Best Ways to Preserve Nature While Hiking
There are a lot of very big benefits that you can get from hiking on a regular basis. Studies have shown that people who hike get a great physical workout that can lower their chances of developing heart disease, increase their cardiovascular fitness, and lower their stress levels. There are also mental health benefits for people who hike like less anxiety and an easier time managing symptoms of depression. Spending time in the outdoors can be very healing for people. But it can be very damaging for the natural world when people hike without taking steps like these to protect the natural world that they are enjoying:
Clean Your Boots
Do you clean your boots between hikes? Most hikers don’t. But you should be cleaning your boots after every hike. As you walk along the trail the soles of your boots are picking up dirt, bacteria, and debris. When you don’t clean your boots between hikes you are spreading all that dirt and bacteria to a new area where it can cause a lot of damage because it doesn’t belong there. Take five minutes to clean off your boots after your hike and you can avoid doing a lot of damage to the natural world.
No Shortcuts
Hiking trails are created in parks and other public spaces so that people can walk through and enjoy the natural beauty without causing a lot of damage. You need to stay on those trails so that you’re not ripping up plants, trampling over flowers, destroying young grass, and causing other damage to the natural world. Keep a trail map with you so that if you do go off the trail and get lost you can find the trail again without having to create your own shortcuts through the natural world.
Clean Up Your Trash
It’s surprising how many hikers who should know better leave trash behind when they hike. Always clean up your trash. All of it, including the food scraps that are leftover from your snacks and trail food. Don’t throw your scraps on the ground. Food takes a lot longer than you might think to decompose and while it’s decomposing it’s toxic to the soil and to any animals that might try to eat it. Everything that you bring to the trail should leave with you.
Keep Your Dog On A Leash
It’s fun to hike with your dog, but please remember how much damage dogs can do to the environment and keep your dog on a leash. Dogs that aren’t leashed can cause huge amounts of damage by scaring animals, ripping up plants, breaking branches, and scaring other hikers. Clean up after your dog and keep your dog on a leash to make sure that your dog doesn’t damage the environment unintentionally.
No Plastic Please
Single use plastic is one of the worst things for the environment, but some hikers still use single use plastic bottles for their water. Ditch that plastic and get a sturdy refillable water bottle that you can keep with you when you’re hiking. It will hold more water so that you can stay hydrated on the trail.
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