Leave No Trace

[Bryan]

I have been hiking on the Appalachian Trail. One thing I notice is the total lack of trash or damage from previous hikers. All I see is footprints! The "Leave No Trace" policy is working and I would like to see all of our members not only practice this on the Great Wall (they probably already do), but also try to encourage others to do the same.

[PWCCA]

I agree. Whatever you bring to the Great Wall must also come home with you, that includes plastic bottles and wrappers. I always bring mine back (mainly because I recycle). But it seems the big problem is not the general hikers, its local Chinese visitors. They treat the place like a cross between a theme park and a refuse dump and its rather frustrating. It seems the majority of people that want to conserve, protect and clean the wall are the foreigners.
The general Chinese population need to be educated in the importance of protecting their cultural artefacts. Too much has been carelessly lost and destroyed over the past 100 years (most of it in the last 50 years), they should actively protect what is left without letting carelessness, laziness and stupidity destroy the rest.

[chinoook]

It is somewhat different in the Wild West. If you carry along your plastic bottles or (Alkaline) batteries and dump it somewhere in the next village all the people do with it is to throw it into the desert again ...
Plastic bottles won't last forever, they are instable to UV light. And batteries (without Cd and Hg) will decay without that much damage.
Also important is the weight factor, everything oyu leave behind does'nt have to be carried further on.


-chinoook

[Kim]

Both plastic bottles and batteries will decay eventually but it will take a long time unless the bottles is produces by special degradable plastic but that is hardly the case in China. Although todays alkaline batteries does not contain the heavy metals as in the past they still contain some xenobiotic substances that should not be left in the enviroment.

I can understand the problems during a long hike and it might be difficult to dispose the waster in a proper manner. I'm also aware that the batteries in China probably end up somewhere in nature anyway.

At least in some parts of China you will often meet people collecting plastic bottles and sometimes even on the Great Wall - they can sell it and get some money but not much - so no need to throw it over the wall.

I normally use a hydration pack and leave the bottles in the dustbin or in the car.