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I've just read a thread where a camper throws away a 6mx8m blue tarp every trip 'cos it's used as a footprint.

Before we got our footprint groundsheet we used to put down plastic dustsheet (on a roll from B&Q) & throw it away, but a blue tarp every trip doesnt sound very eco-friendly.

With out footprint tarp, we fold it dirty side in, then there's no mud showing. At home it's over the washing line & a quick hose down.

Any views on what is and what is not acceptable as a disposable item? As campers (and countryside lovers presumably), should we be leading the way?

Fair do's Sam - but you got your tarp home

I've sometimes left stuff we haven't used - BBQ charcoal mainly - near to bins but obviously a freebie for anyone who wants them. I bet your BBQ & buckets soon found a new home.

Shame on you Neelie, you're just not trying enough

Quote: Originally posted by neelie on 21/8/2008

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. I just stayed on a site with compost toilets

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 were you at eweleaze?

i am afraid we left way to much rubbish behind at the end of our stay there :(

i recycled all my 'beverage' bottles and i hope our cheap washing up bowls ended up being re-used but it did strike me that our eco credentials didn't match those of the site, by a long way!

related article in the grauniad.

Quote: Originally posted by neelie on 21/8/2008

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Stubcroft Farm near Chichester.

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that is very near us.  I look after my grandson a couple of days a week and it could be fun to go camping when it isn't so crowded and if the loos are too bad we can pop home :)   Do you think the reviews are about right?

I cannot fault the green credentials of Eweleaze Farm in Dorset and the eco loos this year were superb. 

Some campers flouted the no car philosophy  so they obviously didn't 'get' it but generally people were happy to trek to the water point and the woodpile, despite the wind the rain and the slope!   Fantastic for children.

Well, perhaps the tarps and the family tent did get recycled in the end...I'm always fishing perfectly good camping equipment out of campsite dustbins. I've not bought guylines, sliders or groundsheets in years because I get them of "trashed" tents. Even pole sections on occassions...if the tent is similar to one of mine. I've got a fishing rod, BBQ stand and a couple of extra "guest" seats too, though these last I did put back a few days later when our guests had gone.

Have to say though that I do leave items beside campsite dustbins that I don't want to take home, if I think another camper can make use of them. This normally happens at the end of our long French trip, to make room for the homeward repacking. This year I left four rather grimey camping chairs (soon snaffled by the group of four guys camping from their motorbikes, though there was much debate about who got the pink chair), two pairs of rollerblades my kids were about to grow out of and a barbecue. In the past I've left a travel cot and high chair too. All these items seemed to vanish pretty quickly! Some French campsites have a specific area next to all the recycling bins for this sort of freebie swap stuff. Good idea.

We went to Glyn Y Mul farm recently for a couple of nice days. It's not connected to the sewers or the water mains but I was told it uses reed beds for waste water, rainwater for the toilets, washbasins, showers etc and uses a borehole and filter system for drinking water. Interesting stuff I think. Ian, the owner, seemed to take the recycling very seriously, checking the general waste bins for rogue cans, bottles etc and putting them in their correct bins before emptying them. Even the contents of a part full chip bag was saved "for the chickens" .

Hi Phil,  We've also stayed at Glyn Y Mul and Ian absolutely cannot bear any waste at all! I've caught him fishing out half a baguette etc. The shower & loos were all built from recycled units as you can tell!  Does he still have the collection of old tractors etc?  I have no idea what he plans to use them for!  A very quirky site and he is very keen on peace & quiet for all, plus will ban cars when the ground needs to be protected and refuses to pack loads of people in, good luck to him!

Hi Angie,

I didn't notice any tractors  but I did notice all these really old fuel pumps around the barn area. Like you said, a quirky site, especially with the flock of tame ducks waddling around periodically, hoping to get fed by the campers .