Camp Trash

The "camp trash" I'm talking about is not be be confused with "trailer trash".   Unlike "trailer trash", it isn't people, it is the garbage people sometimes (too many times!)  leave behind when camping.  That being said, people who do leave their trash behind quickly gain a reputation as "trailer trash".  Why would anything as mundane as camp trash deserve its own post?   For one thing, way too many people fail to clean up after themselves when camping.  Too many have the "I'm on vacation" attitude and think someone else should clean up after them.  Or they're just careless and let things blow away.  The old back packers adage "Pack it in; pack it out" definitely applies to all kinds of camping.   I've seen beautiful national forest campgrounds that, after a holiday weekend, looked like the downwind area next to a landfill.  Such behavior is inexcusable.   I was amused and inspired by an innovative park ranger who, after collecting two large bags of identifiable trash from a single camp site at the end of a holiday weekend, sent a letter to the city folks who had left it behind, notifying them they had left some personal belongings behind and he was shipping them to them C.O.D. and to watch for the package.  Then he boxed up their trash and sent it to them -- at their expense! Imagine their surprise when, after paying the C.O.D charges, they opened the box, expecting to find a lost camera, cell phone, sweater or camping equipment and finding instead all the garbage they left behind for someone else to clean up.  As I recall, these particular campers had consistently ignored posted rules and basic guidelines for acceptable behavior in general.  I'm pretty sure they broke every possible rule.  So they pretty much deserved it.   I'm pleased to report that the offenders were NOT OHV riders and that every time I've been camping with OHVers we've left our camp sites and the surrounding area cleaner and in better condition than we found them.  That isn't to say that all OHV riders are so considerate.  However, when our Desert Rat group sponsored a cleanup day at one of our favorite staging areas, we filled a 40-yard dumpster and very little of the trash we collected could be traced to OHV activities.  Most was household and construction debris dumped by residents of surrounding towns.   I've run other service projects and talked to organizers of other similar projects and they've consistently experienced the same thing.  How anyone can think OHVers are hauling sofas and toilets around on their dirt bikes and ATVs and dumping them is beyond me!

For all the conveniences of home of included in modern RVs, trash containers are usually conspicuously absent.   In nearly 40 years of RV ownership I've only had one or two that came with even a small built-in trash can, about the size you normally use in a bathroom, certainly not adequate for a weekend family outing.   Some of the huge, luxury, bus conversions may have trash compactors, but even those seem to be few and far between.  A couple of motorhomes I owned had little a wastebasket built in to the counter top behind the sink.  In all other cases, we've had to "make do" with plastic trash bags or putting a modest sized trash can in a cabinet or even in the shower in some cases.   RV stores have plastic bag holders that can be attached to the inside of a cabinet door that will turn ordinary plastic grocery bags into convenient temporary trash containers.  If you have to resort to putting a wastebasket in the shower, use a bungee cord or other strap to secure it so it doesn't tip over on the road.  The lack of trash receptacles in RVs reminds me of the anecdote about an architect who was designing a new cathedral.  He sent the plans to the Cardinal for review and they came back with just one question "Are they angels?"  After puzzling over the comment for some time, the architect discovered he had not included any restrooms in the design!   I guess RV designers must think their customers are angels and don't generate any trash while camping.  In reality the opposite is true. Camping often generates more trash than at home since we have a tendency to use more convenience foods, which means more packaging to dispose of.   I suppose the lack of a permanent trash container in an RV makes people use plastic bags and take the trash out more often instead of letting it collect and spoil in an enclosed space, but it sure is nice to have a handy trash can, especially when preparing meals.   And tent campers are not exempt!   You'll want to keep a trash receptacle handy when preparing your meals and cleaning up afterwards, even it its just a plastic bag clamped to the edge of your picnic  table or counter top.

Controlling outdoor trash.  Most developed campgrounds will have trash cans and/or dumpsters conveniently located so you can easily dispose of your trash.  They will often even have trash barrels at each camp site.  When boondocking you'll need to provide your own -- and remember: pack it in, pack it out!  Most of us don't have room to carry around a big trash can, but you can use large contractor trash bags, with or without a collapsible holder to corral your outdoor trash so it doesn't end up all over the landscape.   Even the slightest breeze will send loose napkins, paper plates, and paper cups, scattering.  Collapsible trash cans take up little room during transit but function like "real" garbage cans in camp.   Put a large plastic trash bag in one and you have really convenient garbage can.   When it comes time to empty it or head home, just pull out the bag and tie it off for transport to a proper disposal site.   I modified some "quad" camp chairs to hold plastic bags and serve as medium sized trash receptacles.  I removed the fabric seat then removed the back test.  The result is a sturdy square framework that takes up little room during transit but conveniently holds large plastic trash bags in camp.  I've since discovered leaf bag  holders designed to  hold large contractor trash bags for yard work that work the same way.  These collapsible containers are a handy way to handle trash in camp.

Incinerating your trash.  You can often reduce the amount of trash you have to store and bring home by burning combustible stuff in your campfire.   Make sure there are no pressurized containers (like whipped cream, shaving cream, paint, or cleaning supplies) in the trash you put into the campfire.  Otherwise you're going to get a nasty surprise that may cause serious injuries when the cans explode.  Even tightly capped plastic water and soda bottles can explode with surprising force when they heat up, not to mention the toxic fumes from burning the plastic.  While plastic bottles don't generate the kind of lethal shrapnel that metal cans do, the explosions can send out a rain of hot coals and flaming debris.   Don't put batteries in the campfire.   They do not burn well, actually, not at all! However, paper goods (plates, napkins, cups, bowls, and packaging) can be burned.  Some folks prefer to avoid styrofoam or other plastic containers as they think they may emit toxic fumes when they burn, if you burn a lot at one time.    Most of the vapors from burning styrofoam are water and carbon dioxide, but they also emit a small amount of styrene and incomplete burning may result in carbon soot.   Tin and aluminum cans often find their way into fire pits, but someone will just have to fish them out and cart them away sooner or later. Some light-weight aluminum cans may melt and even burn in a very hot fire, but here again, you don't want to be breathing the fumes from burning metal.  Campfire coals can  get surprisingly hot, especially if they are fanned by a light breeze, which effectively acts like a blacksmith's bellows.  Aluminum vapor doesn't make a good lining for your lungs!   Better to crush cans and keep them separate for proper disposal or, better yet, recycling.   Crushing them reduces the space they'll take up and can be made into a game for the young people in camp.  Stomping down aluminum cans is pretty easy.   I've seen guys who think they're macho, smash them against their foreheads, but I certainly don't condone or recommend the practice!   Putting non-combustible materials in your campfire will soon fill the fire pit and make it ineffective and unsafe.   You can probably get away with burning paper plates that still have food on them if no one is sitting around the campfire.   Burning food can sometimes produce offensive odors, so burn such things before people gather around the fire or after they've gone or, at the very least, get their permission before dumping a bunch of smelly garbage into the fire.  Wet kitchen garbage won't burn well and may smolder and give off smoke and offensive odors for a long time.  Some people are allergic to certain foods, and exposing them to the smoke could cause serious reactions.  If you insist on burning your peanut shells, you may need to have an epi-pen handy to counteract the anaphylactic shock that can result from an allergic reaction in someone who is allergic to peanuts.  Be considerate.

Tent campers should follow the advice above for controlling outdoor trash.   You may also find it convenient to hang a grocery bag inside your tent to collect candy wrappers, napkins, tissues, etc.  Another convenient spot for a trash bag is near your "kitchen" area or on the picnic table.  Having a place to collect trash instead of leaving it all over the place keeps your tent and your camp site neat and tidy and will save you a lot of time chasing errant trash and cleaning up at the end of the trip. Leaving trash lying around inside your tent invites pests -- insects and vermin -- that may chew up your gear as well as leave unwelcome, unpleasant, and unsanitary droppings.

Make it convenient.  The secret to keeping trash under control is to make it convenient to put it where it belongs.  Have trash cans or bags close where ever you are opening packages or preparing food.  Clamp one to the end of your picnic table.   Hang one on a door handle of your vehicle or RV. If you have to go all the way to the trash can in the shower in your RV to get rid of a hand full of trash it is likely to end up left out and get blown away.  But if you have trash bag handy, you can keep it all together and make only one trip to the trash can at the end of the activity.  Keep a bag near the entrance to your tent.   You might have a tendency to push it back out of the way, but then it won't get used.   Few RVs have garbage disposals.   Adding more solid waste to holding tanks isn't a very practical thing to do.   So food wastes go into the garbage.   Using small trash cans or bags and emptying to disposing of them frequently helps prevent the accumulation of smelly garbage in your tent or RV.

Collapsible trash cans are a convenient way to corral camp trash.  They are inexpensive and take up little room in transit.  Line them with a plastic bag to avoid permanent stains and odors.  The bags can be deposited in the local dumpster or tied tight and hauled home for proper disposal.   Collapsible trash cans come in a variety of sizes so they can be easily adapted to just about any need -- kitchen, bathroom, or outdoors.  They are especially useful when you have a place to dispose of the bags of trash so you can close them down again for the trip home.   Before the nylon collapsible trash bags became readily available, I cut down some inexpensive camp chairs to make them into trash bag holders.   Essentially I reduced the chairs to their metal frameworks and removed the backrests, leaving a 4-posted collapsible frame to which I could attach trash bags.  Worked like a charm. Another handy tip is to use or re-purpose an old collapsible clothes hamper as a trash bag holder.

At the end of your outing, have everyone make a pass through your campsite and adjacent areas and pick up an errant trash that has managed to escape.  When I was in the army they called it "policing the area" and the drill sergeant who sent us out  about arms length apart barked all he wanted to see was "backsides and elbows".  Of course his exact words were a little more colorful but you get the picture.  That way you leave the site in good condition for the next camper (who could be you again!).  If you leave your trash behind you invite the next person to do the same.  If you clean it up, you're setting a good example and encouraging subsequent users to keep it clean. Involving everyone in your group will also help them appreciate how important is it keep control of their trash through the outing and make the task go faster.

Most developed campgrounds have large trash receptacles (cans or even dumpsters) for your use but when boondocking you'll be responsible for hauling out your own trash.    Never leave your trash bags in camp or along the road.   Be sure to close the lids on any public trash receptacles when you use them.

Make sure any leftover trash you have to take home is well contained.  Tie off plastic trash bags, even those in waste baskets to prevent them getting spilled and to control foul odors.  Double-bag anything that has potential for making a mess -- things with sharp edges and particularly nasty or gooey stuff. I'd rather waste a couple of trash bags than have to scrub crud out of my carpet or have it seep under cabinets!   Ordinary plastic grocery bags make pretty good trash bags.   For larger, stronger choices, purchase kitchen trash bags or even contractor trash bags.

Keep it clean!