What You Can Do

Pack out what you pack in. Trash is not only an eyesore, but is also a risk to animals. Dispose of waste properly and use recyclable camp supplies. There's a real satisfaction in knowing that you left the area in better shape than you found it.

Don't feed the animals. By simply not feeding the animals, you will protect their welfare. When wild animals cease to find their own food, they are no longer part of the balance of nature. 

Stay on established trails. By taking shortcuts you may get lost, and you can damage vegetation and cause erosion. Some of the desert plants and flowers you see can take hundreds of years to grow back after being damaged.

Camping. You can help protect Grand Canyon by practicing minimum-impact camping. Obey park regulations and camp only in designated camping areas. Safeguard belongings by hanging your pack, food and sweet-smelling items (soap, toothpaste and shampoo) away from hungry or curious rodents. Store food and plastics in ammo cans where provided.

Recycling. Grand Canyon National Park has perhaps one of the most comprehensive and successful recycling programs in any national park today. Please help us make the park, and the world, a cleaner, less-cluttered place. Dispose of your recyclable refuse in the specially marked recycling bins.

Xanterra is proud to be part of the recycling effort in the park. Recycling from all guest accommodations takes place daily and guest rooms contain recycled bathroom and paper products. Xanterra uses recycled products in many areas and has implemented a full recycling program in all park offices and visitor services. 

Water. Grand Canyon is in the desert and water is scarce. At the South Rim, water must be piped in from Roaring Springs, below the North Rim. You are urged to be conservative in using water (although be sure to drink enough of it). Unless you request otherwise, your towels and sheets will be reused, saving water and electricity. Hotel guests should refer to the charts in their rooms for suggestions on minimizing water use. Xanterra provides water-saver shower heads and low-flow toilets in most rooms, including those of the staff, which cuts down on water and utility costs.

Get involved. On a larger scale, programs such as Take Pride in America involve groups that get together to clean up an area, improve hiking trails where erosion and overuse are taking a toll, or identify and remove exotic plants that might encroach on native species.