LNT campaign, 'tis coming.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Many of you will know my quite vocal distain for fires, litter and the general lack of respect shown for the enviroment and towards those who share it. On occasion I have said that I'd considered some form of 'Leave No Trace' campaign, so I'm here to say that I've made a start on that endevour.

I believe that the problem and more importantly, the solution starts at the top. I can bang on as much as I like but 99% of the time what I say will fall on deaf ears or I'll simply be dismissed as "that miserable b'stard' or such. As individuals our voice just isn't strong enough to carry over the advertising and romantic notions designed to draw folk in to the outdoors. The message needs to be carried by those people at the top, those with the advertising budgets, sponsored athletes, high street shops and million pound turnovers.

The plan is to produce a simple to understand website that explains good practice and the reasons why fires are bad and that disposable BBQ don't biodegrade in 2 weeks, etc, etc. Obviously, it's of no use if people don't visit it and I'm hoping that's where the industry comes in. Companies, shops, websites, fb pages or whatever will be encouraged to display the capaign logo (a bit like they might with 1% for the planet) and encourage their customers to visit and act upon what they see. So far, the response has been positive and I'm hoping that if it takes off then it'll be hard for a member of the industry not to join up. I'm also aiming to persuade the industry that there's other images aside from campfires that can capture peoples imaginations.

Anyway, that's the plan in a nutshell. I'm hoping that I've secured a grant from the Alpkit foundation to help cover website / promotional costs which will be a real help as obviously it's a non-profit kind of affair.

As you were, just knew that some of you would likely be interested.

[sean_iow]

Good work, I applaud you taking this on and a good approach. As you say, when it's just one of us pointing it out it doesn't have the impact it needs to bring about change.

[ianfitz]

Great idea. Count me in

[NewRetroTom]

Great idea! Hope you manage to attract some attention and educate folks to take more care of the places we love.

[middleagedmadness]

Good man yerself there Stu

[Richard G]

Good stuff. I like it.

[faustus]

Great idea, and i really hope it gains traction. Marketing is too good at selling misleading ideas about 'the outdoors'.

Next campaign really needs to be LND = Leave No Dangle, banishing silly notions of hanging tin mugs on the outside of bags/bikes!

[Bearlegged]

Sounds excellent.

You may already be aware of this: http://www.eskapee.com/shorts/lfte-dont-be-a-tosser/
I don't know how far they've got (if at all) with inroads into Big Marketing, but might be worth dropping them a line to compare notes?

Best of luck with it all!

[psling]

Next campaign really needs to be LND = Leave No Dangle, banishing silly notions of hanging tin mugs on the outside of bags/bikes!

I know (I hope!) that is said tongue-in-cheek but suggesting campaigning for something of no consequence like dangling mugs detracts immenseley from the serious nature of a campaign like Leave no Trace which is something of consequence.
I commend Stuart's thinking to approach the issue from the marketing/advertising/media end to try and encourage a change of attitude in how some aspects of 'mini adventures' are portrayed.

[faustus]

Entirely tongue in cheek, after commending the LNT campaign, and not suggested instead of. Although that kind of imagery very much fits into selling the idea of adventures....

[PaulB2]

At the risk of a Reg style tangent, I'm not sure why you'd want to dangle a mug off your saddlebag where it'll pick up all the mud and poor show thrown up by your back wheel going from the state of the underside of the saddle bag after a weekend.

[ScotRoutes]

Tiso in Aviemore currently have a big MBA display in one window exhorting folks to take care of the bothies. I imagine they'd be fairly open to a LNT version as long as they can pack it with the appropriate bikes and equipment.

[RIP]

'Reg style tangent' - mmm, I think I'm more of a secant man myself - much more obscure than tangents. Oops, done it again .

[Dave Barter]

This is great Stu well done for stepping up. It massively applies to beaches, it’s a real problem down here and I’ll try and find the voluntary groups that organise the cleanups as they will love it.

[JohnClimber]

Great idea.

Just let us know what you need us to do to help you

[Adventurer]

When I’m cycling to and from work down country lanes, I’m shocked at the amount of litter in the verges. This is the attitude that crosses into some that do outdoor activities.

In reference to fires in the outdoors, maybe this is in part due the rise in popularity of bushcraft, particularly from you tube.

[Blair512]

Fantastic idea

Perhaps a leave no trace patch is in order? It would allow individuals to publicly show the follow the principles of LNT and perhaps encourage some discussion with others who see it as well as raising some funds to go towards further development and advertising? It would also go nicely with my BAM patch!

[techno]

Fantastic endeavour stu, well in for kicking it off!
Saw this earlier about one of the less pleasant aspects of LNT: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kvk ... human-poop

[Bearbonesnorm]

Saw this earlier about one of the less pleasant aspects of LNT: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/9kvk ... human-poop

Yeah, looking forward to doing a little video of how to crap in the woods. While I was on the page, another article caught my eye and it said

"A boisterous, bobbing boner could be taken as a sign of unwanted sexual attention"

We obviously need to be careful. No dancing and no rowdiness from now on

[RIP]

Good grief, that was an educational site . Boners all over the place! (steady there, steady). As well as bobbing boners (I have a mental picture of meerkat-style BBB-ers popping up all over the place); also, apparently, "there's a decades-old boner war raging inside nudist camps". That explains a few things.

"Leave No Trace, a framework of practices for enjoying the outdoors" - framework of practices??????. Uh-oh, they've corporatised(?) your LNT Campaign already Stu and it's only been going ten minutes!! .

[Bearbonesnorm]

I was thinking "Leave No Trace ... take yer crap home" Reg

[techno]

I was thinking "Leave No Trace ... take yer crap home" Reg

Says it all really
I was surprised that article was on vice, although they do tend to cover the more fringe news stories. Far more entertaining news source.

[fatbikephil]

Anything we can do to help let us know.
The Beeb and the likes of the Guardian may bite at an associated press release (certainly bbc Scotland often run outdoors and mountain related campaign press releases and its topical enough for the guardian) plus worth punting to TGO, cycling UK, BMC rag etc. Plus defo run past single track to stick it to that fanny that did that 'bikepacking' article a wee while a go. In fact some of the mainstream bike press should go for it.....

[ScotRoutes]

Anything we can do to help let us know.
The Beeb and the likes of the Guardian may bite at an associated press release (certainly bbc Scotland often run outdoors and mountain related campaign press releases and its topical enough for the guardian) plus worth punting to TGO, cycling UK, BMC rag etc. Plus defo run past single track to stick it to that fanny that did that 'bikepacking' article a wee while a go. In fact some of the mainstream bike press should go for it.....

A wee word with Cameron McNeish and a suggestion for a future Adventure Show?

[Cheeky Monkey]

Best of luck Stu. I'll put it on the various SingletrAction feeds when it's done.

I think it's in danger of "preaching to the converted" and might easily become viewed as nanny-ish. Good luck in overcoming and avoiding those challenges.

As always, the Ultimate Hang (hammocking's "bible") has a section on LNT. It's a bit US-centric at times (the bear stuff might not be relevant to 97-off-% of UK tramps) but he writes well and does good graphics. If you don't have a copy I could lend you mine (or a quick pdf of the section for your research purposes ;-).