Issue 46: Conscience
We don't need to tell you what to do. Do we?
This conscience thing is all very well: saving rainforests, rescuing whales, reducing carbon emissions, eating "guaranteed happy-until-point-of-death" chicken. We all know what we should be doing - it's a no-brainer. What a shame that all these excellent ethical choices are not only expensive and boring, but also a bit too much like hard work. How inconvenient.
So despite the best of intentions we’re often found chucking McDonalds down our necks, eating endangered fish, jetting off to New Zealand and sliding that organic meat back on the supermarket shelf in search of something cheaper. We'll all be good next week.
Not me you're probably thinking, I'm not like that, I’m “green”. And you probably are, you're a BMC member. You're a climber, hill walker or mountaineer and we're all thoughtful individuals aren't we? Constantly appreciative and respectful of the environment, especially the ones that our sports take us into contact with.
Yes we probably are, until it becomes inconvenient. Until the usual parking places are full, but you reckon you could squeeze onto the verge. Until the stile's just a bit too far down there and the fence becomes too tempting. Until the boulder's a bit too green and a good wire-brushing would sort it out. Until you've driven all this way, the route has a bird restriction and there's no one else about. Until you've got nowhere to put that fag butt and there’s a handy crack in the rock. Until that curry you had last night starts bubbling away deep inside.
You know all about being responsible, but you’re an individual, you’re different. Climbing and walking are adventurous sports - no one can tell you what to do. And if your moral code should flex from time to time, then so what - who's to know? Is it really that big a deal, we can all be good tomorrow. That's probably fine in the bigger picture, no one’s saying that the earth is doomed if you accept that carrier bag, if you go for a drive just for the hell of it, if you give in to that craving for a dirty burger. It’s your overall outlook that might make a difference. Or might not. You'll never have the satisfaction of knowing either way - how could you measure the impact on one individual on the global environment?
Don’t feel too disempowered though, rest assured that on a local basis you can make a real, noticeable contribution – and not always in a good way. Somewhere out there a couple of keen boulderers might be feeling a strange tickle of emotions. Annoyance, anger even, that they can no longer boulder at Eagle Tor in the Peak District. Perhaps tempered with a slight dash of guilt, when they realise that as they dropped their trousers in someone’s back garden they also tipped the scales in a delicate access situation. Eagle Tor is on private land, not covered by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CroW), and this was the final straw - the landowner has banned climbing indefinitely. How inconvenient.
As outdoor indiscretions go, they don't come any more dramatic than a crap, a shit, a pile of excrement, a poo, a turd. Nothing gets you noticed like a dirty protest. Just because you can get away with shitting somewhere doesn’t mean that you necessarily should. Barring a medical problem or sudden illness there's no real excuse for leaving such a gift at the crag, and certainly no excuse for leaving it, quite literally, lying around. You know the score: go before you hit the crag, and if you are caught short then bury any waste, and burn toilet paper.
Hopefully this is all very obvious. But what about other things such as taking your dog onto CroW land, taking a group to a crag, how to find out about bird restrictions - how do you know what’s right and what’s plain wrong? As increasingly numbers of people hit the hill and the crags any individual indiscretions can well add up, and whilst access may not always be taken away in such a sudden fashion, your impact could still be felt.
That's where the new BMC Crag Code comes in. We’re working on a series of simple guidelines, covering all the things you should be aware of when out and about. It's in a draft stage right now, so now's the time to comment if you think there's anything we've missed out. And when it's finished, we'll be distributing it to all climbing walls, shops, and outdoor centres, and of course, right here in Summit.
We’re not telling you what to do. You already know. It’s just a reminder. The rest is up to you.
This conscience thing is all very well: saving rainforests, rescuing whales, reducing carbon emissions, eating "guaranteed happy-until-point-of-death" chicken. We all know what we should be doing - it's a no-brainer. What a shame that all these excellent ethical choices are not only expensive and boring, but also a bit too much like hard work. How inconvenient.
So despite the best of intentions we’re often found chucking McDonalds down our necks, eating endangered fish, jetting off to New Zealand and sliding that organic meat back on the supermarket shelf in search of something cheaper. We'll all be good next week.
Not me you're probably thinking, I'm not like that, I’m “green”. And you probably are, you're a BMC member. You're a climber, hill walker or mountaineer and we're all thoughtful individuals aren't we? Constantly appreciative and respectful of the environment, especially the ones that our sports take us into contact with.
Yes we probably are, until it becomes inconvenient. Until the usual parking places are full, but you reckon you could squeeze onto the verge. Until the stile's just a bit too far down there and the fence becomes too tempting. Until the boulder's a bit too green and a good wire-brushing would sort it out. Until you've driven all this way, the route has a bird restriction and there's no one else about. Until you've got nowhere to put that fag butt and there’s a handy crack in the rock. Until that curry you had last night starts bubbling away deep inside.
You know all about being responsible, but you’re an individual, you’re different. Climbing and walking are adventurous sports - no one can tell you what to do. And if your moral code should flex from time to time, then so what - who's to know? Is it really that big a deal, we can all be good tomorrow. That's probably fine in the bigger picture, no one’s saying that the earth is doomed if you accept that carrier bag, if you go for a drive just for the hell of it, if you give in to that craving for a dirty burger. It’s your overall outlook that might make a difference. Or might not. You'll never have the satisfaction of knowing either way - how could you measure the impact on one individual on the global environment?
Don’t feel too disempowered though, rest assured that on a local basis you can make a real, noticeable contribution – and not always in a good way. Somewhere out there a couple of keen boulderers might be feeling a strange tickle of emotions. Annoyance, anger even, that they can no longer boulder at Eagle Tor in the Peak District. Perhaps tempered with a slight dash of guilt, when they realise that as they dropped their trousers in someone’s back garden they also tipped the scales in a delicate access situation. Eagle Tor is on private land, not covered by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CroW), and this was the final straw - the landowner has banned climbing indefinitely. How inconvenient.
As outdoor indiscretions go, they don't come any more dramatic than a crap, a shit, a pile of excrement, a poo, a turd. Nothing gets you noticed like a dirty protest. Just because you can get away with shitting somewhere doesn’t mean that you necessarily should. Barring a medical problem or sudden illness there's no real excuse for leaving such a gift at the crag, and certainly no excuse for leaving it, quite literally, lying around. You know the score: go before you hit the crag, and if you are caught short then bury any waste, and burn toilet paper.
Hopefully this is all very obvious. But what about other things such as taking your dog onto CroW land, taking a group to a crag, how to find out about bird restrictions - how do you know what’s right and what’s plain wrong? As increasingly numbers of people hit the hill and the crags any individual indiscretions can well add up, and whilst access may not always be taken away in such a sudden fashion, your impact could still be felt.
That's where the new BMC Crag Code comes in. We’re working on a series of simple guidelines, covering all the things you should be aware of when out and about. It's in a draft stage right now, so now's the time to comment if you think there's anything we've missed out. And when it's finished, we'll be distributing it to all climbing walls, shops, and outdoor centres, and of course, right here in Summit.
We’re not telling you what to do. You already know. It’s just a reminder. The rest is up to you.
