Hikers Pack 1,000 Pounds Of Trash Off Appalachian Trail

The trio of do-gooders — Seth Orme, Joe Dehnert, and Paul Twedt — named their effort the Packing It Out initiative. Their goal was the removal of more than 1,000 pounds of litter as they hiked from Georgia to Maine.

They hit the trail in March, and by August 15th had met the goal. To remove this much debris they relied on the help and generosity of good samaritans who packed litter out to trailhead garbage cans and recycling bins near the route.

Orme said people were more than willing to help once they found out the cause. The men were even offered food and housing along the way.

To weigh the trash the three used a cheap (and light!) luggage scale. They estimated that at certain parts of the trail you could collect 1 pound of garbage per mile.

The idea to pick up garbage while hiking was born out of Orme’s desire to hike the Appalachian Trail as a young boy. But over the years he noticed his local hiking trails were getting gummed up with trash.

Seth’s premise is simple — if people start to clean up trails from years of discarded waste the cleaner environment may deter the next person from littering.

Read full story…

 

The following are paid links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.