Aerospace engineer John McShane has developed “CleanTrek,” a 3D-printed attachment for hiking poles designed to collect litter on trails. Inspired by a trash-strewn visit to Yosemite in spring 2021, McShane created the system to help hikers pick up garbage without touching it. The invention comes as a response to what McShane observed as substantial litter problems in national parks.
The CleanTrek system consists of two components that attach to standard trekking poles. The “grabber” features a pinching arm mounted to the pole’s basket threads and operated by a handle-mounted trigger. The “collector” is a fabric bag that wraps around the second pole, allowing hikers to store collected trash until proper disposal is possible.
McShane designed the attachments to be adaptable to various trekking pole models. The system includes different inserts to accommodate various basket thread patterns, and the grabber arm can be adjusted to match different pole tip sizes. Single-pole hikers can use either the grabber or the collector with an optional pole-mounted scabbard for tongs.
“I’m hoping to help build a community around the idea of picking up litter and holding ourselves accountable to hiking stewardship,” McShane says. “A lot of it is as simple as just encouraging each other and saying, ‘hey, make sure you do your part.’ I just think that CleanTrek and these products are another way to encourage that mentality.”
Testing the prototypes on San Diego trails has yielded promising results. McShane is currently exploring manufacturing options for the product. He plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign later this month to gauge market interest and potentially fund larger-scale production.
Source: backpacker.com