Packing It Out

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Mission
Inspire a greater sense of environmental stewardship within our communities by raising awareness for litter conditions along America’s trails.

About
Most people venturing into the outdoors are familiar with Leave No Trace ethics. If you’re not familiar with Leave No Trace, check out the link to their website below. Leave No Trace's seven principles are the standard for outdoor etiquette. One principle pushes the idea of -pack it in, pack it out- which helps us remain accountable for the things we bring into the outdoors.  Packing It Out stems from this idea but focuses more on the things that haven’t been packed out, yet. 

The name really speaks for itself- Packing It Out. By removing trash near trail-heads and along trails we can make our trails even more enjoyable and aesthetically pleasing for everyone. Packing It Out is also a call to action for anyone who goes out and enjoys our nation’s trails. Packing out what you pack in is not a new concept; though, I think making a point to pick up other peoples trash has become more or less an afterthought. How many people do you see picking up trash during their hike? How many thru-hikers stop to sweep the trail of litter? I’m by no means condemning those who haven’t been picking up other peoples trash along the trail. If you pick up a piece of trash while hiking you may feel obligated to pick up other pieces you see which in turn raises your pack weight. In the backpacking world additional/excess weight is the enemy. Is it worth the extra weight carried just to have cleaner trail? I certainly think so! Lets make trash removal a common practice regardless of how long we are on the trail. Whether we are going out for six minutes or six months, let’s make a point to clean up the trails we love.

In 2015, Packing It Out completed thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. Starting March 29, we backpacked over 2,000 miles from the AT's southern terminus, Springer Mountain, to the trails northern terminus, Mt. Katahdin. Along the way we put Packing  ItOut's mission into practice on a daily basis. The end result was a very clean trail, tons of inspired hikers and over 1,000 pounds of trash removed from America's scenic trail.

This year our plan is to do what we did last year on the Appalachian Trail to another one of America's scenic trails. We have chosen to try the Pacific Crest Trail. On April 20, we plan to begin walking north from the border of California and Mexico to the border of Washington and Canada. We are unsure as to how much trash we might find on the PCT. Regardless of the amount we find, this years effort will have a much larger impact on our communities as a whole. We started the Appalachian Trail with no outside support. This year we will have a number of sponsors helping with our trail needs and also helping to spread the Packing It Out's mission. We couldn't be more excited and look forward to seeing you all on the trail this year!

Thank you for your time
Seth T Orme

Leave No Trace

Comments

  1. Sweet SpiritDecember 13, 2014 at 1:29 PM

    Great idea ... go for it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnnieMarch 28, 2015 at 7:56 AM

    Very good motivational goal for y'all! I'm very impressed and proud of you guys!! Thank you for the updates!! I still can't believe I didn't know about this blog!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownDecember 19, 2016 at 11:20 AM

    Way to go! It's very impressive what you're doing.
    Thank you Thank you thank you thank you

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownDecember 19, 2016 at 1:35 PM

    you are the embodiment of #leavenotrace......Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. UnknownDecember 25, 2016 at 3:34 AM

    Great work at being the change you want to see in the world. Absolutely inspirational! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. UnknownDecember 25, 2016 at 5:13 AM

    You guys are amazing and I commend you for doing what in your pictures look like the impossible! Especially the big stuff! I'll always remember the hike I took to HavaSupai falls. This was in 2002 but there were literally thousands of water bottles discarded along that trail. It really made an impression on me and I thought about seeing if I could get one of the polar fleece companies to sponsor a cleanup (when I asked at the bottom about this situation I learned that it was a combination of hikers, but mostly residents, responsible. Very disheartening, but a few
    years later there was a massive cleanup - but I still wonder what the condition of that trail is today.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jari PeltorantaDecember 26, 2016 at 1:08 AM

    Respect! You guys are really amazing. I do my daily cleanup in the World Wide Litter Movement.

    ReplyDelete
  8. katnipctDecember 27, 2016 at 7:08 AM

    my husband always picks up trash when we go to the beach and brings it home to recycle what we can. Wouldn't it be great to have recycle or rubbish bins with a supply of Biodegradable bags with a sign encouraging people to pick up trash at the entrance of every trail, park or beach? What you guys are doing is incredible! Your mother earth thanks you!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Vivek Y. KelkarJanuary 18, 2017 at 2:21 AM

    Wonderful idea! Ruby, we must do this in India too. Happy to help... Vivek.

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousFebruary 3, 2017 at 12:17 AM

    Super Idee!Viel Erfolg Jungens!Danke für euren Einsatz!Nur wenn wir alle unseren kleinen Beitrag bringen, können wir uns die Welt weiterhin lebenswert erhalten.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Rosie SlosekFebruary 4, 2017 at 8:48 AM

    Add a donation button to the sidebar and menu?

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousFebruary 6, 2017 at 6:19 PM

    Thank you fellows for the selfless work you have done. I am only sorry that there are folks that are so disconnected from nature that they mistreat it and use it as their personal trash can. You're my heroes and it does one's heart good to know that there are caring folks like you in the world.

    ReplyDelete
  13. UnknownFebruary 8, 2017 at 11:40 PM

    Just awesome! I am so inspired to do more outdoor living in nature. I grew up like that and miss it. I cleaned up trash for 6 months this past summer in the Northern AZ mountains. It was bliss! One of the best things I have ever done!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Irene y CarlosFebruary 10, 2017 at 6:24 PM

    Way to go!! THANK YOU for your efforts to a cleaner environment!

    ReplyDelete
  15. KDM1039February 17, 2017 at 9:28 AM

    Way to go guys! I love this. I used to do this on a much much smaller scale. Back when I used to hike a lot (when I was your age), I'd pick up plastic bags along my hiking route and start filling them up with garbage along the way. There was so much garbage and too much to carry, so I learned to only do it during the last segment of my planned hike. There is almost always a garbage can at the trail head. Cheers!

    ReplyDelete

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