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Emily and Elliott Clean up Camp

Emily and Elliott woke up to breakfast smells breakfast on the first morning of their camping trip at Little River State Park. They peeked out of their tent just as Dad flipped the pancakes onto the griddle over the camp stove.

Elliott was disappointed that Dad hadn’t propped the skillet over an open campfire the way cowboys did on TV. Dad said that cowboys didn’t heat anything but burned beans and bad coffee that way.

"But just like the cowboys, we will all pitch in and help with camp chores," Dad said.

"What kind of chores are we talking about?" asked Emily. She slurped down the last of her instant hot chocolate.

"Clean up," Mom said. "Clearing the table, washing the dishes, packing up the trash."

"Ugh," said Elliott.

Dad smiled. "Why don’t you and I handle the dishes?"

Double ugh, thought Elliott, but he nodded, anyway.

"That means Emily and I pack up the trash," said Mom. "After we help clear the table."

Dad pulled out a plastic bucket. "Let’s get started! I’ll get some water from the water stand."

Emily helped stack the sticky plates into the dishpan. "You didn’t eat all your pancakes," she said, pointing to a plate.

"Yeah, well you left a piece of bacon," retorted Elliott.

"Emily, where are the plastic trash bags the park people gave us?" asked Mom. Emily had made a cape from one trash bag for her stuffed pig, Mrs. Piggoty, but she found another for Mom.

Elliott finished loading the silverware in the dishpan and placed the greasy frying pan, on the top of the pile. Muttering, he picked up the heavy dishpan and trudged off towards the toilet building.

"Where’s Elliott?" asked Dad a few minutes later. He had just placed a clean pot full of water over a glowing blue burner on a camp stove.


"I think he left to do the dishes," said Emily.

"Left? Why would leave camp to do the—oh no!" Dad dashed off, then doubled back.
He turned off the stove burner, then sprinted towards the toilet building.

"Weird," muttered Emily as she picked up the pancake mix box.

"Elliott! Are you in there?" Dad puffed as he jogged up to the Men’s side of the toilet building.

"Yeah, Dad," Elliott called back. "I’m doing the dishes." He was just about to pour the grease from the frying pan into a sink, when his father grabbed his arm.

"Read that sign over the sink!"

Elliott squinted. "Please don’t wash dishes in the sink. It clogs the plumbing. Well, that’s dumb, where are we supposed to wash them, in the shower?"

Dad shook his head and pointed out the door. "At the camp site, Buckaroo. Let’s go!"

At the campsite, Emily finished piling the trash on the grate in the fire ring.

"What are you doing?" Mom frowned when she saw the mound of plastic and paper.

"I just collected the trash. It’s all ready to burn. Can I light it, please Mom? I’ll be careful with the matches! Please?"

"Honey, we don’t burn garbage at home, why would we burn it in camp?" Mom asked.

"Those people are burning their trash," Emily pointed to a nearby campsite. A plume of smelly blue smoke curled up from their fire ring. A morning radio station blared loudly from their picnic table.

Mom wrinkled her nose. "Those people are not supposed to be burning their trash either. You only burn clean firewood with a little clean paper to get the flames started. Burning garbage gives off unhealthy chemicals and smells bad. The ranger will have a chat with those people about the burning and the noise during quiet hours. They certainly aren’t experienced campers!"

"So, what are we going to do with our garbage?" asked Emily.

"We will do what we do at home," said Mom firmly. She held up a metal can and plastic soda pop bottle. "These are recyclable. The rest we pack in the garbage bag. Then we take a walk to the Dumpster."


"Let’s heat the dishwater," Dad said when he and Elliott returned.

"Dishwater?" Emily shrugged. "Why heat water for dishes!"

Dad carefully turned on the camp stove. "It’s easier to wash off sticky maple syrup, and grease. The hot water kills germs."

"Emily and I are going to the Dumpster and recycling center," said Mom. "Scrape the food scraps into the garbage bag."

A red squirrel suddenly began to chatter from a branch above the picnic table. "Hey, couldn’t we feed our leftovers to the squirrel?" Emily asked. Shewatched the squirrel jerk its plume of a red tail.

Mom shook her head. "No wildlife feeding. We don’t want animals to be pests in camp. Remember, Ranger Annie told us to keep food in tight coolers or in the van. Besides, human food isn’t good for animals. It can make them sick."

"Yuck," said Elliott making a face. "We don’t want wolverines throwing up in camp."

"Elliott, there are no wolverines in Vermont," Mom rolled her eyes as she spooned bacon grease from the frying pan into the garbage bag.

Dad carefully poured a thick liquid from a small plastic bottle into the dishpan. He added a little warm water and swished the mixture around until suds formed.

"What’s that stuff?" asked Elliott, curiously.

"It’s special camping soap," said Dad. "It is biodegradable, so it doesn’t pollute, but we still don’t want it to get into lakes or rivers. You use only a very small amount." He turned off the burner of the camp stove and carefully added steaming water from the cooking pot into the dishpan. Dad also poured some hot water for rinsing into a clean baking pan.

"I’m ready to wash dishes, camping style!" he announced.

"And we are ready to take out the trash, camping style," Mom said as she knotted the garbage bag and picked up the recyclables.

"You can rinse and wipe, Elliott," said Dad. He scrubbed the pancake turner and dropped it into the rinse pan.

Dad showed Elliot how to rinse each cup and plate over the baking pan. Elliott carefully wiped each utensil with a clean dish towel and put them in the camp box. It was actually fun to see the suds slide off when he dribbled the clear water on them.

"This is better than doing dishes at home any day!" Elliott announced when they finished up. He had been amazed when Dad scrubbed the frying pan with of all things, a handful of clean sand. Then he carefully had rinsed the grit from the pan’s black bottom.

"Now what do you think we do with the dirty dish water?" asked Dad.

"Take to the restroom and pour it in the toilet?"

Dad shook his head. "Guess again."

"Pour it in the lake?"

"Remember what I said about the soap? We don’t want the soap and other wastes to pollute the lake." Dad said. "Keep thinking."

"Pour it in the trash Dumpster?"

Dad laughed. "No, not the Dumpster. People who go camping in recreational vehicles often have a holding tank where they can store dirty water including toilet water. They go to the park dump station to pump that out. The dump station here is near the Dumpster, but it isn’t practical for us to carry the dishwater up there. We’re going to water the woods."

Dad carried the dishpan and Elliott carried the baking pan to a grassy spot away from the lake. Dad poured the dishwater in a broad swath over the ground. Elliott sloshed the rinse water under a tree.

"Are you sure this isn’t causing pollution?" Elliott asked when they were finished.

"Everything we humans do causes some pollution," admitted Dad. "But by using only a little water and biodegradable soap, and letting the dishwater soak into the ground away from our camp and the lake, we’re making the smallest amount of pollution possible."

"Can we go for a bike ride now," asked Elliott. "Just you and me and Colonel Bear?"

"You’ve earned it," said Dad. "Get your helmet and tell that teddy bear he’d better not squeal when he’s tied to your bike."

Meanwhile Emily discovered that the trash Dumpster was huge, green and smelly. Emily had to stand on tiptoe to push the garbage bag into it while Mom held up the heavy lid.

"Where does all this trash go?" Emily asked.

"It’s just like trash at home. A compacter truck comes to take it to a landfill." Mom held up the can and the bottle. "The truck also picks up the recyclables."

Neat green bins were labeled "Glass," "Cardboard," "Newspaper" "Cans," and "Plastics." Mom dropped the recyclables into the appropriate bins.

"It’s hard to believe that when you are on vacation you still have to recycle and take out the tras," said Emily.

"You are still emptying cans and bottles and creating garbage when you are on vacation," reminded Mom.

Emily nodded. "At least the park has a good place for us to take it."

"Now that our chores are done, let’s check out the nature trail," suggested Mom.

"I hope there’s no garbage to pick up there!" said Emily.

"Me, too!" said Mom.

END

Courtesy: Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation