Save the Earth

[xstop]

Does anyone else worry about the gorilla in the closet about this hobby? On any given day, there can be tens of thousands of geocachers, burning up gallons upon gallons of gasoline as they drive from cache to cache. I know cachers who literally drive all day long from cache to cache. Power trails are often done with one person remaining in the car (idling = more polution), while the other person finds/signs. I like the concept of geocaching, but as an environmentalist, I just can't justify the burning up of our precious earth driving from cache to cache. So I limit my caching to caches that are enroute or near where I am already going, or to ones that I can bike or walk to. I wonder what others think about this, and how we might be able to make this a greener hobby. Everyone can't afford an electric car.

[+Panther&Pine]

Folks would be doing something else that has just as much or more impact on the environment.

Focus on what changes you as an individual can do, it's really the only person you can control.

 

FWIW we do a fair amount of walking to and from caches, planning around trips that we already have to take.

[+T.D.M.22]

Don't act like you care. Go complain about NASCAR, or the rodeo, or deforestation. You know just as much as I do that geocaching is a drop in the bucket, and you know just as much as I do that your just trying to make something happen here. We call this trolling. Go back under your bridge...

Edited September 15, 2013 by T.D.M.22

[+Manville Possum]

I would rather buy oil from foreign Countries than send them my tax dollars for free. My geomobile is a big SUV, and I like off roading on my ATV. Oh, BTW: I'm a Coal miner too.

Edited September 15, 2013 by Manville Possum Hunters

[+T.D.M.22]

I would rather buy oil from foreign Countries than send them my tax dollars for free. My geomobile is a big SUV, and I like off roading on my ATV. Oh, BTW: I'm a Coal miner too.

 

That's nothing. I'm in Fort Mcurray McMoney, home of the oilsands. Yup, the guys drive big 4X4 diesel trucks, jacked up a couple feet, with giant clouds of black smoke coming from the tailpipes, to go to work. First they clear some forest, then they dig down into the earth. Then they mine this sand mixed with tar, and somehow take the oil from the sand and refine it. Then there's the pipeline leaks and...Oh maybe I should stop now before I give the OP a panic attack.

[+nthacker66]

Does anyone else worry about the gorilla in the closet about this hobby? On any given day, there can be tens of thousands of geocachers, burning up gallons upon gallons of gasoline as they drive from cache to cache. I know cachers who literally drive all day long from cache to cache. Power trails are often done with one person remaining in the car (idling = more polution), while the other person finds/signs. I like the concept of geocaching, but as an environmentalist, I just can't justify the burning up of our precious earth driving from cache to cache. So I limit my caching to caches that are enroute or near where I am already going, or to ones that I can bike or walk to. I wonder what others think about this, and how we might be able to make this a greener hobby. Everyone can't afford an electric car.

 

get rid of power trails and you reduce the impact of fossil fuel burning due to the activity significantly.

[+St.Matthew]

Not all power trails are for motor vehicles. In fact, the majority I've seen are on hiking and biking trails. No fossil fuels necessary.

[4wheelin_fool]

The earth is being destroyed, and it's not by geocachers. The mercury from coal burning electric plants is bad enough without all of the chemicals from plastic in landfills leeching into the groundwater.

 

A hundred years ago there was a public dump site in California. It is now known as Glass Beach. All of the dumped stuff eventually returned to nature gradually, except for the glass, which was rounded into colored pebbles.

 

 

Any similar dump site today, in the future would be called plastic bottle beach, and have released harmful BPAs and other chemicals into the earth.

[+SwineFlew]

Does anyone else worry about the gorilla in the closet about this hobby? On any given day, there can be tens of thousands of geocachers, burning up gallons upon gallons of gasoline as they drive from cache to cache. I know cachers who literally drive all day long from cache to cache. Power trails are often done with one person remaining in the car (idling = more polution), while the other person finds/signs. I like the concept of geocaching, but as an environmentalist, I just can't justify the burning up of our precious earth driving from cache to cache. So I limit my caching to caches that are enroute or near where I am already going, or to ones that I can bike or walk to. I wonder what others think about this, and how we might be able to make this a greener hobby. Everyone can't afford an electric car.

 

get rid of power trails and you reduce the impact of fossil fuel burning due to the activity significantly.

Get rid of those extremely remote 4x4 caches. Those 4x4 are burning plenty of fuel.

[+uxorious]

There are nearly 7 billion people in the world. With that many people it is impossible not to effect the earth.

 

I refuse to just sit in a chair and do nothing. (TV uses electricity, Books use paper.)

 

Geocaching seems like it is as environmentally friendly as just about anything else.

 

I will do the best I can, but the earth is not doing as bad as all the bad science the liberal media wants you to believe. And if it is, a good global war will settle things down.

[4wheelin_fool]

In a million years all this will be destroyed and forgotten anyhow. There will be no records or evidence that any of this ever existed. Everyone laughing, crying, living, and dying will be gone like a dream that never happened at all. So what's the point?

[+ipodguy]

I couldn't care less about burning extra gas for caching. To me, it seems like everything is supposed to make me feel bad for existing. The meat I eat kills an animal, the electricity and water I need adds to pollution, heck even the 47 solar panels on my roof were made in a factory.....

 

Nope, I don't feel bad one tiny bit for existing and taking what I need to do so.

[+Glenn]

Not all power trails are for motor vehicles. In fact, the majority I've seen are on hiking and biking trails. No fossil fuels necessary.

 

Human flatulence contains methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. Maybe we should all just stay at home.

[+St.Matthew]

Not all power trails are for motor vehicles. In fact, the majority I've seen are on hiking and biking trails. No fossil fuels necessary.

 

Human flatulence contains methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. Maybe we should all just stay at home.

 

You don't fart at home?

[+SwineFlew]

I have people look at me funny when I tell them my hobby is geocaching and they are like, how much fuel/gas you burn just for geocaching? (in a tone like its wasteful). These are people that go up to Portland (2 hours away) for concerts and games about once or twice a month.

[+clan_Barron]

Does anyone else worry about the gorilla in the closet about this hobby?

 

In a word, NO

 

how we might be able to make this a greener hobby. Everyone can't afford an electric car.

 

The only way I want to see the hobbie greener is fro move lovely green ammo cans to be put out for me to find.

 

As a side note I say thank you to everyone who drives a Prius for doing their part in saving more gas for me to burn in my V8 powered, 10 MPG Jeep. If crawling through the mud and crude and forest looking for ammo cans burns dead dinosaurs, then so be it

[+u1bd2005]

Well, depending on the weather I'm going to attempt my first circular tomorrow. I'll be driving there, but parking near the first cache area and walking the circular.

 

I do my fair amount of walking, If I'm heading into town or something I'll usually walk instead of drive as it's only about 4 or 5 miles each way.

As such I don't feel bad in the slightest when I feel the need to jump in my car and go somewhere, I've worked, I volunteer for the community, I've helped plenty of charities both through donations, fund-raising and voluntary work. I think I've earned the right to drive.

 

Life's short, I enjoy my life, why would I change that just because of scare tactics used by the government and media?

[+Manville Possum]

I would rather buy oil from foreign Countries than send them my tax dollars for free. My geomobile is a big SUV, and I like off roading on my ATV. Oh, BTW: I'm a Coal miner too.

 

That's nothing. I'm in Fort Mcurray McMoney, home of the oilsands. Yup, the guys drive big 4X4 diesel trucks, jacked up a couple feet, with giant clouds of black smoke coming from the tailpipes, to go to work. First they clear some forest, then they dig down into the earth. Then they mine this sand mixed with tar, and somehow take the oil from the sand and refine it. Then there's the pipeline leaks and...Oh maybe I should stop now before I give the OP a panic attack.

Oh yes! The jacked up duellys with the cow bells (or worse) on the trailer hitch and the stacks in the back. That is what all the kids drive to school. I don't work in a deep mine anymore, we surface mine now. We fill the mountain top full of explosives and wait for a herd of Elk to graze by then blow the top of the mountain off. What is left, I take a D9 Cat and push it in the creek in the hollow below to get to the Coal seam. Coal keeps the lights on, but the OP can freeze in the dark if the wish.

[+manicgecko]

Geocaching is the best way I know to burn the remaining fossil fuels so we are forced to deal with the issue instead of drilling more...

[+RobDJr]

Gorilla in the closet? I would have said pygmy marmoset in the closet myself...

 

But seriously, geocaching is such a tiny drop in the bucket of what's harming the earth that the difference caused by a cessation of all geocaching activities would likely be negligible. And that doesn't even take into account the good done by CITO events.

[+Glenn]

Not all power trails are for motor vehicles. In fact, the majority I've seen are on hiking and biking trails. No fossil fuels necessary.

 

Human flatulence contains methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas. Maybe we should all just stay at home.

 

You don't fart at home?

 

You're right. There is only one solution...

[+NYPaddleCacher]

The earth is being destroyed, and it's not by geocachers. The mercury from coal burning electric plants is bad enough without all of the chemicals from plastic in landfills leeching into the groundwater.

 

A hundred years ago there was a public dump site in California. It is now known as Glass Beach. All of the dumped stuff eventually returned to nature gradually, except for the glass, which was rounded into colored pebbles.

 

 

Any similar dump site today, in the future would be called plastic bottle beach, and have released harmful BPAs and other chemicals into the earth.

 

I was born about 1/4 of a mile from that beach. When the dump was still active people would literally pull up to the edge of the bluff and throw their garbage into the ocean.

[+Dogmeat*]

Lol.. We can't eat without it affecting the environment. Get over it.

[+Walts Hunting]

For my part over a thousand of my caches this year have been on foot or bike. Even some power trails. The geo-art outside ridgecrest CA was 13 miles on foot in the sand in one day. Couldn't do much the next two days.

[+SwineFlew]

I would rather buy oil from foreign Countries than send them my tax dollars for free. My geomobile is a big SUV, and I like off roading on my ATV. Oh, BTW: I'm a Coal miner too.

 

That's nothing. I'm in Fort Mcurray McMoney, home of the oilsands. Yup, the guys drive big 4X4 diesel trucks, jacked up a couple feet, with giant clouds of black smoke coming from the tailpipes, to go to work. First they clear some forest, then they dig down into the earth. Then they mine this sand mixed with tar, and somehow take the oil from the sand and refine it. Then there's the pipeline leaks and...Oh maybe I should stop now before I give the OP a panic attack.

My oldest sister lives in Midland Texas and its big time oil country and just about everybody is driving a 4x4 and plus. There is so much money going on and everybody is buying new trucks. If any of you guys want a good job, head for Midland Tx...its easier to find a job there than to find a house.

 

I didnt see many "liberal" gas saving cars in the whole area.

[+nthacker66]

(wonders when keystone will start deleting "political" comments)

[+Packanack]

dear OP, assuage some of the environmental angst by participating in a CITO. Or better yet plan and host a CITO event. 7 years ago I started a CIto locally, another cacher, weathernowcast has kept it going. It has produced a wonderful result, recognized by the local trail organization as having transformed an area with severe environmental issues into a pristine location. A group of us cachers now maintain a trail in that wilderness reservation. It never fails to amaze me that there are cachers with thousands of finds who have never participated in a CITO either by attending or hosting.

 

Make up your mind to be an environmentally responsive cacher.

[+Crow-T-Robot]

It's time to do laundry...those socks are starting to smell.

[+wimseyguy]

I drove 220 miles to find 35-40 caches today with my friends. We hiked 6+ miles in the woods to find some of these, and drove around finding the others. The hike was good for my physical health. The time spent with friends, and looking for small things hidden in a clever manner was good for my mental health. Better mental and physical health keep health care costs down. This more than offsets the pollution and greenhouse gases I created today.

 

One a slightly more serious note, I rented a Prius for a few recent weekend trips. On one of them we went to visit my mother in law, and drove over 900 miles on that trip. My Murano is 11 years old with over 180K miles on it and gets 21-22mpg on the highways. By renting the Prius for $70, and only spending $64 on gas I saved $10-15 and kept the miles off of my car. And the gas engine shuts off when you stop, so there isn't any exhaust. It was a nice car to use for the 2-3 hours of caching I did when we were over there along the riverside trail of guard rail caches I found. And again, it was good for my mental health to get out of the house for a few hours.

 

Lots of ways to have a win win situation and keep on caching!

[+Manville Possum]

It's time to do laundry...those socks are starting to smell.

My sock logged over 125 geo-art caches yesterday 100 miles from my house and it never took any gas, and I never left home.

[+bflentje]

Everyone can't afford an electric car.

 

Which is a bad thing since electric cars get charged using magic, and not by some remote coal, natural gas or nuclear powered plant.

[+Trucker Lee]

If the fuel wasn't being used to cache, it would be used going to the mall, riding 4-wheelers, boating, etc.

 

Electric cars are not the cure folks delude themselves into believing. There is not enough solar, wind, or hydro power produced, so oil and coal are burned to produce the power to charge the Prius. Then, there is always the loss in transmission from production to use point. Let's not even talk of the power consumed to manufacture then decommission those batteries in the vehicle itself. Point of interest, the new model truck I am driving and hauling freight with is more efficient than a Prius if you measure by weight moved per BTU consumed.

[+niraD]

Most of my geocaching is opportunistic, where I search for caches that are near somewhere I'm going to be anyway. But that's because I'm cheap frugal, not because I have some "green" agenda.

 

And the gorilla in my closet has synthetic fur and is full of fiberfill. And actually, I think he's some sort of monkey, and not really a gorilla at all.

[+Tobias & Petronella]

I (Tobias) have never been much of a "Save the Planet" type of person, since the planet will be around long after Humans are extinct. The damage that us cachers do is very small compared to some other outdoor activities.

 

If a person wanted to make a big difference in there local area, get your city to synchronize the stoplights. This will lower pollution, save gas, get the cars off of the roads quicker, and lower road rage.

Edited September 16, 2013 by Tobias & Petronella

[+JBnW]

Good for the OP on trying to reduce their use of fossil fuels. However, the impact of geocaching is a drop in the bucket compared to other hobbies. As someone mentioned above, let's look at boating. According to the US Coast Guard(WARNING, large file size), there were 12,101,936 registered recreational watercraft in the US alone in 2012. Abount 6 times the number of caches ever listed on this site. In my experience, boats get way less mileage and have far greater emissions then most on-road vehicles. And that's not counting the fuel of the vehicle towing them back and forth.

 

Using less fuels, saving more...all for it. Using geocaching as a platform to advance a worthy agenda...IMHO, caching is already one of the greener hobbies.

[Clan Riffster]

We fill the mountain top full of explosives and wait for a herd of Elk to graze by then blow the top

Elk burgers?

Yummy!

[+Ambrosia]

If the fuel wasn't being used to cache, it would be used going to the mall, riding 4-wheelers, boating, etc.

 

Electric cars are not the cure folks delude themselves into believing. There is not enough solar, wind, or hydro power produced, so oil and coal are burned to produce the power to charge the Prius. Then, there is always the loss in transmission from production to use point. Let's not even talk of the power consumed to manufacture then decommission those batteries in the vehicle itself. Point of interest, the new model truck I am driving and hauling freight with is more efficient than a Prius if you measure by weight moved per BTU consumed.

There's enough hydro power where I live.

[+WarNinjas]

I used to drive further for my other hobbie of fishing. Same impact on the environment from driving but I am sure the fish are happier that I am doing this instead.

[xstop]

Interesting dialogue! Thanks to all who contributed.

Edited September 17, 2013 by xstop

[+ChileHead]

To be honest, I'm more concerned about the damage that bowlers do to the planet. There are a lot more of them than geocachers, and they drive out every single week for their bowling league - sometimes more! Can you imagine how much carbon is released into the atmosphere from the bowlers?

[+bflentje]

The way I see it is that God (or your deity of choice) created the earth, the creatures, AND humans. The planet has never been cleaner (at least here in the US). So if carbon is a problem for you, there's a quick way to rid the planet of a lifetime of your carbon consumption..

[DannyCaffeine]

I do not own a car nor do I drive. All the caches I have found I either walked too, took the bus to or rode with a friend to get. Seeing as I have 300 in almost 3 years I think that is pretty impressive.

[+4wheeler]

Within a couple of centuries after man has become extinct, the Earth will have cleansed itself of anything that man may have created. The Earth is fine, it's man that is endangered.

[+K13]

I read a while back that man has yet to produce the amount of greenhouse gasses and particulate pollution that good old Mother Earth spewed into the air at Mt. St. Helens. As soon as the earth quits with the volcano eruptions, I will quit with the consumption of fossil fuels.

[JASTA 11]

The game of geocaching isn't hurting the environment.

 

It's the inconsiderate and uneducated that do the damage.

[Luckless]

I met someone who is now a good friend at a geocaching event and we started caching together. Saves us both money and fuel carpooling in this manner and is more fun than doing it individually.

[+ldyparadox99]

I'm currently watching the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Singapore. I'm pretty sure the fact that I love this sport and support it by buying team gear, etc is much more harmful than going geocaching in my LPG fueled car (auto gas). However, rest easy. We often take our bikes somewhere (by car or train), park and cycle from cache to cache as well.

[+Sagefox]

 

how we might be able to make this a greener hobby. Everyone can't afford an electric car.

As a side note I say thank you to everyone who drives a Prius for doing their part in saving more gas for me to burn in my V8 powered, 10 MPG Jeep. If crawling through the mud and crude and forest looking for ammo cans burns dead dinosaurs, then so be it

 

I would offer up our Prius to offset your V8 but we just bought a used V8 Silverado to pull our small camping trailer so we are offsetting our own selves at the moment. I was thinking about a Jeep but, yikes, 10 mpg? The Silverado gets 13 pulling the trailer and 16 solo.

 

But, seriously, oil is formed from shallow seafloor deposits so no dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this product.

[+bflentje]

But, seriously, oil is formed from shallow seafloor deposits so no dinosaurs were harmed in the making of this product.

 

That is correct, oil is produced from an abiotic process, which does NOT include dinosaurs, plants, etc. Now coal on the other hand, was most likely created by biological processes. But I still say, burn, baby, burn.

Edited September 24, 2013 by bflentje

[+LashRash]

Does anyone else worry about the gorilla in the closet about this hobby? On any given day, there can be tens of thousands of geocachers, burning up gallons upon gallons of gasoline as they drive from cache to cache. I know cachers who literally drive all day long from cache to cache. Power trails are often done with one person remaining in the car (idling = more polution), while the other person finds/signs. I like the concept of geocaching, but as an environmentalist, I just can't justify the burning up of our precious earth driving from cache to cache. So I limit my caching to caches that are enroute or near where I am already going, or to ones that I can bike or walk to. I wonder what others think about this, and how we might be able to make this a greener hobby. Everyone can't afford an electric car.

 

I can honestly say I haven't, though I would like to thank you for a unique take on some of the impacts we may all contribute too, but don't always think of. Keep it up!