As an experienced outdoorsperson, you're aware of the rules. After you've enjoyed a hike, camping trip or some other excursion, you need to make sure you've left an area the same way you'd like to find it.

That respect is at the core of the Leave No Trace principles that protect the natural beauty of wild spaces.

Topics: environment, LNT, Environmental Stewardship, leave no trace, stewardship

“Winter camping is a really unique and different experience. Only a small portion of people go expedition-style winter camping the way NOLS does,” explains Katie Oram, a veteran NOLS instructor.

Topics: skiing, camping, skills, leave no trace, winter, backcountry skiing, snowboarding, splitboarding

Photo by Matt Heaton.

You’re the type of person who will eat a noodle that fell in the dirt, shudder when you think about “surface pooping,” and march right through mud puddles on the trail rather than around them. You’re a master of Leave No Trace.

It can be hard to know how to bring your dedication to LNT to your daily routine. So, I asked around at NOLS Headquarters to find out what NOLSies do to keep LNT alive in their daily routine.

Take a look and see if there are any ideas you can fit into your lifestyle.

Topics: Behind the Scenes, leave no trace, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability

Maybe it’s something about disposing of orange peels, or letting your friend wash the dishes by the lake at the end of a long day. No matter what, you’ve probably heard of at least one of these popular Leave No Trace myths—and maybe even believe some of them yourself!

Topics: LNT, camping, leave no trace, myth

As the snow begins to melt from the mountains, there is another season approaching as we transition into spring: mud season.

Topics: Expedition Prep, LNT, leave no trace, education, wilderness, backcountry

Editor's note: Guidelines from the fourth edition of NOLS' Soft Paths, by Rich Brame and David Cole.

Let's talk waste. When we go somewhere to camp out, we're going to produce garbage and human waste. It's inevitable. What's not inevitable is the way we clean up after ourselves. After all, you wouldn't go into your neighbor's backyard, have a barbecue, and leave all the trash behind, right? (Maybe it depends on how well you get along with your neighbor...)

Topics: Expedition Prep, backpacking, outdoor education, leave no trace, backcountry

At NOLS, we work hard to make sure that each of our locations does its part to promote sustainable practices that will give our students great experiences and care for the amazing wild lands in which we operate. For Earth Day 2015, we're going to show you a day in the life at our location in Ranikhet, India, so you can see how we integrate sustainability and conservation into our everyday practices...

Topics: leadership, Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability, Environmental Stewardship, leave no trace, NOLS India