Time to vent on a pet peeve

[+Semper Questio]

I recently ran across another cache that sets off my peeve alarm so I just thought I'd pop in here and vent. What was it?

 

A rusty food can filled with insulating foam and nestled snugly inside was the obligatory 35mm film can.

 

That's bad enough, but where it was really set me off. It was in a natural reserve area where we are supposed to be particularly sensitive to littering and, as a group, be even more cognizant of practicing CITO.

 

I've now seen paint cans, crushed soda cans, and various types of other camo/containers used so that they are MEANT to look like trash laying about.

 

So I ask you. Is it just me, or is there something fundamentally wrong with making caches that either look like, or are intentionally concealed by, litter?

 

OK. I feel a little better now...I think.

 

SQ

Edited September 27, 2006 by Semper Questio

[+conradv]

Litter sucks.

 

Just because a person caches in a dumpy location is no reason to make it worse.

 

If I saw something like that, I'd email GC.com to have it archived.

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

CITO.

 

'nuff said.

[+karstic]

Imaginary DNF log

 

"Looked in all the usual places and couldn't find cache. Plenty of trash around so practiced a little CITO before heading back to car."

[+denali7]

[+The Jester]

Imaginary DNF log

 

"Looked in all the usual places and couldn't find cache. Plenty of trash around so practiced a little CITO before heading back to car."

Don't laugh. I almost did that once.

[+x_Marks_the_spot]

More than being uncouth in a geocaching/CITO kind of sense, it seems like kind of a stupid idea. I've seen state prisoners as well as regular conscientious people in all manner of places picking up litter, not just on the side of the interstate. Parks, town squares, etc. Seems like they're just asking for an unintentinoal muggling, as karstic seems to be alluding to.

[+Bad_CRC]

glad I'm not the only one who thinks this. saw a cache like that in the ccc thread and didn't say anything but thought it.

 

we need less trash in parks, not more.

[+Isonzo Karst]

I own a trash cache. A very old shot-up rusty can with a decon it in. Periodically I think about taking the decon OUT of the can and just laying it back down. One of these days I will. It actually is excellent camo - the rust and the leaf litter are a good match. But I no longer think they (trash caches) are a good idea. I actually wouldn't be terribly offended if somebody CITO'ed it. I'll untrash it when I swing through the forest and check my caches.

[+Clothahump]

CITO.

 

'nuff said.

 

Ditto.

[+pcakes]

I've found a few caches that look either like litter or dog poop and don't have a problem with them. When it comes right down to it, what's the difference between tupperware hidden behind a stump or a can hidden behind the same stump?

[+Confucius' Cat]

Simple enough:

 

Sample log:

 

DNF. Gee, this place was a MESS! I spent the better part of TWO hours picking up trash here. There was every kind of junk you can imagine, (list a bunch of trash including a rather specific description of the cache container), I threw about six trash bags in the park dumpster, but was unable to find the cache.

 

If you actually did throw out the cache with the trash, you have solved the problem for now. If you really FOUND the cache, and DID NOT throw it out, the owner will have to check on the cache. After a few of these logs, owner will probably get the message.

 

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to encourage any activity that would be a violation of geocaching guidelines or ethics and is posted only for entertainment value. Not available in all states or the district of columbia.

[Mr Walker]

My wife and i spend quite a lot of time picking up litter from local beaches as we walk along them. What we can, we remove, what is too difficult we put above the high tide mark so it is at least out of the more fragile marine ecosystem. About 6 months ago I found a white plastic bottle with a small slit in it just below the hightide mark. I placed inside it (along with some sand to weigh it down) a small cache containing some badges and replaced it above the high tide mark, leaving it out in full view like the piece of trash it is. I check it most weeks. So far it has been found by a handful of cachers (all local) who all had some difficulty recognising it for what it was. I will eventually remove it. This beach is visited quite regularly, although not by large numbers of people, and perhaps fewer over our winter period. In a way i am disappointed that it has not been removed/cleaned up. It was deliberately created so there would be no great loss if it was taken by either the forces of nature or a civic minded citizen. While the population and pollution pressures in my part of the world are less than most, we still find a lot of trash washed up from local aquaculture industries, and from ships of many nations, judging by the languages used on a lot of items.

Edited September 28, 2006 by Mr Walker

[+The MadHatters]

I know it would end up in the bottom of the bin if I found it.

[+GreyingJay]

Imaginary DNF log

 

"Looked in all the usual places and couldn't find cache. Plenty of trash around so practiced a little CITO before heading back to car."

 

DO IT!

[+ThePropers]

Imaginary DNF log

 

"Looked in all the usual places and couldn't find cache. Plenty of trash around so practiced a little CITO before heading back to car."

Don't laugh. I almost did that once.

 

I almost did that also...I don't even remember how I noticed the piece of trash in my hand was actually the cache.

 

I've found a few like that, and think it's lousy. If the best camo you can come up with throwing some litter on the ground, then you just need to think a little harder.

[+ADKcachers]

Since this has been discussed before, isn't this thread actually a form of trash? Bandwidth trash.

[+conradv]

Since this has been discussed before, isn't this thread actually a form of trash? Bandwidth trash.

 

That'd make about 3/4 of all the threads bandwidth trash...

[+ADKcachers]

I've noticed that.

[+GreyingJay]

I found a cache recently that's BECOMING trash. It was (keyword WAS) an Altoids tin magnetically mounted to a metal sign post. Unfortunately exposure to the elements caused the tin to start rusting, and it has only gotten worse. Log after log after log say the cache needs maintenance, and the NM flag has been set for months. Even back in May, people were saying the cache was rusty. Imagine its state when I found it last month.

 

By now the magnet, which was glued to the tin, no longer attaches it to the sign post (because hot glue doesn't stick to rust) and the only reason I found the cache instead of DNF'ing was because I happened to look down by my foot and saw a rusty piece of trash. That's when I said "hmmm..."

 

I looked at the guy's profile, he hasn't found a cache since LAST October, and at least one of his other caches has also been needing maintenance for some months now. I contacted him to ask what's up and ask if he wanted to consider adopting it out, but he doesn't.

 

I figure it's only a matter of time before an SBA shows up.

[+Shop99er]

I found a cache recently that's BECOMING trash. It was (keyword WAS) an Altoids tin magnetically mounted to a metal sign post. Unfortunately exposure to the elements caused the tin to start rusting, and it has only gotten worse. Log after log after log say the cache needs maintenance, and the NM flag has been set for months. Even back in May, people were saying the cache was rusty. Imagine its state when I found it last month.

 

By now the magnet, which was glued to the tin, no longer attaches it to the sign post (because hot glue doesn't stick to rust) and the only reason I found the cache instead of DNF'ing was because I happened to look down by my foot and saw a rusty piece of trash. That's when I said "hmmm..."

 

I looked at the guy's profile, he hasn't found a cache since LAST October, and at least one of his other caches has also been needing maintenance for some months now. I contacted him to ask what's up and ask if he wanted to consider adopting it out, but he doesn't.

 

I figure it's only a matter of time before an SBA shows up.

 

If it's that bad, why didn't you put in an SBA?

[+GreyingJay]

If it's that bad, why didn't you put in an SBA?

 

I'm trying to be polite. I thought the first step would be to contact the owner and let him know that his cache really could use maintenance. I even offered to adopt it for him if he was no longer interested in geocaching. He declined. I don't want to appear to be forcing his hand by putting out the SBA.

 

But see for yourself (GCQYKQ).

Edited September 28, 2006 by GreyingJay

[+eagletrek]

Did you log the cache????

 

Found a few caches recently in West Texas which would be considered trash by an untrained eye even though they were placed as caches. These caches were not maintained and were falling apart. They were quickly morphing from cache to trash status.

 

It also begs another question. Is a properly camoed and marked ammo can a cache or a piece of trash? To some outdoor purists, any cache would be considered trash.

 

BLUF: If you don't like the cache or what it communicates then send a message to the owner and don't log it.

[+MTGeoPirates]

Just the other day I was thinking about placing 2 or 3 trash caches....At a CITO event. Been thinking about what kind of container would work best and what kind of goodies to put inside. I plan on placing the caches a day before the CITO event, and give folks a little more incentive. But I must say that this is the only time I'd think of disguising a cache that way.