Have you ever read about those contests to see how little garbage a family can produce? Try playing this game yourself; reducing your garbage in the first place is lesson number one in garbage management.

• Leave home with as few cans, bottles, and other non-burnable items as you can.

• Maximize your pre-trip food preparations so you won't have leftovers or scraps like meat bones and vegetable peelings.

• Plan meals to minimize leftovers. (For example, plan less of the main dish and more of some easily packed and versatile extras - bread, fruit, and cheese.)

• Bring a cloth kitchen wipe instead of a roll of paper towels. With a little forethought, you can produce surprisingly little garbage.

An unprotected plastic bag will invariably get torn, wet, and generally become a bigger attraction for flies than for ecology-minded campers. Keep your garbage neat! Dedicate one dry bag for garbage and line it with plastic bags. Keep it in a central place in camp and make sure it gets used. Your garbage will stay contained; more odor free and there'll be fewer arguments over who gets to be the "garbage barge."

If you carried it in, you can carry it out

Never leave any garbage behind, even by burying it. This includes biodegradables like eggshells and vegetable peelings. It's still garbage!

Leave No Trace