Birdsdo it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it. Yes they all need to goto the loo and so do we.
Dealingwith waste out in the wilds is an often not talked about subject asit's deemed not one for open discussion. It's thought of asunsavoury.
Thereare tricks to delay the action and there are others for disposing ofwaste in a more environmentally acceptable way. What I want todiscuss and learn from others are ways that you've learned to dealwith waste so as not to turn our woods and hills into one big opentoilet.
Oneof the things that prompted this was the fact that one of the reasonsthat wild camping was banned in Loch Lomond was that the Rangersfound that during the summer months that this honey-pot area took ona less than sweet fragrance. The whole area was littered with paperflower wreaths of toilet paper and human excrement; not nice for theRangers to deal with and not the public face that we wanted topresent to the world in Scotlands first National Park.
NowI've always been quite careful in how I've dealt with my waste, beingbrought up in the country and working the woods professionally Ididn't want to leave my mark on the land I held so dear. I evenhad in my library the wonderful book (sadly missing as someoneborrowed it and never returned it- you know who you are!); How ToS**t In The Woods.
HowTo S**t In The Woods. is a little book that I'd recommend most ofus to read or at least borrow and flick through. It deals withanswering the call of nature in most environments and dealing withthe aftermath! It introduced me with the idea of packing my humanwaste out of the environment; which is something of an anathema tomost of us in the UK but a fact of life in many American NationalParks. It also deals with cat holes & frosting andinnumerable other methods depending on where you find yourselfneeding to answer the call of the wild! It also has the best sectionof water procurement and purification that I've read in any tome.Indeed it was the basis of many teaching sessions the shop as regardswater purifiers.
ButI've also picked up a few other tricks since then and would love tohear of any that you have too.
Oneof the tricks I learned was from an old mate in the British Army. Hewas a sniper to trade and we often discussed shooting and laying inwait for our quarry. I did a little work from high seats inthose days where I'd lie in wait from a raised platform to managedeer. One of the last things I wanted to be doing was give away myposition by clambering up and down to go to the loo; making noise andleaving a scent trail. One of his best tricks was to take certainmedicines prophylactically . This meant that if going out for a periodof a day or two taking loperimide/imodium. This stops youneeding a number two whilst out and so negated the fact that you haveto deal with going to the loo. A boon for the shooter lying in wait.If you're on other medication like certain codine based drugs it canalso have the same effect as a side effect. Not that I'm advocatingthat you dose up on pain killers just to avoid going to the loo.
Aswell as number twos there is also number ones.For usblokes this is easier. We're naturally equipped with a prettyefficient natural dispersal system. Most forest managers justrecommend having a widdle against a tree. It's got to be a prettyheavily used area before this becomes a problem in the UK, mainlydown to the amount of rain that will wash it away. But precautionshave to be taken to avoid water courses, fruit that others may pickand risking involuntarily exposing oneself to other forest users. Inrecent years the ladies amongst us have had the introduction of theShewee®. This easily washable "cup & funnel" allows ladies to have a wee standing up (and even write their name in the snow should the urge take them.
Onthe water course front, organisms like giardia were unknown in theU.S.A 'till the 70's. But with folk travelling abroad, coming homeand answering the call of nature too close to water courses it's nowfelt that there is no safe ground water to drink in the wholecontinent. (Or should that be Incontinent!) Within the space of 15-20years a whole continent was invaded by a foreign parasite that wasdown to human carelessness.
Oneof the other things we have to take into account is that our waste,whether excrement or food waste may have an effect on fragileecosystems. In high alpine areas like the tops of some Scottishmountains the fragile plant life doesn't take kindly to theintroduction of introduced chemicals. This can be human poo or assimple as what we might assume is a natural thing that will bebiodegradable. That banana skin that you leave out to rot canintroduce enough potassium to adversely affect the local flora,taking years to recover, if at all. So have the mantra that if youcarry it in, carry it out.
Oneof the other tricks for sensitive areas is as above, carrying outyour poo. This may seem an anathema to us in the UK, but it'ssomething that may become more common as time goes on and numbersvisiting sites increases. It's not too difficult to learn to poo intoa plastic bag and carry it out in a tube. A section of plastic wastepipe with a cap on each end to carry bags of poo can be strapped tothe outside of the rucksack without the smell of it driving you mad.Though the disposal of the waste at the end of the trip can beproblematic. Human waste isn't supposed to be done in household wastebins. In the U.S.A. at trail heads they often have special wastebins. One trick in the UK where this isn't prevalent yet is to usethose dog poo bins that are common; though I'm not sure of thelegality of that.
Incamp there's also the disposal of food and dish washing waste. Muchof the food waste can either be safely disposed of in the ubiquitousfire or carried out. But many of us dispose of waste dish water inunacceptable ways. It shouldn't be washed in the local stream as thisputs unwanted food and chemicals into the waterways that othersdownstream may end up having to deal with. One trick I learned fromsome clever folk on BCUK was a strainer bag. It was at a multipleoccupancy camp where there were a fair few of us eating and livingnear the rather beautiful Loch Achery. As is the want of BCUK folkthere was a lot of eating going on, and Dutch Ovens and pots had tobe washed. The solution was to fill a bag (in this case a plasticone, though natural fibre ones would be even better) with ferns anddried grass and fire charcoal. The waste water was pored into this (agood distance from the water) so that the food particulate chemicalscould be extracted from the water. The bag could then either beburned or carried out and disposed of. One of the other things that alot of bushcrafters seem to be guilty of and is a bugbear ofmine is cooking in tinfoil parcels. I'm of the no to tinfoil brigade,but if you must. then dont throw the remainders in the fire; itdoesnt burn or breakdown and leaves unsightly rubbish lying about.
Solets hear your methods of waste management and disposal, I've touchedon a few and would love to hear of more. These things can be carriedon into normal life. One of the things that British Red and I bothrevel in is the fact that our neighbours comment on how empty ourdomestic bins are. That's partly due to how we live our lives inregards to procurement of goods but also in how we deal with theaftermath.
Pleasepost up, but also remember that this is a family forum, so how wephrase talking about waste is another part of dealing with waste, wedon't want to hear unsavoury terms being used. I know that this hasbeen done on the threads before, but thought that it may be time fora fresh look at things as attitudes have changed.
ATB.
GB.
Dealingwith waste out in the wilds is an often not talked about subject asit's deemed not one for open discussion. It's thought of asunsavoury.
Thereare tricks to delay the action and there are others for disposing ofwaste in a more environmentally acceptable way. What I want todiscuss and learn from others are ways that you've learned to dealwith waste so as not to turn our woods and hills into one big opentoilet.
Oneof the things that prompted this was the fact that one of the reasonsthat wild camping was banned in Loch Lomond was that the Rangersfound that during the summer months that this honey-pot area took ona less than sweet fragrance. The whole area was littered with paperflower wreaths of toilet paper and human excrement; not nice for theRangers to deal with and not the public face that we wanted topresent to the world in Scotlands first National Park.
NowI've always been quite careful in how I've dealt with my waste, beingbrought up in the country and working the woods professionally Ididn't want to leave my mark on the land I held so dear. I evenhad in my library the wonderful book (sadly missing as someoneborrowed it and never returned it- you know who you are!); How ToS**t In The Woods.
HowTo S**t In The Woods. is a little book that I'd recommend most ofus to read or at least borrow and flick through. It deals withanswering the call of nature in most environments and dealing withthe aftermath! It introduced me with the idea of packing my humanwaste out of the environment; which is something of an anathema tomost of us in the UK but a fact of life in many American NationalParks. It also deals with cat holes & frosting andinnumerable other methods depending on where you find yourselfneeding to answer the call of the wild! It also has the best sectionof water procurement and purification that I've read in any tome.Indeed it was the basis of many teaching sessions the shop as regardswater purifiers.
ButI've also picked up a few other tricks since then and would love tohear of any that you have too.
Oneof the tricks I learned was from an old mate in the British Army. Hewas a sniper to trade and we often discussed shooting and laying inwait for our quarry. I did a little work from high seats inthose days where I'd lie in wait from a raised platform to managedeer. One of the last things I wanted to be doing was give away myposition by clambering up and down to go to the loo; making noise andleaving a scent trail. One of his best tricks was to take certainmedicines prophylactically . This meant that if going out for a periodof a day or two taking loperimide/imodium. This stops youneeding a number two whilst out and so negated the fact that you haveto deal with going to the loo. A boon for the shooter lying in wait.If you're on other medication like certain codine based drugs it canalso have the same effect as a side effect. Not that I'm advocatingthat you dose up on pain killers just to avoid going to the loo.
Aswell as number twos there is also number ones.For usblokes this is easier. We're naturally equipped with a prettyefficient natural dispersal system. Most forest managers justrecommend having a widdle against a tree. It's got to be a prettyheavily used area before this becomes a problem in the UK, mainlydown to the amount of rain that will wash it away. But precautionshave to be taken to avoid water courses, fruit that others may pickand risking involuntarily exposing oneself to other forest users. Inrecent years the ladies amongst us have had the introduction of theShewee®. This easily washable "cup & funnel" allows ladies to have a wee standing up (and even write their name in the snow should the urge take them.
Onthe water course front, organisms like giardia were unknown in theU.S.A 'till the 70's. But with folk travelling abroad, coming homeand answering the call of nature too close to water courses it's nowfelt that there is no safe ground water to drink in the wholecontinent. (Or should that be Incontinent!) Within the space of 15-20years a whole continent was invaded by a foreign parasite that wasdown to human carelessness.
Oneof the other things we have to take into account is that our waste,whether excrement or food waste may have an effect on fragileecosystems. In high alpine areas like the tops of some Scottishmountains the fragile plant life doesn't take kindly to theintroduction of introduced chemicals. This can be human poo or assimple as what we might assume is a natural thing that will bebiodegradable. That banana skin that you leave out to rot canintroduce enough potassium to adversely affect the local flora,taking years to recover, if at all. So have the mantra that if youcarry it in, carry it out.
Oneof the other tricks for sensitive areas is as above, carrying outyour poo. This may seem an anathema to us in the UK, but it'ssomething that may become more common as time goes on and numbersvisiting sites increases. It's not too difficult to learn to poo intoa plastic bag and carry it out in a tube. A section of plastic wastepipe with a cap on each end to carry bags of poo can be strapped tothe outside of the rucksack without the smell of it driving you mad.Though the disposal of the waste at the end of the trip can beproblematic. Human waste isn't supposed to be done in household wastebins. In the U.S.A. at trail heads they often have special wastebins. One trick in the UK where this isn't prevalent yet is to usethose dog poo bins that are common; though I'm not sure of thelegality of that.
Incamp there's also the disposal of food and dish washing waste. Muchof the food waste can either be safely disposed of in the ubiquitousfire or carried out. But many of us dispose of waste dish water inunacceptable ways. It shouldn't be washed in the local stream as thisputs unwanted food and chemicals into the waterways that othersdownstream may end up having to deal with. One trick I learned fromsome clever folk on BCUK was a strainer bag. It was at a multipleoccupancy camp where there were a fair few of us eating and livingnear the rather beautiful Loch Achery. As is the want of BCUK folkthere was a lot of eating going on, and Dutch Ovens and pots had tobe washed. The solution was to fill a bag (in this case a plasticone, though natural fibre ones would be even better) with ferns anddried grass and fire charcoal. The waste water was pored into this (agood distance from the water) so that the food particulate chemicalscould be extracted from the water. The bag could then either beburned or carried out and disposed of. One of the other things that alot of bushcrafters seem to be guilty of and is a bugbear ofmine is cooking in tinfoil parcels. I'm of the no to tinfoil brigade,but if you must. then dont throw the remainders in the fire; itdoesnt burn or breakdown and leaves unsightly rubbish lying about.
Solets hear your methods of waste management and disposal, I've touchedon a few and would love to hear of more. These things can be carriedon into normal life. One of the things that British Red and I bothrevel in is the fact that our neighbours comment on how empty ourdomestic bins are. That's partly due to how we live our lives inregards to procurement of goods but also in how we deal with theaftermath.
Pleasepost up, but also remember that this is a family forum, so how wephrase talking about waste is another part of dealing with waste, wedon't want to hear unsavoury terms being used. I know that this hasbeen done on the threads before, but thought that it may be time fora fresh look at things as attitudes have changed.
ATB.
GB.
