Leave No Trace

Leave No Trace. I thought I had a thorough understanding of this concept as I sat in a hotel lobby in Tanzania. The following day, we would begin our ascent of Mt. Kilimanjaro – 5 days up and 2 days down. To be honest, I did not know much about climbing. I had experience hiking, but I had never journeyed this high – almost 19,000 feet. I was traveling with a group of 11 other high school students who were in a similar boat as I was. We were told that as long as we were in good enough shape to walk for hours at a time, we would be okay. The path we were taking was not technically challenging – we just had to walk “pole, pole” which translates to “slowly, slowly.”

Mt. Kilimanjaro (2017)

The first day on the trail, we stopped to eat a snack after walking for a few hours. Once I had eaten my apple down to the core, I asked if it was okay to throw it into the woods. This is what I would have done with an apple core at home. I had always figured that it made a good snack for animals that came upon it. I was quickly told that leaving the core was littering. Leave no trace. This moment made me realize the true significance of this statement. To leave no trace means to leave an environment as if you were never there. The guides explained to us that it is okay to eat the entire apple core, so we did.

I was extremely blessed to have had this opportunity, especially during a time of year when the mountain was not super crowded. On the morning we summited the peak, we saw only two other groups. Although we woke up at 3 a.m. in the pitch black and walked “pole, pole” for hours before we saw the sun, I was amazed to see snow in the distance. I never in a million years thought I would see snow in Africa. Our guides explained to us that the snow had been disappearing over the years due to global warming and told us that if our future children ever made it to the top, they would not see any snow.

Uhuru Peak, Mt. Kilimanjaro (2017)

Leave no trace. Although we can make personal changes to limit the negative effects of human endeavors on the environment, it is impossible to reverse the global changes that have forever transformed nature. As Joni Mitchell sings in “Big Yellow Taxi,” “you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.” It is not until a species is on the verge of extinction that we decide to take the drastic measures needed to preserve natural habitats. It is not until we are threatened with food shortages that we begin to appreciate the value of the land. It is not until we are plagued by natural disasters that we finally realize the power of nature. In “Mercy Mercy Me,” Gaye pleads, “How much more abuse from man can she stand?”. We take and take from nature, giving back the bare minimum just so we can continue to take more.

I like this picture because it shows how both accidental and purposeful human actions impact the environment. While our eyes might initially be drawn to the plastic caught in the foliage, I think it is also worthwhile to note that the overpass is now a permanent, man-made addition to the Trinity River.