By Evan H., Outdoor Ethics Guide
Meal Planning
Planning for meals and lightweight snacks that require minimum packing and preparation time lightens loads and decreases garbage. One-pot meals require minimal cooking utensils and eliminate the need for a campfire. Remember, a stove Leaves No Trace. It can be helpful to remove food from its commercial packing and repackage it. This method can reduce the amount of garbage your group must pack out at the end of the trip and reduce bulk.
Vegetation
The resistance of vegetation to trampling varies. Careful decisions must be made when traveling across vegetation. Select areas of durable vegetation or sparse vegetation that is easily avoided. Grasses are resistant to trampling, but most forest herbs and ferns are fragile and quickly show the effects of trampling. Wet meadows and other fragile vegetation quickly show the effects of trampling.
Trampling encourages new and inexperienced travelers to take the same route and leads to undesirable trail development. As a general rule, travelers who must venture off-trail should spread out to avoid creating paths that encourage others to follow. Avoid vegetation whenever possible, especially on steep slopes where the effects of off-trail travel are magnified.