Re: [Paddlewise] Disposal of Human Waste

When you are out exploring beautiful wilderness areas nothing drives me crazier
than coming upon a pile of shit complete with a pile of toilet paper. This is
totally unnecessary and very inconsiderate. A few weeks ago we were camping on
crown land in Ontario and we found a wonderful campsite that even had a privy,
but believe it or not, some moron had chosen to take a dump right on the trail
about 15 feet from the privy. I guess they didn't feel that the privy was
sanitary enough so instead they left a little reminder of their visit. We were
back there again this week, and fortunately the feces have now decomposed, but
the toilet paper is still clearly visible. It seems to take forever for those
patches of white toilet paper that dot the landscape to disappear.

It seems that most people on this list are very conscientious about taking care
of the wilderness that we enjoy so much, but from what I've seen it is obvious
that many other people aren't. So, in case anyone is unaware, the rules for
taking a dump in the wilderness are:

1) Use the existing privy if one is available.

2) If no privy, and if the soil is suitable, go at least 15 feet off any path
and at least 50 feet back from shore, and then cover the feces with a layer of
the surrounding soil and organic material (like a cat in a litter box) which
will help speed up the decomposition. MOST IMPORTANT take your toilet paper back
to camp and burn it in the fire pit!

3) If the soil isn't suitable, or the area is just too heavily trafficked, bring
along newspaper and baggies. Defecate on the newspaper and then either burn it
on a hot campfire, or if no campfire, then wrap it up in the newspaper, put the
little package in the large size baggie and haul it out with you.

If you find the thought of having to handle your own feces unpleasant, imagine
what it is like for the rest of us having to deal with it.

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