How To Dispose Of Human Waste While Camping

People get into their rvs and they are thinking the outdoor resource is limitless. The toilet paper left behind is getting out of control … lots of nice sites surrounded by poop and toilet paper. Don’t bury or burn your menstrual hygiene products or any other garbage. According to LNT, you can bury a small amount of toilet paper, but it’s really not recommended, especially in dry environments.

A six- or eight-inch cathole does not offer prime composting conditions. Dig a trench that is 6 to 8 inches deep, 4 to 6 inches wide, and as long as needed for your group. Leave No Trace recommends a latrine be essentially a long cathole. Avoid your boots and pants, and avoid peeing on plants that could be defoliated by animals attracted to the salt in urine. Rangers pick up human feces all season long as sanitation is one of our top priorities in a few high use areas.” Proper disposal ensures others don’t come across your waste and also speeds up the decomposition process.

How To Dispose Of Human Waste From Portable Toilets While Camping?

For obvious reasons the container should only be used for that purpose and disinfected when you return home. For number two situations, if you have no poop tube, this is your opportunity to use that extra waste bag/pack-it-out kit you’ve surely remembered to pack. Since you’re in your tent instead of on natural terrain, the method is a little different. You’re going to have to slip the plastic bag over your hand and play catch, or use the coffee filter you’ve brought with your poop tube.

Depending on the habitat and how fast buried waste breaks down, toilet paper can remain long after feces. Even in a proper cathole, it can take up to a year to break down, so leaving it should be a last resort. That said, if you do decide to bury your toilet paper, make sure to bury it deeply in the hole with a stick, which should be buried as well to minimize the potential spread of disease. Many composting toilets don’t have trash bins in them, so you may need to pack out any menstrual products and dispose of them elsewhere. So, pack a small garbage bag or a Ziploc bag so you can dispose of your waste properly.

You’ll want to find a good pooping location that’s at least 200 feet from all three of these places. This can be tricky and stressful, especially if you really need to go. So, come up with some potential locations ahead of time. Since you don’t have to carry your gear on your back while paddling, you can afford to bring some luxury items on your trip.

So, if you do choose a snow cathole, do it off travel ways and away from water sources. Choose a spot with sunshine, make a hole, cover your business, and let the snow melt dilute it. In desert, alpine, and arctic environments human waste breaks down very slowly, sometimes not at all. Even when buried the bacteria in feces can survive for years, so alternative disposal methods should be followed in these environments. When nature calls, you grab your bag kit, toilet paper, bag for used toilet paper, and hand sanitizer and head off to find a secluded area. You then take your trusty wag kit, slip the inner bag over your hand and grab your poo pile.

Peeves me to no end, finding a campsite with a fire ring littered with rusty can remnants, plastic bags, and broken glass from busted beer bottles. I won’t leave a can out there if I can help it, regardless of whose it was. Sometimes, even the “pros” don’t do as well as we’d like to think. He did so right in the middle of the trail, no apologies offered, saying it didn’t matter ’cause no one else would be coming through there to come across it. If you’re not willing to pack out your waste, some incredible outdoor spots will be off-limits to you.

Composting Toilet Brands Do Not Advise Dumping On The Ground

Boondockers typically camp in places where law enforcement officers rarely patrol, or don’t patrol very often. It’s easy to get caught up in the myth that composting toilet waste is safe for the environment. But, if they were caught doing it by a Forest Ranger or a BLM ranger, they will get stuck with very heavy fines.

To do so, you’ll want to bring a Ziploc bag to pack out your waste. This is also useful for packing out menstrual products. We recommend duct taping the outside of the bag to reinforce it and disguise the contents. You’re honestly more likely to find toilet paper than soap or hand sanitizer in most campground bathrooms.

What To Do With Other Trash On A Camp?

I can’t believe more websites don’t mention the composting option. We don’t even have a normal toilet in our house, just a Loveable Loo. We made it for a few bucks and not only is the compost great, but these seem to be one of the best options in a power outage.

A groover consists of a bucket with a toilet seat over it. It has a lock-on or screw-on to avoid any spills while you are transiting. For people who are uncomfortable with the cathole method, river toilets are an effective, more similar to the usual toilet, and inexpensive method to dispose of human waste. It has an attachment that holds tissue paper as an RV toilet does. The seat element has been recently added to the product and was not always there, thus the name.

A cassette toilet is similar to a groover, but with a few key differences. Cassette toilets use a removable “black water” tank inside of a larger container, which also houses the seat. Popular in RVs, this option allows you to remove the waste tank and dump it in a regular toilet or dumping station. While bulkier than groovers, the cassette toilet is much more comfortable, stable, and discrete than its river-running cousin. Some even include flushing water and water holding tanks, for an at-home powder room experience.

Can You Poop In A Camping Toilet?

With the exception of dispersing it over a wide area, the same rules above apply to trench latrines as well. Heavy-duty trash compactor bags work as a Wag Bag trash bag. In developed campgrounds, food scraps, mud and odors can accumulate where wastewater is discarded. Contact your campground host for the best disposal practices and other ways to Leave No Trace at your campsite.

Once everything is ready, its time for you to do your business. Pull your pants down, squat over the hole, and aim accordingly. If you’re having trouble squatting, you can always try to lean on or hang off of a boulder or tree. So, in this section, we’ll discuss some of the fundamental concepts and rules for pooping in the woods.

It is common to see people using portable toilets at outdoor events such as concerts, festivals, camping, etc. Lynn, as Old Guide notes, there would probably be little off trail damage. 200 feet may be a bit far in some cases, but if by going 200 feet there is potential to get lost, you probably should be out there. As well, larger animals like bears use the trails the same as humans, so cat holes are better way off trail.

If you have your period you should pee into a cathole, for the same reasons you’ll dispose of menstrual fluid in a cathole. You can add tea bags to the waste bag to reduce odor. Ddress the topic beforehand and educate others on how to manage menstruation and carry out waste, so everyone in your group feels comfortable and prepared. Lots of our rafting crew have these tanks so it’s easy to round up enough for a trip.” Look for organic soil under trees and avoid living soil crusts (formerly known as “cryptobiotic soil crust”), which are extremely fragile and can take decades to recover if disturbed.

Examples of cat hole sites include thick undergrowth, near downed timber or on gentle hillsides. Toilet paper doesn’t disintegrate like waste does, and even burning it isn’t effective; you’re still leaving traces of ecosystem-harming TP behind. A duct-tape covered Ziploc bag is the best place to store your used paper; that way it’s discrete and smell-proof. Wipe with your toilet paper and dispose of it in the waste collection bag.

What Is Done With Human Waste?

Once you’ve done your business, fill the hole with the original dirt, and disguise it with debris to make it look natural again. In some terrains it is best to pack out your waste in sealable bags or a “poop tube”, which is a home-made or commercially-made device designed to transport human waste. The contents of the “poop tube” can be discarded in pit toilets, portable johns, or in civilization. Check with the local land manager for recommendations on other appropriate disposal techniques. Backpackers generally have to dig catholes to dispose of their human waste, so a backpacker’s poop kit will be a bit more involved than one you’d bring to an established campground.