The things I noticed were:

1. Climbers never deliberately threw trash on the ground. However, a practice I saw often was stuffing wrappers from food into the top of a pack, and not zipping the pack and when it tipped over, the trash came out, never to be picked up. Same thing with people stuffing wrappers in their pockets. The trash fell out while climbing.
2. In the parking lot at the end of the day, while packing up cars and re-sorting gear, trash was often left behind.

These are the 2 thing I noticed most often. Just some helpful ways to pay close attention to our practices when we are out climbing in North Carolina (or anywhere else!).

On a side note, there’s a great article I read this morning called “Is ‘Smart’ the New ‘Green’?”. Check it out.

In it, Rick discusses how through involvement with the University that houses his program, he and his student leadership team spent months making their business and their operations more sustainable. The things they did included establishing better re-use habits when on the trail, establishing better recycling programs in their day to day use of resources, and analyzing what type of equipment they purchase, where it comes from, what it is made of and the manufacturing process, just to name a few. All in all, they developed a more sustainable program, which ultimately will contribute to the health of the environment and the effectiveness of their program. 

As I reflected on this, I began to think about how Ascent Adventure Consultants could become a more sustainable program, as well as how Ascent Adventure Consultants could be more involved in the community to help the community as a whole become more sustainable. What an honor it would be to be involved in making our community a better place to live. I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts on ways we can do this together as a community.

To give you some ideas of what we will be doing as a company, you can refer to the Princeton University Sustainability Manual.