Teaching LNT

Well I gave my first Leave No Trace presentation to a group of twenty-odd high schoolers. Forgot to take any video for the Mast website, doh! Oh, well, I don't work there anymore anyways :) Overall, I think it went pretty well. For any one who is interested, Leave No Trace is a non-profit organization who promotes education and awareness of the land ethic-as Aldo Leopold (I had to look him up too) aptly put it, "The LAND ETHIC simply ENLARGES the boundaries of the COMMUNITY to include....the LAND."

I really like this quote, because, as a person who is about to embark on a cross-country quest of exploration, (personal) discovery, and creating memories with family and the land, the parks, wilderness areas, and cities of this nation then truly become...my community.

There are seven principles. I won't list them-easy to find online. My awareness workshop with the high schoolers went like this:

1) a brief overview of history, need, and principles of LNT

2) split group of twenty-six into four groups of six. gave each some camping gear: tent, food/cooking stuff, mound fire stuff, and emergency survival/first aid kit/navigation stuff.

3) had each group play around with above stuff and share with the group how LNT applied to the items and/or how to responsibly use the equipment in a LNT way.

4) did a short talk about pooping in the woods. gave out pieces of brown felt to represent poops, and had five volunteers show (by placing brown felt on grass in a general area) how quickly human waste can add up in an area and how important it is to follow guidelines for properly disposing of it.

     Pretty much it. I think I'd like to do more with public LNT workshops; though, I'd like to work with an audience a little more interested in what I have to say.

     LNT is dynomite!!!!