Orange Peels

Here in the desert orange peels do not bio-degrade like they would in wetter climates, instead they dry up and harden and then just sit there for a LONG TIME (I believe like up to decades!). Please pack out your orange peels like you would any other trash. Yesterday at Jailhouse Rock I had to pick up and pack out the peels of probably 10 oranges that people had left behind in the canyon.

Thanks,
Nick

Nick...Thanks for the post. We have the same problem on the Mishe Mokwa Trail to Echo Cliffs. Hikers and climbers seem to feel that just tossing the orange peels is an appropriate behavior...which it's NOT. Pack it in, Pack it out.

NickMartel wrote:Here in the desert orange peels do not bio-degrade like they would in wetter climates, instead they dry up and harden and then just sit there for a LONG TIME (I believe like up to decades!). Please pack out your orange peels like you would any other trash. Yesterday at Jailhouse Rock I had to pick up and pack out the peels of probably 10 oranges that people had left behind in the canyon. Thanks, Nick

Orange peels will breakdown, even in the desert, within a year. They breakdown faster out in nature than they do in a landfill due to the light, water, and bacteria that landfills generally lack.

Ryan is right.

TP will break down as well but do you really want to sit looking at while belaying.

I'd rather see colorful and scented orange peels than poopy paper anywhere. I'm OK for biodegradable plant material. Nutrients to a starved desert soil.

What a pointless argument, regarding how long either takes to biodegrade!! Why do we have to see either???? Climbers should be responsible and demonstrate stewardship over the crag and the surrounding environment.

What happened to the leave no trace ethic amongst climbers? Its pretty simple, if you brought it in then you should bring it out. I don't care if it biodegrades, its not natural to the environment.

On top of all that, how lazy is someone that can't carry out their own trash?

Good point Nick. Regardless of time from peel to dirt, there's no good reason to not pack it out. We see the orange peels quite a bit down here in the Stronghold as well; along with the banana peels, pistachio shells, apple cores, gum, etc - you name it.. then it just goes downhill from there when you visit the campsites.

If you encounter the littering, tactful education works to some extent but then you [greatly] risk coming off as some self-righteous zealot. It's an unfortunate situation but one that comes along with "multi-use" and "public". Usually it's best to do what you did and just spend the few minutes to clean the mess and collect some karma point along the way.

Thanks for the thoughts.

adam brink wrote:What happened to the leave no trace ethic amongst climbers? Its pretty simple, if you brought it in then you should bring it out. I don't care if it biodegrades, its not natural to the environment. On top of all that, how lazy is someone that can't carry out their own trash?

amen.

I got into an argument once with this guy at delicate arch. He had finished his apple and was about to throw it down into the bowl beneath the arch when I told him not to. He didn't like being told what to do and argued that they had just come from Capital Reef NP where there is an apple orchard and apples on the ground everywhere. He ended up not throwing it and his buddy carried it out for him.

Nick,

Thanks for picking up the orange peels and bringing this up to our attention. :)

Same goes for banana peels!

I have gotten in many arguments with friends who litter with fruit peels/cores. It's not hard to pack it in and pack it out, yes the shit paper too!

JasonJNSmith wrote:I got into an argument once with this guy at delicate arch. He had finished his apple and was about to throw it down into the bowl beneath the arch when I told him not to. He didn't like being told what to do and argued that they had just come from Capital Reef NP where there is an apple orchard and apples on the ground everywhere. He ended up not throwing it and his buddy carried it out for him.

Holy shit, people are stupid. His logic was really that there are orchards in CR? (facepalm)

My own ethics have always been, carry out all waste, organic and otherwise, if in a desert or alpine environment. I'll sometimes throw cores and peels down the hillside and into the brush if in the temperate East.

RyanJ and Pat Mac- We're talking specifically about orange peels in the arid Tucson area. Can you give a reference to your source (site a peer reviewed journal) for how you know that "they will break down within a year," please?

Though I can't find any reviewed sources either way, I can say that there are dried oranges (not just the peel) under my dead orange tree and the tree has been dead for three years. They just look like dark orange hard balls. I'm in Tucson, but my yard is relatively moist because of irrigation. In this anecdote, it seems that they last at least a few years.

Eric Sophiea wrote:RyanJ and Pat Mac- We're talking specifically about orange peels in the arid Tucson area. Can you give a reference to your source (site a peer reviewed journal) for how you know that "they will break down within a year," please? Though I can't find any reviewed sources either way, I can say that there are dried oranges (not just the peel) under my dead orange tree and the tree has been dead for three years. They just look like dark orange hard balls. I'm in Tucson, but my yard is relatively moist because of irrigation. In this anecdote, it seems that they last at least a few years.

"I know it isn't the same thing, but it ABSOLUTELY MUST be representative! My anecdotal evidence of a different thing sure killed those guys LOL!"

Can you at least think a little tiny bit before you post? And perhaps not bring back threads that have been dead for more than a year?

camhead wrote: My own ethics have always been, carry out all waste, organic and otherwise, if in a desert or alpine environment. I'll sometimes throw cores and peels down the hillside and into the brush if in the temperate East.

Yes, agreed. The wetter the climate, the faster the decomposition, and the more likely I am to toss an apple core.

Another factor not yet mentioned is the level of human (climber, hiker, etc) traffic in an area. I will throw an apple core while hiking in a remote area, but would not do the same at the base of a popular crag. My general reasoning is that if someone else is likely to encounter my trash before it decomposes, I will pack it out.

A final consideration, specific to orange peels, is the acidity. I have heard (totally unconfirmed third-hand information) that in certain desert and/or alpine environments, the breakdown of the orange peel introduces a level of acidity to the soil that is foreign to that environment, and screws up the soil for the growing of the native plants. Has anyone else heard anything about this?

Eric Sophiea wrote:RyanJ and Pat Mac- We're talking specifically about orange peels in the arid Tucson area. Can you give a reference to your source (site a peer reviewed journal) for how you know that "they will break down within a year," please? Though I can't find any reviewed sources either way, I can say that there are dried oranges (not just the peel) under my dead orange tree and the tree has been dead for three years. They just look like dark orange hard balls. I'm in Tucson, but my yard is relatively moist because of irrigation. In this anecdote, it seems that they last at least a few years.

Of much larger concern is you and your irrigation of a yard in Tucson. We are desperately running out of water in the SW and you have a moist yard growing orange trees? Add to that: not only are you irrigating a yard in Tuscon, but you are wasting the fruit produced as well? And you really think a peel on the ground is a cause for concern? Talk about some misplaced energy. Way to bring up a dead thread you clueless ninny.

you know what takes really really really long to degrade?

YOUR DAMN TAPE!

Is anyone else tired of seeing tape all over crags?

Come on people..

Regardless of what's left behind if it won't be eaten (by you or other beings)or dissolve within a few days then pack it out. Its some peoples lack of awareness that screws up some accesses and makes it hard for people to announce/share that a new crag, etc has been found/developed.

Be a ninja, leave no trace whatsoever. Humans overall/collective gluttony has done enough hasn't it?

Who gives a fuck how long it takes for them to break down? DON'T LEAVE YOUR SHIT IN THE DESERT!

If something doesn't/can't grow there, I don't leave it. Oranges, bananas, apples, etc.