Junk in the Trunk (Cache)!

[+FiveByrds]

We've only been geocaching for a little while now but we are finding so many caches with nothing but "junk" in them. It's almost like my kids emptied their pockets in them.

Sure, used items are okay but give me a break! Some of the stuff we see are extremely battered toys, broken trinkets, wrinkled up stickers or even rocks.

Granted, we live in an area with a university and I'm sure there are a few caches placed by students that are no longer here and never get maintained but come on folks...No junk!

We invested in a bunch of brand new toys, trinkets, inexpensive jewelry, office supplies and lots of stuff adults might enjoy grabbing. We've been cleaning out "trash" and replacing it with these new items. When the cache is in horrible condition we remove all the junk and completly restock it. Is this a bad thing to do? Is it against protocol? Of course, if something even remotely looks as if it may have some sentimental value or is in decent condition we leave it there, but if it's something I wouldn't want my kids to grab it gets replaced.

Any ideas what to do here?

[+CACHE KRAWLER]

[jholly]

Golf balls. every cache needs at least one golf ball. With out a golf ball no cache is complete. And McToys. They need McToys, preferably broken. And quarters, at least two quarters and three pennies. Oh, and a used ferry ticket. Besides that all I want is a dry logbook.

[+Dgwphotos]

 

I take a quick look to see if there is anything useful to me or for trackables. If it's all junk, I just ignore it. I try to leave at least a few things that adults might appreciate in my own caches, like books, for example.

[+Toojin]

From the geocaching knowledge base

 

What should not be placed in a cache?

People of all ages hide and seek caches, so think carefully before placing an item into a cache. Explosives, ammunition, knives, drugs and alcohol should not be placed in a cache. Respect the local laws.

Food items are always a bad idea. Animals have better noses than humans, and in some cases caches have been chewed through and destroyed because of food items in a cache. Please do not put food in a cache.

 

I generally don't remove anything unless it is stuff listed as bad ideas above or clearly trash. I will however stuff a cache full from my goodie bag. I want people, especially young ones, to find caches with stuff in them that they might enjoy. I often find totally depleted caches and think that if I was a kid and my parents had convinced me to get outside with them and then what we found was an empty ammo can, I would be far less likely to want to go again.

 

A long ago quote from a cacher I respect...

 

ever open a cache only to find moldy mildewed trash that makes you wish you had a serious hand sanitizer in your caching bag?

Okay, remember how that feels.

 

ever open a cache and find a geocoin... an honest to goodness unactivated geocoin...?

Okay, now remember how that feels.

 

Do you HAVE to trade even/trade up?

 

wrong question.

 

What can I leave behind that will make the next cacher fall even more in love with this game and his fellow cachers?

 

right question.

 

 

now get out there and leave some kick-butt, do-unto-others kinda swag

[+ZeroHecksGiven]

I just try to leave my caches stocked. I can't afford to leave things at all the caches I visit, but every time I'm at a thrift store or something, i grab a bag or two of toys and re-stock my caches. Try to set a good example for the cachers in the area, but none of them seem to get it...

[+FiveByrds]

Here's one for you... Found a cache today with an open bottle of Tylenol. Only 4 left in it. Grabbed it and threw it away. Not cool to see.

[+FiveByrds]

 

A long ago quote from a cacher I respect...

 

ever open a cache only to find moldy mildewed trash that makes you wish you had a serious hand sanitizer in your caching bag?

Okay, remember how that feels.

 

ever open a cache and find a geocoin... an honest to goodness unactivated geocoin...?

Okay, now remember how that feels.

 

Do you HAVE to trade even/trade up?

 

wrong question.

 

What can I leave behind that will make the next cacher fall even more in love with this game and his fellow cachers?

 

right question.

 

 

now get out there and leave some kick-butt, do-unto-others kinda swag

 

Love it! Thanks!

[+farrtom]

I agree about leaving things that people will enjoy.

I have found recently: broken faucet, broken watch, broken calculator..........

I also took (and did not leave anything) a condom from a cache near the university. Not a young kid friendly thing to leave behind.

[+BlueDeuce]

We've only been geocaching for a little while now but we are finding so many caches with nothing but "junk" in them. It's almost like my kids emptied their pockets in them.

Sure, used items are okay but give me a break! Some of the stuff we see are extremely battered toys, broken trinkets, wrinkled up stickers or even rocks.

Granted, we live in an area with a university and I'm sure there are a few caches placed by students that are no longer here and never get maintained but come on folks...No junk!

We invested in a bunch of brand new toys, trinkets, inexpensive jewelry, office supplies and lots of stuff adults might enjoy grabbing. We've been cleaning out "trash" and replacing it with these new items. When the cache is in horrible condition we remove all the junk and completly restock it. Is this a bad thing to do? Is it against protocol? Of course, if something even remotely looks as if it may have some sentimental value or is in decent condition we leave it there, but if it's something I wouldn't want my kids to grab it gets replaced.

Any ideas what to do here?

 

You can remove anything (well maybe except a pen and the logbook) you wish provided you trade up or even. Personally I don't care about swag for adults. If they can't go out and buy their own carp, I am certainly not obligated to provide it for them. Kids on the other hand, they might not be able to get to the dollar store as often as I can.

 

Travel bugs are not trade items. Don't post the tracking number online. Try and move them in a couple three weeks.

 

Sign the logbook.

 

Take pictures.

 

CITO.

[+ArcticWonder]

Caches are small treasures. They record who you are and where you have been, in a world where I don't feel we count. (Elections are over before they count our state.) Caches that have been planted, then not checked on, can become moldy and downright gross. I bring sanitizer and replacement items when I plan a cache. I also get wiery when I pull out moldy items. Consider this when planting a cache, name the cache with a theme in mind. When people find the cache with an obvious idea, they think twice about leaving unrelated items. I check on my caches when the snow melts..

[+Cool Cow Cachers]

On many occasions I have found these wet and dirty caches full of rusty metal, soggy swag and various moldy items. Several times the log has been even too wet to record the find. Oh boy this is so much fun! (Yeah right.) I don't want to find these kind of trash caches and neither does anyone else. i sure as heck don't want the cool cow kids digging though these things.

 

I keep a stock of zip lock bags in my kit. Small ones for micro caches and some sandwich size bags for regular caches. I also have some extra log sheets and geocaching information sheets ready to go. If there is a bag or log in need of replacing I will do so. Even if the cache is not wet but the log bag has holes in it, there is potential for damage and it gets replaced.

 

Also, I have no problem CITO right out a cache. Most times the crap in the cache has been more disgusting than the trash I picked up along the way to it. If a cache is wet or dirty I will empty it, then clean and dry out the interior. When the contents are beyond saving I will trash them without hesitation.

 

Leaving a cache empty but clean and dry instead of full of rotten, moldy, rusty trash is at least trading even if not trading up.

 

 

Really? This all came out of one cache. Come on gang, clean up your act.

[+ArcticWonder]

I love the way you think. I take pride in what I leave. I also pick up garbage by myself every weekend around caches I have found, when there is not snow, and sometimes when there is. I check on my caches a couple times a year and love the idea of finding a simple, yet real treasure.

It is important to not think of cacheing as a "trash in" event.

[+EFLFT]

I have to agree, the swag I saw today was less than notable.

 

On the one hand, I try to think of the kids who play this, and it may be a big deal for them to leave their cherished toy behind as a gift for someone else. But with some of the junk I find, I think that isn't the case, and it's more a matter of people being lazy/cheap.

 

I don't spend a ton of money on the stuff I buy to put into caches, but I make sure it's nice stuff -- and usually something I've handmade that I think others will enjoy (like embroidered Swag Bags). I used to get frustrated that I was always leaving something way better than what was there to take (if I even took something), but I do it any way in hopes of maybe upping the overall quality of the swag in that cache at least.

 

I'm waiting for supplies for my signature item I'll be making, which will be a ribbon bookmark with a charm and some beads on it. I hope folks find it nice to run across and actually use, as well. I'll still make the embroidered swag bags for special caches, but they take a couple of hours to make, so are harder to part with for the average tupperware.

 

How do we get folks to up their quality? Is it just a matter of leading by example?