walk, same route, same company - except you come back down with a bag of other people's rubbish.
- Cost
- Free
- Time
- Half-day
- People
- Solo / Duo, Small Group (3-6), Large Group (7+)
- Where
- Park / Outdoor
- Bring
- Bin bags and gloves
Why this matters
Rubbish in wild places takes decades to break down, injures animals that try to eat it, and is rarely cleared by anyone official on less-visited trails. Because it's spread thinly across long distances, organised cleanups don't reach most of it - it only gets picked up by walkers. Doing it as you go costs no extra time and requires no planning.
How to do it
This is the simplest version of a cleanup: you were going for a hike anyway, so bring bags and pick things up as you pass them.
The Scandinavian version of this while running is called plogging, and the same idea works at walking pace. It fits into the walk rather than replacing it.
How to make it work: - Carry the bag on the outside of your pack where it's easy to reach. If getting to it means stopping and unpacking, you'll stop bothering. - Focus on the stuff that lasts: plastic, cans, glass, wet wipes, dog waste bags that people have hung on branches. Skip organic matter. - Don't detour into dangerous terrain for one bottle. It isn't worth it. - Carry it out to a proper bin rather than leaving a full bag at the trailhead.
If you're in a group, take a bag each and turn it into a competition on the way back down. It's a good way to get kids involved too, though keep them away from glass and anything sharp.
Leave anything hazardous - needles, chemicals, anything unidentifiable. Note the location and report it to the landowner or council.