Save the planet: Urinate on rocks.

Oskaloosa school teacher Karen Heady learned that ecology tip during a recent canoe trip through the New England backcountry with Leave No Trace, a national nonprofit that promotes environmentally responsible recreation.

“The problem with urinating on plants is that there’s salt in it, and if there are high concentrations on plants, then animals will come and eat these nice little plants,” said Heady, who also trains Scout leaders for the Girl Scouts of Kaw Valley Council. “If there’s a lot of people peeing on plants, there’s not going to be a lot of plants around.”

Heady’s intense, five-day journey earned her the designation of Leave No Trace master educator. Now, she’s preparing to pass the wisdom along to area Girl Scout leaders, who regularly lead young women into the wilds.

The seven outdoor ethics at the core of Leave No Trace coincide with long-held Scouting values, Heady said.

The Leave No Trace principles are: plan ahead and be prepared; travel and camp on durable surfaces; dispose of waste properly; leave what you find; minimize campfires; respect wildlife; and be considerate of other visitors.

Heady and three other students put the principles into practice the last week of August on Umbagog Lake, which straddles the New Hampshire-Maine border. The group and two instructors canoed to three sites on the lake, camping at each place and spending the day learning the principles.

“We didn’t have much free time at all,” Heady said. “It was pretty intense training.”

The fundamentals she picked up aren’t just for hard-core campers or Scouts, Heady said. They’re for everyone  whether they’re in a national park or their own back yard.

Kansas has 24 state parks covering 32,000 acres. Nearly 6 million people visited the parks in 1996, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. Living by simple rules during such outings goes a long way toward preserving the natural world, Heady said.

“One of the biggest things we can do as individuals is just take care of our own trash,” she said. “There are trash cans nearly everywhere, and if not, pack it out.”

She also said humans should respect wildlife by letting animals eat their own food.

“Human food is not doing the animals any good,” Heady said. “For one thing, the food isn’t good for them. For the other thing, they come to depend on it.”