Some Outdoorsy New Year Resolutions

This year instead of making all the same resolutions that I won’t keep I decided to make some fresh resolutions that I would look forward to. What a novel idea! So what can I do to improve my and my family’s life this year without too much trouble.

1.  While you don’t really have to twist my arm to make me go camping, this year I decided to go tent camping again. Although I love my trailer, tent camping is something different and I realized that I missed it. I do not need to go anywhere far from the trailer. I will put up our tent (from the old tenting days) right next to it on our site and sleep there on those particularly hot summer nights. Sleeping in a tent is not much different than sleeping outdoors. Basically only a barrier of thin fabric separates you from nature and you practically sleep on the ground. Let’s face it: sleeping in a trailer is not that much different from sleeping in your house.  

2. Second, I will teach my son the "leave no trace" set of principles and assure that my camping family makes a minimal impact on the surroundings. It is so easy to forget, while camping at an organized campground, that we are not in a city and everything we do has a direct impact on the wildlife around us. So, while camping at a park, remember that what you do has an impact on the environment in and around the park as well. Use only biodegradable soap and detergent, do not leave any garbage on your site or the trails you walk, do not make too much noise, do not change anything in your natural surroundings, use the fire ring provided for your campfire and do not take anything away. Most of these guidelines are simply common sense. The last one: do not take anything away, could be difficult for kids to understand and follow. Sometimes it is hard to leave every leaf and rock undisturbed. Kids want to take little rocks and shells as souvenirs and so it may be wise to bend the rules a little, without making it too difficult for them.

3. My ambitious plan is to learn more about native plants, herbs and edibles of the area where we camp. Our ancestors had to know all the plants in order to survive, but nowadays our food and medicine comes from the supermarket. But more and more people are taking interest in learning about native herbs and plants. Wouldn’t it be grand to be able to find some edibles around your campground, like berries, mushrooms and herbs for your salad? I know that wild leaks are abundant in spring in Ontario. A ood and easy way to start would be by playing a game of Wildcraft! , which teaches about herbs and other edible plants commonly found in North America.

Ideally I would also like to find a real water spring where we could fill up some bottles with spring water instead of buying bottled water at the supermarket (which is not really good for you or the environment, because of the plastic bottles).

So what are your New Year resolutions? Are you looking forward to fulfilling them, or are they just another chore and another thing on your “to do” list?