A Friday Night Rant

[n2916s]

Been on the road for two weeks now and in our 4th campground (a state park in Kentucky).

For the 2nd time we have been greeted by a fire ring/grill absolutely filled with cigarette butts. In this case the previous occupants (the butts are dry so very fresh) either sat at the site's picnic table chain-smoking and flicking their butts into the ring or they emptied all their ashtrays in there before leaving.

Either way, yuck. Did they think I wanted to stoke up a campfire and enjoy the fine aroma of twice-burned nicotine? Or that I would enjoy a mentholated S'mores?

Sorry but this kind of stuff just fries me. I'll go back to sulking now.

mike

[clancy_boy]

Sad, but if that is the only thing they left you then you were lucky.

Once found a ripped open baby disposable diaper in a fire ring not even chared so they just tossed it for the next guy (ME) to deal with. YUKKKKKkkkkkkkkkkk

[moosetags]

Why do some people have to be such inconsiderate turds? If there were true justice these people would be made to eat the cigarette butts and poopy diapers that they leave around for others to deal with.

Brian

[maxandgeorgia]

Maybe that's why we enjoy the FS sites when we can stay. Even though most are primitive or offer only very basic services, the sites are usually very clean, firerings clear of junk, debris of the human kind not to be found. Pinecones, needles, rocks, and such things may litter the area, but that is natural and we love it. Hosts deserve many thanks for the work they do to keep those campgrounds fresh and desireable, Many resort-style camps clean up sites to the point of sweeping or blowing the ground, but as your "rant" implies, too many campers think little of the campers who follow them, and some campgrounds seem just to collect the $$ when you arrive and consider their responsibility ends there. When on the road we always try to go by the Brownie Scout motto I grew up with and passed on to my little girl troops, my classroom students, and my own children: always leave a place nicer and cleaner than you found it. Best wishes for clean fire rings and freedom from yucky human-kind litter for the rest of your trip And that goes for all of us on the road in our Airstreams and Argosies this summer! ~G

[PizzaChop]

Count your blessings...at least you're camping!

[RivetED]

You might be ready to try some boon-docking...

[Stefrobrts]

I don't know about boondocking, at some of the scenic spots we've hiked to on BLM land we've found beer bottles a'plenty and shot up old cars. I think there are some variety of humans that do their best to leave a mess wherever they go. You can just hope to avoid them most of the time!

[TBRich]

Some people are just pigs. But then we all knew that, right? Too bad about the fire ring full of butts, Mike. They could have at least had a fire and burned them...or better yet used an ash tray and put them in the garbage. We camp a lot in state parks and find most of them to be pretty clean. We'd like to think it's the way the previous campers left them, but in some cases it's because the hosts clean them up. We pick up anything that is not natural in a site (whether it's ours or not) like cig butts, bottle caps, etc just to leave it cleaner...and we take a kitchen plastic bag with us when we take walks to pick up trash along the trails that others have left behind. We've been known to pick up after people who don't pick up after their dogs (my personal pet peeve)...not something I like to do, but it's better than leaving it there for the next person to step in. It's sad that so many people think so little of public places and leave a mess. They should stay home and make the mess in their own homes.

[eubank]

Oh, man, don't even get me started on this one! Some of the smokers that come here to the park are just pigs (in spite of the fact that we provide outdoor ashcans for them). And the worst is during the ski season: Just flick that cigarette into the snow, and it just disappears. (Yeah, right. Once the snow melts, I get to wander the park to pick up all the soggy butts.)


Lynn

[azflycaster]

The folks that dump all of there trash in the fire pit and leave really get to me. How tough is it to throw the trash bag in the back of the truck and drive it to a dumpster. If there is no dumpster, take it home.

[RivetED]

Smoking, litter....let me see; never mind, this could be a dangerous 'soap-box' to jump on.....

[Isadora]

I guess at least they flicked their butts into the fire ring, they could have just been all over the ground everywhere. Some people are just slobs, you can't go anywhere without seeing something somebody has tossed out, and the grossest things usually. It was interesting to note today that there are now trash cans attached to the cart parks at our local Walmart.......I hope this is a trend. Now if only people will use them. I have been frustrated going to a park or other public are where there were NO trash cans. Most people won't carry their trash out and if there is no where to put it, it goes on the ground. Or trash cans filled so overflowing that you can't get another thing into them. Sorry for your bad experience, I hate it when anything like that happens to the joy of our outdoor experiences. If only we could teach everyone to go and come and leave no traces and leave something better than it was when you came. We always travel with a couple of plastic grocery bags in our pockets, and when we leave, they are usually full when we put them in the park trashcan.

[yakman]

OOh good, a chance to pick on smokers. It disgusts me to sit at a stop light and look down at the curb and see all the butts that have been tossed on the ground. When I was in the Army, smokers were taught to field dress their cig and take the butt with them in their pocket. A fire ring littered with butts would chap me too. I have seen a couple of communities around town here with signs posting "Cigarette Butts are Litter." It's a start. I was walking into work one day when a co-worker threw his burning butt to the curb prior to walking in. I said, hey where do you think that goes? It'll be here tomorrow and the next day and so on.. he replied, we have people to pick that up. ?? I don't think the majority of them understand the whole litter concept of the cigarette butt.

cheers,

-yakman

[Fyrzowt]

Not to start a "smokers rant" - but there are so many smokers, (not all) who seem to think that the earth is their own personal ashtray. They walk up to the front door and drop their butt at the entrance, or on the sidewalk or just toss it in the bushes.
There are those who just blow their smoke anywhere, with no consideration for those around them.

There are also those few smokers who properly dispose of their butts and will blow their smoke away from you.
If you are one of these, thank you.
Dave

[DEITZ645]

I too find the amount of litter I see repulsive. Whether it be cigarette butts or other leavings from people walking this earth. I too go out of my way to pick up trash and dispose of it properly. I find it makes me feel good to know I am doing my little part to keep our public and private spaces clean. I often think of that old commercial with the American Indian watching litter bugs with a tear in his eyes, and it still gets to me.

YouTube - The Crying Indian Commercial

In Boy Scouts I was always taught to take only pictures, leave only foot prints, and kill only time. Then later in SCUBA diving it turned into take only pictures, leave only bubbles, and kill only time. Simple words and I try to live by them wherever I am.

[whitsend]

Dave said "There are also those few smokers who properly dispose of their butts and will blow their smoke away from you. If you are one of these, thank you."

Thank you Dave. My back was getting pretty sore. And please do note: - I am not defending anyone, but not all smokers deserve to be put in the same filthy ashtray, fire ring or dung heap. I find a pile of cigarette butts just as offensive as the next person. I will ALWAYS move downwind from who ever I am with before lighting up. If there is no acceptable place to dispose of my "butt", I take it with me. In 60+ years of camping, nobody has EVER had to tell me to clean up my campsite before leaving - that's just being a good citizen / camper / lover of the outdoors AND Airstreamer. I know it's fashionable to bash smokers. And many do deserve it. But not all smokers deserve to be put in those crappy categories. I'm not proud of my habit, but those who love aluminum shouldn't be the 1st to throw stones. Most everyone I know has a behavior that I could find offensive, if I chose to.

[DEITZ645]

I think if you are the kind of person that frequents this forum you are also the kind of person that will leave an area better than you found it. So we may be preaching / ranting to the choir

[monocoque]

Originally Posted by DEITZ645

In Boy Scouts I was always taught to take only pictures, leave only foot prints, and kill only time. Then later in SCUBA diving it turned into take only pictures, leave only bubbles, and kill only time. Simple words and I try to live by them wherever I am.

Here, here for the BSA, Boy Scouts of America. I'm afraid the scouts aren't so popular these days. We were always taught to absolutely Leave No Trace. So when leaving an area we would spend hours canvassing and repairing the scene and picking up even the smallest residue of our stay. Thanks for the reminder! It's a valuable rant and something us humans should remember concerning not only our campsites but the Earth and the Universe at large!

[DEITZ645]

Originally Posted by monocoque

Here, here for the BSA, Boy Scouts of America.

Todd,
Once an Eagle Scout...Always and Eagle Scout.

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Whitsend

Dave said "There are also those few smokers who properly dispose of their butts and will blow their smoke away from you. If you are one of these, thank you."

Thank you Dave. My back was getting pretty sore. And please do note: - I am not defending anyone, but not all smokers deserve to be put in the same filthy ashtray, fire ring or dung heap. I find a pile of cigarette butts just as offensive as the next person. I will ALWAYS move downwind from who ever I am with before lighting up. If there is no acceptable place to dispose of my "butt", I take it with me. In 60+ years of camping, nobody has EVER had to tell me to clean up my campsite before leaving - that's just being a good citizen / camper / lover of the outdoors AND Airstreamer. I know it's fashionable to bash smokers. And many do deserve it. But not all smokers deserve to be put in those crappy categories. I'm not proud of my habit, but those who love aluminum shouldn't be the 1st to throw stones. Most everyone I know has a behavior that I could find offensive, if I chose to.

Maybe you ought to defend them, friend. On the scale of being offensive (for those whom television is not the single reference to good culture), loud music along with heavy drinking in a nearby site is offensive; running one or two generators constantly is offensive (the sound is one thing, the pollution another; cigarets aren't even close); leaving smelly trash is offensive(fisherman w/o conscience); pet poop, and so forth.

You want offensive, try a triple slide fifth-wheel in an older, narrow-lot campground who has no concern for the "outdoor space" of his neighbors.

On the scale of things, some cig butts that can be lit up or thrown away (no different than twigs or leaves) is pretty low-level stuff.