Please leave no trace
Put your rubbish in a bin or take it with you
Please keep our islands beautiful. Be vigilant and dispose of all your rubbish (garbage) responsibly.
Please don’t leave bags of rubbish alongside bins which are already full. This is not only unsightly but is a danger to wildlife who might scavenge in it and come to harm. Animals and our weather can scatter carelessly dumped rubbish for miles.
If the bin is full, then please take your rubbish with you and find another bin or take it back to your accommodation provider who will dispose of it for you.
Leave no trace. Thank you.
Rubbish bins (garbage cans) and recycling
Keep Skye tidy! With increasing numbers of visitors each year there will be more rubbish to dispose of across Skye.
There are wastebins in many public locations across the island, many at some of the most popular visitor locations and attractions. You will see green waste bins for general rubbish and blue bins for materials that can be recycled. Glass bottles and glass jars can deposited in bottle banks that can be found in most towns and villages.
The Highland Council has a map of all recycling points and bottles banks (see button below). If you are staying in a hotel or self-catering/bed & breakfast ask your host on where you can dispose of your waste or better still recycle where possible. Thank you.
Clean up after yourself
Whether you’re “wild” camping or just out on a hike, if you have to go to the toilet outside please be thoughtful of others. Solid human waste is a biohazard. Residents and other visitors do not want to find your waste.
Do not just leave it. Bury it at least 30 metres from a watercourse. Remove all paper and wipes and dispose of them responsibly. NEVER EVER “go” near someone’s home or in their farm buildings. That’s just plain disgusting and disrespectful.
If you’re intending to rough it then please make sure you’ve a trowel and/or “poo pot” with you.
Thank you.
Public toilets and comfort scheme
We want you to enjoy your time here in Skye and Raasay especially when you are in the great outdoors but please ensure that you are considerate to others.
There are many public toilets across our area managed by Highland Council and you can find them using the link below. There are also a number of locations where public toilets are managed by the local community. These are called ‘Comfort Schemes’- please see link below
If you are touring then please try to plan ahead to avoid, where possible, having to toilet in the countryside.
Clean up after your dog
Please make sure that you bag up and dispose of your dog’s waste. Do not leave poop bags dangling from trees, in bushes or tied to fences. Put bags in the rubbish – preferably in specially marked bins for dog waste.
Gates – leave them as you find them
If you find a gate closed, then make sure you close it behind you.
Please don’t rearrange the natural environment
Please leave everything as you find it. Please don’t stack stones and rearrange rocks. You may feel that you’re creating inner peace for yourself; the local crofters whose stone walls have been dismantled don’t get much inner peace when they have to chase down their escaped livestock or spend hours every winter repairing damaged walls! Leave no trace – not even gifts for the fairies. Thank you.
“Speed, bonnie boat, like a bird on the wing.”