Caching Cleanup
Posted: 17 November 11 11:07 am
In the same vein as CITO, the Two Hands Project and the "bag in a film canister" highlighted by Norkmeister I would like Geocaching Australia to both be seen to be AND actually be involved in helping to keep the world clean.
I think of this for 3 reasons (not necessarily in order).
1. CITO is a wonderful activity that demonstrates to land managers that having geocaches on their land can be a benefit to the land they manage by having people come in and take away garbage when they come to find a geocache.
2. The general principle of "clean up the environment" in line with the "leave no trace" ethic is appealing to many people and the geocaching community specifically. Lots of logs mention garbage at some cache locations and if there was a method that people could use to clean up at the cache site, I think people would embrace the concept.
3. We might be able to flog 35mm film canisters with a plastic bag inside them and generate another small revenue stream for Geocaching Australia. The canister is reusable once you've got it and inside a film canister your bag doesn't get torn / ripped inside your caching bag. You can also leave them behind in geocaches as trade items or as "donations" to the next cacher to take and use. It turns into a win-win for both the environment and Geocaching Australia.
I started a discussion in the Senate in February this year and the Senators were interested in pursuing the goal of helping to clean our environment. This is especially pertinent in considering the NSW NPWS and the QLD NP rules and guidelines on geocaching. If we can demonstrate good will and intent to assist in keeping the regulated areas clean and free from garbage, then they may perceive that geocaching in the regulated areas actually provides a benefit to the area and not just an inconvenience.
A couple of things emerged from the Senate discussions that I thought I would provide as background information.
I approached the Two Hands Project with intent to use their tagline and name for the activity. They were interested in having Geocaching Australia involved in the concept and then they decided that they wanted 50% of the profits of any goods we sold. Given the nature of the goal, the "bag in a can" would be produced using as inexpensive materials as I could source. The majority of the effort would be my personal time in sourcing the cans and bags, stuffing them, printing the labels, sticking them on, getting them into the shop, then the nightly enjoyment of fulfilling the orders through the shop. I am not willing to pay another organisation for my time, even if it provides a mutual benefit to both parties.
I also considered using the existing CITO concept which has been well implemented, but CITO (logo and tag line) are registered trademarks and cannot be used without permission from Groundspeak.
Hence the idea of creating our own name and tagline was born. Actually I started with the idea of our own name and tagline, then considered we would be placing the idea into the same restrictive covenant that Two Hands and CITO have. So my latest thought was to create a "world wide, geocaching themed, 'bag in a can'" concept that could be adopted and adapted by any geocaching site in the world (think the opencaching network). The ideas would be made available under a Creative Commons licence so that it could be adapted and anyone could make derivative works. The question over commercial use comes into play and I'm not sure how to handle that. Geocaching organisations should be able to make a commercial gain out of the idea (like selling the things) for their own site benefits, but not necessarily to take and use for commercial gain personally. In this vein, I can't think of a Creative Commons license that applies. We can cover that as the idea evolves. Let's face it though, if people want to steal shit and reuse it, we have no hope of stopping them, but if we release it under a CC license, they may feel they can use it, add to it, create for it without the need to feel dirty.
I'm still enamoured by the ideas and the Senate agreed to put the idea to the community come up with:
Name
Acronym
Slogan
Logo
Cleanup kit (kit, ha!)
Promotional materials (pathtag, posters, stickers)
Webpage / website dedicated to the concept
This will demonstrate to the various government bodies that geocachers are serious about cleaning up the environment in those locations less visited at the small expense of a few footprints.
As I mentioned up front, I am primarily coming at this from a point where we can influence geocaching restrictions in PWS areas, not generate income / revenue. A groundswell of like minded organisations and people can then take the ideas and use them for the benefit of the community, the parks and the environment.
By the way, I could just as easily sell the devices through the shop without a tagline (assuming anyone would buy them), but I would very much like the whole Geocaching Australia community, and the opencaching network communities to be involved in the idea.
Just imagine if you were part of the initial community that came up with the ideas and they spread around the world. How would you feel when your input was used as a concept that took on a world wide activity to clean up the world?
Of course, you get nothing out of it, just a level of personal satisfaction.
So I'd like to solicit your feedback, ideas, discussions, concepts, etc, etc. You are free to have a go at the idea, especially if there are things I haven't made clear. We'll keep criticism on the idea, not personal attacks though. Having a go at the idea is worthy; having a go at a person is not on.
I would ask that if you're going to pop in and say "this idea sucks", then if you give a sentence or two on why it sucks, we can further understand the hundreds of different ways people will perceive the idea. By the same token if you pop in and say "great idea", the same would apply. Let us know why you think it might be great. Your feedback and comments will help to shape the end result.
At the same time, I would also like think that there might be some people out there who are also interested in the thought leadership of this concept. I am certain there will be a lot of people who support the idea provided it's "done by someone else". "Someone else" may not have the time to devote to this idea and its growth, so if the idea really appeals to you, get involved, provide leadership, and help to make it happen. Don't just leave it to "someone else" otherwise I'm almost certain nothing will happen.
There is no approval process for thought leadership or ideas, concept, designs, taglines, etc. i.e. I am not acting as default "Chairman of the Board" to approve anything. I think as a community we can take that role on amongst ourselves. The more ideas we generate the better the end result. The more things we think of and put forward the more synergy (I hate that word) we can get. You've seen how the GCA pathtag designs go. An idea is put up, someone has suggestions, modifications, feedback and the end result is better than one person can come up with.
So let's all get together, act as a community with community leadership and see if we can create a movement.
I think of this for 3 reasons (not necessarily in order).
1. CITO is a wonderful activity that demonstrates to land managers that having geocaches on their land can be a benefit to the land they manage by having people come in and take away garbage when they come to find a geocache.
2. The general principle of "clean up the environment" in line with the "leave no trace" ethic is appealing to many people and the geocaching community specifically. Lots of logs mention garbage at some cache locations and if there was a method that people could use to clean up at the cache site, I think people would embrace the concept.
3. We might be able to flog 35mm film canisters with a plastic bag inside them and generate another small revenue stream for Geocaching Australia. The canister is reusable once you've got it and inside a film canister your bag doesn't get torn / ripped inside your caching bag. You can also leave them behind in geocaches as trade items or as "donations" to the next cacher to take and use. It turns into a win-win for both the environment and Geocaching Australia.
I started a discussion in the Senate in February this year and the Senators were interested in pursuing the goal of helping to clean our environment. This is especially pertinent in considering the NSW NPWS and the QLD NP rules and guidelines on geocaching. If we can demonstrate good will and intent to assist in keeping the regulated areas clean and free from garbage, then they may perceive that geocaching in the regulated areas actually provides a benefit to the area and not just an inconvenience.
A couple of things emerged from the Senate discussions that I thought I would provide as background information.
I approached the Two Hands Project with intent to use their tagline and name for the activity. They were interested in having Geocaching Australia involved in the concept and then they decided that they wanted 50% of the profits of any goods we sold. Given the nature of the goal, the "bag in a can" would be produced using as inexpensive materials as I could source. The majority of the effort would be my personal time in sourcing the cans and bags, stuffing them, printing the labels, sticking them on, getting them into the shop, then the nightly enjoyment of fulfilling the orders through the shop. I am not willing to pay another organisation for my time, even if it provides a mutual benefit to both parties.
I also considered using the existing CITO concept which has been well implemented, but CITO (logo and tag line) are registered trademarks and cannot be used without permission from Groundspeak.
Hence the idea of creating our own name and tagline was born. Actually I started with the idea of our own name and tagline, then considered we would be placing the idea into the same restrictive covenant that Two Hands and CITO have. So my latest thought was to create a "world wide, geocaching themed, 'bag in a can'" concept that could be adopted and adapted by any geocaching site in the world (think the opencaching network). The ideas would be made available under a Creative Commons licence so that it could be adapted and anyone could make derivative works. The question over commercial use comes into play and I'm not sure how to handle that. Geocaching organisations should be able to make a commercial gain out of the idea (like selling the things) for their own site benefits, but not necessarily to take and use for commercial gain personally. In this vein, I can't think of a Creative Commons license that applies. We can cover that as the idea evolves. Let's face it though, if people want to steal shit and reuse it, we have no hope of stopping them, but if we release it under a CC license, they may feel they can use it, add to it, create for it without the need to feel dirty.
I'm still enamoured by the ideas and the Senate agreed to put the idea to the community come up with:
Name
Acronym
Slogan
Logo
Cleanup kit (kit, ha!)
Promotional materials (pathtag, posters, stickers)
Webpage / website dedicated to the concept
This will demonstrate to the various government bodies that geocachers are serious about cleaning up the environment in those locations less visited at the small expense of a few footprints.
As I mentioned up front, I am primarily coming at this from a point where we can influence geocaching restrictions in PWS areas, not generate income / revenue. A groundswell of like minded organisations and people can then take the ideas and use them for the benefit of the community, the parks and the environment.
By the way, I could just as easily sell the devices through the shop without a tagline (assuming anyone would buy them), but I would very much like the whole Geocaching Australia community, and the opencaching network communities to be involved in the idea.
Just imagine if you were part of the initial community that came up with the ideas and they spread around the world. How would you feel when your input was used as a concept that took on a world wide activity to clean up the world?
Of course, you get nothing out of it, just a level of personal satisfaction.
So I'd like to solicit your feedback, ideas, discussions, concepts, etc, etc. You are free to have a go at the idea, especially if there are things I haven't made clear. We'll keep criticism on the idea, not personal attacks though. Having a go at the idea is worthy; having a go at a person is not on.
I would ask that if you're going to pop in and say "this idea sucks", then if you give a sentence or two on why it sucks, we can further understand the hundreds of different ways people will perceive the idea. By the same token if you pop in and say "great idea", the same would apply. Let us know why you think it might be great. Your feedback and comments will help to shape the end result.
At the same time, I would also like think that there might be some people out there who are also interested in the thought leadership of this concept. I am certain there will be a lot of people who support the idea provided it's "done by someone else". "Someone else" may not have the time to devote to this idea and its growth, so if the idea really appeals to you, get involved, provide leadership, and help to make it happen. Don't just leave it to "someone else" otherwise I'm almost certain nothing will happen.
There is no approval process for thought leadership or ideas, concept, designs, taglines, etc. i.e. I am not acting as default "Chairman of the Board" to approve anything. I think as a community we can take that role on amongst ourselves. The more ideas we generate the better the end result. The more things we think of and put forward the more synergy (I hate that word) we can get. You've seen how the GCA pathtag designs go. An idea is put up, someone has suggestions, modifications, feedback and the end result is better than one person can come up with.
So let's all get together, act as a community with community leadership and see if we can create a movement.