Mark: Hello! My name is Mark. I am a camping expert at L.

L.

Bean in Freeport, Maine. Today, I would like to talk to you about the Leave no Trace principles as they apply to family camping.

Leave no trace is really the idea that you don't want to take anything more than photographs or leave anything more than footprints. You basically want to leave an area better than you found it.

When it comes to family campaign this can involve several things including making sure that you don't bring a lot of extra packaging. One way to do that is when you're at home, make sure that you take any excess packaging such as this and reduce it to this, that way you won't have as much trash to care of at your campsite.

You also want to use things like biodegradable soap to protect the environment but even though it's biodegradable and environmentally friendly, you want to make sure you don't use it directly in lakes or rivers, rather you should use a sink such as this, fill it up with water and take your dishes, sink and your soap, about 200 feet away from the water source and do your dishes there.

When it comes to campfires, it's very tempting to have a massive fire, almost like a bonfire but in fact it will better to have a smaller fire to make sure that you burn through all the wood that you have started. That way when somebody new comes to the campsite, they won't be faced with half burned logs and you won't have disturb it for them.

If you go on a nature hike, you want to make sure that you stay on the trail and if you are looking at site's wild flowers, you want to make sure that you don't take them, you take pictures, encourage your children to do the same. Respect wildlife and wild animals, don't feed them, don't leave food lying around, that way they will to safe and be there for others to enjoy.

So those are the basics of Leave No Trace. Essentially you want to leave the environment as pretty as when you came. So go out and enjoy a family camping experience together.