Getting into the bushes once in a while and cooking out of firewood is one of the best ways to spend your summer. It not only gets you away from the comfortable town lifestyles but also forces you to do something physical. It gives you an opportunity to become one with nature. After camping, most people come back to the city with trim bodies, usually because of healthy eating and manual work. As good as it sounds, camping is potentially disastrous if you do not know how to do it right.

Leave No Trace is a none profit organization that teaches 7 basic principles of camping. It is also used to teach outdoors ethics that should be practice by every camper out in the bushes. The principles are discussed below.

Plan Ahead and Prepare

You should never go out camping on gut feeling. You must always plan where you are going to camp and what survival items you require. For example if you are camping in an African Jungle, then you may need insect repellent and mosquito net. This might not be necessary if you are camping on the sea shore of a Caribbean Island.

Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces

You do not camp on sand or on Ice. Neither do you walk or drive on water. This principle aims to keep you safe from landslides, drainage pathways, avalanches etc.

Dispose Waste Properly

As a sensible human being, you are expected to know that there is nobody to pick up after you in the wild. Besides, food stuffs always attract insects and other nuisances to your camp site. You do not want to invite wild animals within the vicinity of your camp.

Leave the Campsite Better Than You Found It

All campers are taught to leave their camping site better than they found it or at least exactly as they found it. If you destroy a bridge upon crossing, you must rebuild it. Whatever you find at a camping site must be left intact upon leaving.

Minimize Camp Fire Impacts

These principles aim at conserving the environment as well as avoid triggering a bush fire. If you are camping, you should always ensure your fire is completely put out. The jungle is given to sudden winds which may spread fire to catastrophic levels.

Respect the Wildlife

Since you belong to a house, whenever you are out in the jungle, you become the guest of the wildlife. You never insult a person who hosts you and similarly, you should not disrespect the wild animals in their own habitat.

Be Considerate of Other Visitors

Whenever you are camping, always remember that there are other visitors who will camp at the same site. There might be other campers on the same camping ground. This principle teaches all campers to observe common decency as they will observe in a public place such as a theatre hall or a train.

If you observe the seven principles as taught by Leave No Trace; you will enjoy your camping experience and might even become a regular camper.