Pick Up that Peel

This article by Jeff Swystun originally appeared in The Tremblant Express, February issue, 2021.

Hiking’s simple rule is, leave only footprints. I like to say, try to avoid that too. Often I see people avoiding a puddle, widening the trail unnecessarily. Or arranging rocks into a cairn, picking wildflowers, and disturbing wildlife. All of which, have impact.

Among the worst offences, is littering. I hike with garbage bags and frequently retrieve other’s trash all four seasons. Hikers are not only to blame. I have collected drink cans left by skiers and snowboarders. A deserted campsite I happened across, resembled the Roanoke settlement. It was as if the people disappeared but left their garbage behind.

This is happening more as urban dwellers head outdoors due to the pandemic. North American park systems have shut down trails because of overwhelming traffic, novices getting into trouble, and sickening amounts of trash and human waste.

Am I saint? Not at all. Until recently, I spit sunflower seeds along trails, spilled raisins and left them, or pitched my apple core into the snow. It seemed, “right”. After all, it wasn’t a wrapper or can, it was, “natural”. 

Thanks to new research and a timely article in Popular Science, I have been educated. The article states, “the orange peel or handful of trail mix you toss on the ground can cause a lot more damage than you may think. It could take years to biodegrade, endanger animals, or even put other people at risk.”

Food scraps are biodegradable. But tossing something in nature is not the same as your compost bin where certain conditions speed the process. Those conditions don’t exist in nature. It may take two years outdoors to breakdown a banana peel. More importantly, that peel shouldn’t be there in the first place. Always ask yourself, “Would this item be here if I wasn’t?”

These items impact wildlife. “Animals have a stupendously advanced sense of smell compared to us,” says Jeff Marion, a biologist. “When you throw food out, it’s basically a neon light to all sorts of animals.” This leads to animals losing their wariness of humans, ultimately endangering them.

“Even tiny amounts of food or discarded food wrappers that could never sustain a large animal are sufficient to create strong food attraction behaviors,” says Marion, drawing parallels to family dogs that hover near the table at dinnertime. “That apple core or spilled noodles that decompose in a month or two are problematic.”

Human food makes animals ill, lures them to vehicle traffic, and confuses them as to what can be consumed. At Grand Canyon National Park, 22 food-attracted but malnourished deer were found to have five pounds of plastic and foil food packaging obstructing their intestines after autopsies.

If this is not convincing, consider your own safety. Many outdoorists say, “A fed bear is a dead bear.” That is because they become aggressive with humans. The same goes for deer and raccoons. Once started, if the human food supply is stopped, wildlife go wild. That’s when bears enter cabins and loot campsites. It can lead to them being put down or traumatically relocated.

To prevent these effects, bring absolutely everything back with you. Even burning or burying is not the way to go. Fire pits are one of the first areas wildlife investigate. Always pack a few trash bags or zip-top bags for scraps, toilet paper, and wrappers. If you pass other packaging and food waste on the trail, pick it up. Popular Science writes, “while negative individual impacts can have a harmful cumulative effect outdoors, positive individual impacts do just the opposite!”

We are temporary visitors to wildlife habitats. It’s our responsibility to protect them by adopting low-impact Leave No Trace practices. After all, would you want someone visiting your home and leaving their trash behind?