We are lucky to be able to enjoy all that nature provides us. And everyone should be able to enjoy that same beauty. It not only gives us peace of mind and builds our resiliency, it provides shelter for us and feeds us. So it is essential for us to do our part to Leave No Trace.

Leave No Trace is a set of seven principles to minimize our impact on the outdoors whenever we’re out there, so that we can continue to enjoy it and allow it to be healthy and free.

It started primarily as principles shared among backpackers going to live off the land, but they’ve been adapted to be applied everywhere - camping, hiking, exploring, fishing, anything.

The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics does the best job of providing the most thorough information on the principles, so we’re going to give you the lowdown and focus on how you can turn it into a teaching moment and memorable moment for your kids.

For a look back on all our waypoints for this car camping series, click here: Summer Summit 2020: Car Camping.

There are seven principles in Leave No Trace:

• • Plan Ahead and Prepare: Research the area you’ll be in and prepare for bad weather.
• • Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces: Stay on trail and pick durable surfaces for camping.
• • Dispose of Waste Properly: Pack out all trash, gear, packaging with you that you brought in.
• • Leave What You Find: Look but don’t touch - this includes plucking flowers and taking home rocks.
• • Minimize Campfire Impacts: Use established fire rings and respect local fire bans and regulations.
• • Respect Wildlife: Observe them from a distance, and never feed them.
• • Be Considerate of Other Visitors: Respect others and maintain distance to allow for nature’s sound to prevail.

Pretty legit, right? It might look like a lot (and sound a little boring), but it’s a lot easier to follow than you think, and it’s best taught outdoors while discovering the fun of all the nature around you. Because it’s really much more about enjoying the outdoors and keeping that enjoyment going.

Click here for the full explanation for each principle.

When you’re out there in nature away from normal life, it’s easy to think you’re one weekend of camping or hiking down the trail doesn’t do much in the grand scheme of things. But it’s the culmination of all those families on all those weekends that requires us to do our part in following the principles.

There’s so much at stake here. Beautiful land, drinkable water, endangered animals, healthy trees, and clean air. It’s all part of what helps us live and breathe. We need to sustain our vibrant natural lands down to the most basic level.

Not putting your campfire out correctly could result in a wildfire. Feeding a chipmunk could make them sick or even dependent on food from people and not able to sustain for themself. Sleeping on soft soil near the water could kill new plants before they get to grow.

It makes an impact, and it’s important for us to do our part.

This is actually pretty easy to do.

A great first way to explain them to your kids is to teach them the hand signals. You can watch a video here.

When you go camping for the weekend, bring up the hand signals as you make your way through the weekend. Then back at camp, see who remembers the hand signals as you laugh and talk about the day.

Choose to do a leaf rubbing with crayons and paper instead of filling their pockets full of rocks.

Before you even get out camping, you can set up a tent at home and leave signs of campers not following the principles, like having food in the tent or leaving trash around, and see who can point out the most.

Place stuffed animals around the house when they’re not looking, and then teach them how to keep their distance or react when it’s unexpected.

The Leave No Trace organization even has a full list of resources specifically for parents to help educate their kids on the seven principles in fun and easy ways. Click here for that list.

When you actually get out there in nature, it can be tough or annoying sometimes to continue following those principles.

A camping ban, for example, could be put in place the day you get there. And when the sun sets that night, you’ll be thinking why not? Because the firefighters already have it hard enough.

So make sure you bring yourself some alternatives. Extra blankets to keep warm. A gas stove to cook food. A battery-powered lantern or even a couple of battery-powered tea lights taped to the bottom of a clear, plastic water bottle will do the trick.

The principles aren’t just for weekend camping trips, though. If you teach your kids to follow the Leave No Trace principles in everyday life, it will be easier for them to follow when going gets tough.

If you always recycle at home, they won’t second guess you when you ask them to stash all their trash at camp together in one bag as small as it’ll go. It’s about normalizing respect for the Earth and everything in it. These are morals you want them to have anyway.

The rules and regulations at national and state parks regularly change depending on the weather. There could be fire bans in place, trails closed down for restoration, bear boxes for you to use, so it’s important you always check the website for the area you plan to go. They’ll have the most updated information specific to them.

As far as the Leave No Trace principles, they’re much more steady, but the organization is constantly doing more research and running programs that you and your family can get involved in.

Click here to join their newsletter.

Here’s information specific to COVID-19.

And here’s a link to their Featured Events.

Do it for your kids and their kids and their kids and everyone’s kids.