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If you're a fan of adventure and refuse to let the cold get in your way, you may be inclined to explore caves (they're 52 degrees year round!) Whether you refer to it as spelunking or caving, one thing is for sure: Caves are an incredible way to admire and explore the beauty of nature. However, if you're going to be green through your caving explorations, there are some habits you need to adapt that may not be as obvious as you'd think.
- Make sure you know height/weight limitations of the cave. Some caves have small crawl spaces that a bigger person won't be able to fit through and not only does this cause physical discomfort for the caver at hand, but it can also yield irreversible destruction to the cave if rocks are knocked out of place.
- Do not touch the rocks and formations. Some formations are much more fragile than you may think and even the slightest bit of oil from your hand can stop some formations in a cave from growing.
- Never litter in the cave. This seems obvious, right? But 'litter' in a cave isn't exclusive to trash. The caves should be left exactly how you found them, which includes "using the bathroom" before or after the cave, never in the cave.
- If you happen to knock down a hibernating bat, place it back where it was hibernating unless your guide instructs you otherwise. Failure to do this will likely lead to the death of the bat.
Caves are wonderful ways to explore the underground, but since they're more unexplored than other areas of the world, they're that much more fragile. Make sure your next caving adventure is as eco-friendly as possible.
More on being green outdoors:
6 Ways To Green Your Snowboarding Trip
Learn Proper Tobaggon Care
