I don't participate in any kind of organized volunteer work, mainly because of time issues, but I do clean up when I can. I don't see that much garbage while hiking around, but every time I go canoeing, I see quite a bit. I've made it a habit to help clean up the rivers every time I use them, whether it's a discarded mylar balloon caught in a log jam, a plastic bottle floating along the current, or any other junk I happen to see. Sometimes, I find good, useful things, too. I have found a lost canoe paddle, a soccer ball, a basketball, and a fishing rod.

I do exactly the same thing he does. It slays me to see trash in the woods and along trails. So I fill up my backpack with all the trash I can carry and then separate it into trash/recycling/donate when I get back to my car. It really is ridiculous how much crap is just thrown along the trail. I pick it up because if I don't, I feel like no one else will. But everyone deserves to enjoy the beautiful trail and if I have to take a little extra time out there so everyone else can have a good experience, that's fine.

Hi Wade,
Thanks so very much for all the efforts in raising awareness, and the fun of this karma too!
No time is lost and the smallest gesture is always worth it when giving back and passing forward within our wild places...
I just posted today, June 20th, on this in my Blog as well.
Has anyone started a discussion on the forums yet?
See you out there...
DSD

the award's name is quite funny~!
and conservation it is a so good thing everyone we should to do.

go gO GO ~ OSPEC~!

Each winter I volunteer by staffing and leading camping trips for the local Sierra Club's Wilderness Basics Course. During the 10-week course, we train upwards of 200+ students, to participate in the outdoor experience safely and with a minimal impact on the environment.

This year I had a unique student, and older women who was very tentative about any type of camping experience. As it turns out, she was not new to the outdoors, but she was convinced that hiking and camping were lost to her as she was in the middle of chemotherapy treatment for cancer. I convinced her it would be OK and that she could survive the initial car camping trip. I gave her a ride to the campsite, and carried the huge amount of gear she thought she would need to survive.

She survived the first camp-out, regained a little confidence, and was soon signed up for the first backpacking trip. To make a long story short, she went through the rest of the course, slowly gaining strength and experience, and we celebrated the end of the final trip, an overnight snow camping trip in the Sierra in which several feet of snow fell on us and we hiked in snow shoes multiple miles, with high-fives and hugs. The last time I heard from this student, she was full of energy and full of life, working on gaining a little more outdoor experience so that she can begin to lead young cancer survivors into the outdoors. While I can not take responsibility for her recovery or the direction she is taking, I like to think that my service time has provided a vehicle in which this student and the 200+ others can learn and pass on environmentally responsible outdoor adventuring.

[...] first ever OSPEC Awards have been announced. I have listed the winners below. Thanks to all who shared their stories of [...]

[...] our community and ensuring that our outdoor resources are preserved. We hope this year’s OSPEC awards will inspire you again. (Read here to learn what OSPEC stands [...]