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Teaching Leave No Trace

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Plan Ahead and Prepare
Quick Concepts

Grabbing Your Group's Attention Have a one-pot meal, or a variety of one-pot meals, cooking outdoors on a backpack stove when your group arrives. Give each person a copy of the recipe(s) and describe how you prepared the meal(s). Provide each participant with a taste of the meal(s). The Activity Break you group into pairs and have them create a recipe for a simple one-pot meal. Have them make a list all of the ingredients they would need to bring into the backcountry for this meal. Have them describe how they would pack these ingredients to reduce garbage.

The Discussion

Discuss why planing and preparing for one-pot meals on a backcountry trip is more wise than planning a meal of canned chili, canned fruit, and hot dogs. Refer to the Background Information for details to assist you in this discussion. You may want to invite a guest from an outdoor store or hiking club to conduct the cooking demonstration if you lack experience.

Plan Ahead and Prepare
Quick Concepts

Note: Tell your group you are going to take an imaginary hiking trip and ask each person to pack a small back pack for your meeting. Don't tell the participants their imaginary destination or what to bring. Before your meeting, find pictures or posters depicting a local or regional environment (high alpine, desert, river). You will use these pictures to serve as your imaginary destination.

Grabbing Your Group's Attention: Break participants into small groups of three to five when they arrive. Build suspense by asking them to guess the destination of their imaginary trip.

The Activity: Show the destination pictures and describe the location you have selected (weather, terrain, etc.). Explain the goal of the trip: wildlife viewing or fishing. Ask the groups to unpack their packs and discuss their answers to the following questions (the leader must read the back ground information in order to facilitate discussion.)

Note: Because participants packed their packs without proper information, it is unlikely they will be adequately prepared for their destination. This activity demonstrates the importance of planning before packing.

• Do the contents of your pack properly prepare you for this trip?
• Do the contents of your pack ensure your safety?
• Do the contents of your pack ensure you will Leave No Trace that you will not damage natural or cultural resources?
• Do the contents of your pack ensure your trip will meet your goal for example, wildlife viewing or fish safely and enjoyably?

The Discussion: Facilitate a discussion with all participants about the results of the activity. Ask groups to briefly share their answers to the above questions and add:

• How would the contents of your pack differ with different destinations?
• What other information do you need to pack properly for a trip?
• What is the value of knowing these pieces of information before packing?