While it’s always a great time to practice CITO (Cache In, Trash Out), April brings with it lots of opportunities with Earth Day and Groundspeak’s practice of issuing a special souvenir for attending and participating in special CITO events.  This year, there were three CITO events in the St. Louis area:  two hosted by brantole and one hosted by Hobbit Taz.

                The first one scheduled, Spring Cleaning at Fort Belle Fontaine, was held at…, well, Fort Belle Fontaine in north St. Louis.  It was attended by about two dozen volunteers, cachers and non-cachers alike.  In addition to providing water and snacks for the workers, brantole also held a drawing with a CITO coin for the prize.  BaldEagle45 was the lucky winner and received his coin by mail within a few days.

                The second CITO, Spring Cleaning at Columbia Bottom, was held at – you guessed it! – Columbia Bottom Conservation Area.  Sixteen volunteers posted their “Attended” logs for this CITO, which was cosponsored by The Missouri Department of Conservation.  MDC provided equipment to aid in the cleaning up of trash and debris left by floodwaters.  As an additional incentive, they also provided lunch, consisting of sausage and chicken jambalaya, Dutch oven veggies, a pear cobbler and a giant cookie.

                For this event, brantole drew CuriousGEOrge3’s name as the winner for the CITO coin.  Two other names had been drawn previously, but both had declined to accept the prize.

                The third CITO, Imperial Crown Pet Cemetery, was… I think you see where this is going... to be held in Florissant.  Unfortunately, due to the severe weather, the event was canceled.  Cemetery officials determined that between the lightning – which made it dangerous to use the metal tools – and the heavy ground saturation – which could result in additional damage to the cemetery – it would be best to postpone the CITO efforts until the following Saturday.  The winner of the third CITO’s coin was Luckycharmer.

                Geocachers don’t have to wait for a formal event to CITO, however.  It’s always good policy to practice CITO when you’re out in the field.  Whether it’s pulling a sopping log out of a cache and replacing it with a fresh one, or picking up a bottle or can off the trail, geocachers can make a positive impact on our environment every time they go out.  Consider packing a small plastic grocery sack in your TOTT bag and you’ll always have a trash bag with you.

                For more information on CITOs, please visit:  https://www.geocaching.com/cito/