News & Updates

Home-Centric Leave No Trace Learning During the COVID Crisis

Guest - March 16, 2020

As all of us are mandated to socially distance or stay at home, the fear of going stir crazy is definitely a worry. Why not expand your mind as you imagine enjoying the great expanse of the natural world once this crisis is over? These three recommendations will help you explore outdoor ethics and brush up on your Leave No Trace skills in the meantime.

1. Study and Explore Your Own Outdoor Ethic

“The land ethic simply enlarges the boundaries of the community to include… the land.”-Aldo Leopold. Ethics can be defined as “the body of moral principles or values governing or distinctive of a particular culture or group”, or as “the study of competing (and subjective) moral values; along with a variety of other definitions. Exploring your own Outdoor Ethic can help you find your inner compass that can help guide your decision making of how you can best minimize your impacts on the natural world. Check out our list of suggested books to expand your ideas on outdoor ethics and what is considered the natural world:

5 Books to Expand Your Ideas on Nature

Wilderness Ethics 

Backwoods Ethics

2. Learn and Review The 7 Principles

Once you feel grounded in your understanding of outdoor ethics, The 7 Principles are a great tool to help guide you on your outdoor adventures. Leave No Trace is essentially a framework for making good decisions outside, and The 7 Principles are guidelines that can help you determine how you can make choices that best minimize your impacts on the natural world every day. Have kiddos around? Learn The Leave No Trace 7 Principles Hand Signs for Youth together with this helpful video!

3. Take The Leave No Trace Online Awareness Course

Want to expand your Leave No Trace knowledge even more? We have a free online Leave No Trace Awareness Course that you can take anywhere, anytime!

Leave No Trace Online Awareness Course

The need for community and friendship is so important, especially when we are spending more time indoors and away from one another. Once you’ve tried one, two, or all three recommendations, call a friend and share and discuss what you have learned about outdoor ethics, Leave No Trace, and ways that you can best minimize your impacts on your next outdoor adventure.

Stay healthy, be well, Enjoy Your World and Leave No Trace.

Let’s protect and enjoy our natural world together

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