Does camping harm the planet?

[crofter]

Wow these people think camping causes irreparable harm to the planet. Like the world is  a museum in a glass case, not a living organism.

Some people think that living in harmony with nature, and being in nature is a healing of both people and the planet. Which is true, or is ithe truth something else?

-crofter

Description: article about effects of unregulated campers.

https://www.popsci.com/national-park-recovery-soil/

 

[Firebuild]

I take this article to mean camping, off-roading, etc., in areas not designated for that, taking advantage of the lack of staff to use land set aside for other reasons for recreational purposes. I'd venture to say that what they describe is a real problem, but it does't have anything to do with the legitimate use of areas where dispersed camping is allowed. That doesn't mean, of course, that fingers will not get pointed in the wrong direction.

 

[crofter]

I voted for the healing and harmony answers. 

People do everything in parks that they do everywhere else on the planet. The experience of being in nature is healing for people, and because nature is a living organism, has the power of regenerative healing of the natural system also.
-crofter

 

[crofter]

I take this article to mean camping, off-roading, etc., in areas not designated for that, taking advantage of the lack of staff to use land set aside for other reasons for recreational purposes. I'd venture to say that what they describe is a real problem, but it does't have anything to do with the legitimate use of areas where dispersed camping is allowed. That doesn't mean, of course, that fingers will not get pointed in the wrong direction.

But right or wrong, do you think nature can't recover from camping?
-crofter

 

[eDJ_]

[font='droid sans', sans-serif]I voted something else. [/font]

[font='droid sans', sans-serif]I think the greatest impact is the number of people populating the planet.   We have nearly 10 billion population on earth now.[/font]

[font='droid sans', sans-serif]When more and more of these people go "camping"  and have little training or regard for the impact they are having[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]on the environment,  it leaves a lasting mark.  Sure nature will slowly recover but it is like a repetitive stress injury that will[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]take much longer to overcome. [/font]

[font='droid sans', sans-serif]Industries that make RV's in any form are only concerned with sales and investors.  Their last concern seems to be is for the[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]environments that people will "camp" in.  (but listen to them bellyache about "tree huggers" and the *%^*^% Guvermint when standards or limits [/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]are imposed on their industry......bubbut....we're ringing our cash registers here and getting really rich.....what those lousy people do with the stuff[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]we sell isn't our problem.  But do any of them offer a DVD with each new unit they sell that teaches the buyer good stewardship of the environment ?[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif](even though it could lead to the long term health & welfare of their industry)[/font]


[font='droid sans', sans-serif]Speaking for myself,  I would rather rough camp in my home built rig and leave the site in such condition that you wouldn't know I had been there.[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]This means I carry gear along for all of my needs,   so that I don't have to take a hand axe and go chopping & cutting poles[/font]
[font='droid sans', sans-serif]for my awnings,  tent pegs for guy lines, and the like that would impact where I stayed.[/font]

[font='droid sans', sans-serif]Check out this Youtube video regarding water which most of us think we have so much of.[/font]

[font='droid sans', sans-serif]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaprdHfi...BjLDW5EcZU[/font]

 

[nature lover]

I checked both - Camping causes irreparable harm and Nature is healing - both seem true to a certain extent.

That fact is the life causes irreparable harm to the planet. "Our mission should we choose to accept it" is to make every effort to do as little harm as we can. In sticks and bricks or in a home with wheels. Even we proud nomads could do much more. The harm we do to the planet is not just what the eye can see when we move from one campsite to another. We run our gas engines to travel from camp to camp. We try to create as little trash as possible but we each create some. We leave behind our human waste (being actively discussed on another thread) The equipment, including vehicles, we use is made in factories that pollute a lot or at least a little. Even the clothes on our backs are made in factories. I for one love the gift God has given us in the planet but I am not willing to walk naked from place to place never buying anything or using anything that is not renewable, no cell phone or towers, no computer, no roads... I choose to be aware of the effect my life has on the earth and pray for the wisdom to limit my part of the damage to a minimum. Not much more that we can do than that; except to encourage others to be aware and do the same.

OK - I'm done preaching.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

- Other -

The problem is that so many of our population has been divorced from nature so they don't have any idea of the damage they do.

This is a result of high population densities where people have a very distorted view of nature. At the same time have a primal need to 'get back to nature'.

Add to this the 'if it feels good, do it' mentality people don't care about the damage they leave in their wake.

 

[WanderingRose]

I voted with healing and harmony, too.

Tho I believe most things can be turned harmful, depending on our individual choices.

Be considerate of those around you and those who will come after you.

Leave no trace and if possible leave every site better than you found it.

 

[Trebor English]

A landfill accumulates trash in one location.  Spreading the trash thinly over a large area makes a large area messed up.  Concentrating the trash makes the larger area nicer.  When you "pack it out" you make the large area nicer. 

When you go to the landfill it's a mess.  It is a very dirty place.  Nobody talks about cleaning it up.  As nasty as the landfill is it allows the large area to be nice.

Cities like Miami, LA, and Manhattan are like a landfill.  The population is concentrated.  People are piled up in high rise buildings.  Having the people concentrated allows the large area to be nice. 

The people who escape from the big city contribute to the large area becoming populated.  The large area becomes less nice.  

The difference is that people benefit from being out of the big city while trash gets no benefit from being spread around.  Some people need to be concentrated while others need to be in the large area, camping.  The benefit will have a cost.  Each of us is responsible for reducing the cost that we bring.

 

[jacqueg]

I didn't vote, because I agree with all of them to a certain extent.

If you've done a lot of camping, you know that people use the outdoors in all kinds of ways.

For instance, the folks who are out here today racing their dirt bikes and ATVs up and down this dirt road are undoubtedly having a whale of a time, and will probably be talking for several days about how great it was and how good they feel. But I question how much nature has to do with it.

 

[Rhianntp]

The planet doesn't care what we do at all. Everything we consider to be important means absolutely nothing to a planet or a solar system. Who are we to assume which species is preferable and why ? I'm sure the dinosaurs thought they were pretty important and had an impact on the planet...they meant absolutely nothing at all other than a source of oil for us to use as we see fit. People wring their hands over a couple hundred years of cow flatulence for cheeseburgers... how much did an average brontosaurus fart in a given year? How about collectively over a couple hundred million years? Lighten up When we are gone it wont even take 50,000 years to erase every and any trace that homosapiens ever existed. So, camp, enjoy what small amount of time we get.. <3

 

[B and C]

The human race harms the planet. It is just a matter of degree as to how much harm each of us does.

 

[1shemp]

Pretty funny,asking people on a van dwelling sight about camping.That is comparable to asking an eskimo if a fire feels good in winter.

 

[crofter]

In harmony with nature guides us to harmony with cycles of regeneration and renewal. Most garbage and waste can be seperated and processed to become fertilizer, needed for regeneration of plants. 

Due to our mobile life, we rely on systems of reuse that are already set up in areas we frequent. Those who have a home base can set up such a system. Much improvement is needed to convert all our waste into resource, and land managers are often not interested in this path.

-crofter

 

[crofter]

Pretty funny,asking people on a van dwelling sight about camping.That is comparable to asking an eskimo if a fire feels good in winter.

The article in original post blames campers, atv drivers, and others for doing irreparable harm to the Joshua Tree area during covid-19 lockdown. 

This group of dwellers should be able to come up with a rebuttal to that view. Many dwellers truly "leave no trace." But is any damage actually irreparable? Even the Chernoble crater still has wildlife in it. 
-crofter

 

[desert_sailing]

The article in original post blames campers, atv drivers, and others for doing irreparable harm to the Joshua Tree area during covid-19 lockdown. 

This group of dwellers should be able to come up with a rebuttal to that view. Many dwellers truly "leave no trace." But is any damage actually irreparable? Even the Chernoble crater still has wildlife in it. 
-crofter

Harm is such a highly subjective term that could never find consent among even 2 people let alone billions.

People squack about rising temps and co2.

Yet study after study shows that increases in co2 increases plant growth and yield. Is this the answer to an ever increasing population that needs to be fed or is it damage?

Glaciers are remnants of the ice age which was anomolous. With droughts all over the  planet is it really such a bad thing that these vestiges of a catastrophe release their abundance back to the earth?

The World is NOT static tho the masses  living in bubbles wish it were and desperately try to make everyone believe in that narrow perspective.

Is it really a bad thing for the cycle if humans create  such a toxic environment it results in their own paring down?

Nothing is 100% helpful or harmful, good or bad.

Claiming that something is irreparably harmed shows a severe lack of knowledge and is merely looking through a very narrow lens.

I am of the strong belief that ANYONE living in a large city should NOT be involved with any policy that has to do with the environment.

I am addressing the article and not any specific post. Just sharing my view, not judging yours.

 

[Tony's Dream]

I think that people harm nature when they don't understand it. They don't practice sound principles like.....hike it in and hike it out. They come in, trash the place and think someone else will clean it up. I have camped next to people who come in.....cut down trees for fire wood....drive their off road vehicles in areas not designated for it......and have little or no concern for everyone around them. They dump beer bottles and beer cans in the fire pits......like those will burn? They go to national forests and think its OK to take objects out of the parks (rocks, fossils, and large pine cones). If we practice good stewardship, nature will be here forever.

 

[crofter]

Agree with that one.
-crofter

 

[GypsyJan]

It depends on the person.....there are some real idiots out there now. I think we should have to earn a license to camp by passing several courses aimed at safety and protecting the environment we encounter.

 

[nature lover]

GypsyJan - sounds good at first glance but there is too much government interference in our lives now. I wish we nomads could just fly below the radar and keep the government out of our hair. So but, you are right, something needs to be done. Maybe we need to police and educate our own ranks with youtube, forums and rtr like events - get the word out. AND - we can report the abuse of others - expose their abuse to our community (shame them) - and because there are already laws in place we need to report them to authorities. Also even though we did not make their mess if we each spent an hour or two every week picking up trash and messes the others made it would make a large difference. I adopted a beautiful back road with several campsites along it and called myself God's janitor. Makes improvements and sets a good example.