In the past we didn't do this because of the fact that the paper that we use, we use sparingly and we intentionally use water soluble paper that once it rains, it is like i was never there to begin with. You see, it is necessary to have paper scarps thrown on the ground when we do a run, lest the people who are behind in the pack be able to figure out where they are supposed to go.
Lately though we have decided that we will clean all of that up to, if for no other reason than to keep the locals who live and work on the land happy.
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Our first indications that this might be a problem that needed to be addressed was when we were doing a trail and some of our members ended up going the wrong way for around 300 meters or so because there was actually old paper of our own on the ground from a previous Hash run that we had done there months prior. We had thought that we were using the correct materials on the runs to ensure that this wouldn't ever happen. We obviously were wrong. You see, we have a policy of "leave nothing behind" from an environmental point of view whenever we go on a run.
This is compounded by the fact that we are, a lot of the time, trespassing on private land when we do our runs and we don't normally ask permission to do this. It has only backfired on us a couple of times where the neighbors took offense to us being on their land but it is never pleasant when it happens. We don't mean any harm when we go on these runs, and we don't need to give the land-owners any good reason to hate that we are there. It is all in good fun and we are not there to ruin anything.
So lately, we have had a few members return to the trails that we used just a day previous to re-do the trail and clean up anything that they see along the way.
This objective is best accomplished by someone who was actually involved in the creation of the trail so that they are absolutely sure about where the trail actually goes. Since this is normally a one-man job, it could be extra bad if they were to get lost out there. This really shouldn't happen though seeing as how we have all this technology that can assure that this doesn't happen.
Normally, at the end of this trip the person picking up the paper will also pick up a bunch of litter that was not our doing so we also get to see this as some sort of community service as well. The trails are, actually, a lot more interesting, nice, and fun when they are filled with nature, instead of garbage.
There is an international group affiliated with the Hash called Hashers not Trashers that sometimes will go on runs to cleanup areas that are dirty as crap for reasons completely unrelated to our actions. I guess you could say that our actions are also meant to be an example for others that might see us, and perhaps they will do the same. Thailand, and a lot of the rest of the world is actually a very polluted place and people in some areas don't really seem to care until the situation is well out of control.
We do it for public relations, and also because we don't want the places we run to be covered in garbage. If we are going to be there anyway, why not do a little good while we are around?
