Going potty in the bush

[GPSGuided]

Poor guy. If he truly busted his bladder (unlikely), the ensuing septic state would have ensured him a nasty death. It really is better to be out than in.


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[ribuck]

I don't think people are always as careful around water sources as we'd like to imagine. I always finding other people's used TP on the track?

It should be buried with the excrement where it will be kept moist. It will disappear quickly.

[GPSGuided]

It should be buried with the excrement where it will be kept moist. It will disappear quickly.

Not always so. There's been a dedicated thread on this subject previously.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=20818

[ribuck]

It should be buried with the excrement where it will be kept moist. It will disappear quickly.

Not always so. There's been a dedicated thread on this subject previously.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=20818

That's an interesting thread, although it soon drifted off-topic.

I shun toilet paper that's printed, scented, crimped, coloured, quilted, lubricated, bleached or otherwise gentrified. Just the simplest least processed stuff for me. And that's basically woodpulp, which does decompose nicely.

The first link in that other thread reports on a straightforward experiment which found that buried paper was gone within six weeks.

[Orion]

The first link in that other thread reports on a straightforward experiment which found that buried paper was gone within six weeks.

Unless I missed it the unnamed author (Paul Bodner?) never went into details about the soil or temperature, only the rainfall. Obviously the environment matters a lot.

A think a better study is this one:
"An analysis of the breakdown of paper products (toilet paper, tissues and tampons) in natural environments, Tasmania, Australia."
Bridle, Kirkpatrick; J Environ Manage. 2005 Jan;74(1):21-30

They looked at a number of different environments (all in Tasmania). On average toilet paper was NOT gone in six weeks. It was more than half but less than 3/4 gone in six months, and that depended on where. In wetter areas the toilet paper persisted longer.

I think the bigger problem isn't the rate of decay or the effect on the environment. The issue is that toilet paper isn't properly buried in the first place or doesn't stay buried because of someone inadvertently excavating it or due to animal activity. Toilet paper on the surface, sometimes blowing around in the wind, isn't desirable from a human aesthetic standpoint.

The authors of that study suggested that in some environments (e.g. "treeless vegetation above 800m in western Tasmania") neither t.p. nor fecal matter should be deposited.

[ribuck]

A think a better study is this one:
"An analysis of the breakdown of paper products (toilet paper, tissues and tampons) in natural environments, Tasmania, Australia."

I found that study unsatisfying because they buried "bags" of toilet paper, not individual sheets.

I also have direct experience. I got caught short once in a rocky area without much soil depth. Two months later I was in the area again and went to excavate it, with the intention of bagging it out if necessary.

I had covered the spot with a distinctive rock, so I could tell that it was the exact same spot, and that the site had not been disturbed. To my astonishment, after just two months the fecal matter and the toilet paper were not identifiable and appeared to have been broken down and incorporated into the surrounding earth.

This was in the Blue Mountains and there had been normal rainfall over that two months.

[Orion]

Really? One anecdotal account versus hundreds of data in a peer reviewed paper that you find "unsatisfying"?

They used ~2g of toilet paper in each site, in mesh bags for ease of retrieval. That's probably less than most people use. Who gets by on individual sheets?

I see toilet paper far too frequently in the wilderness. Whatever the decomposition rate is it isn't fast enough given current human behavior.

[ribuck]

I see toilet paper far too frequently in the wilderness.

So do I, and I don't think this is due to the rate of decomposition. It's due to the lack of effective burial. Most of the toilet paper that I see in the wilderness has, I think, been left on the surface when someone has gone behind a bush. Including, I suspect, females doing number ones.

My pet peeve is people who relieve themselves (and leave their toilet paper) under rock overhangs, where there is no rainfall. That's a real environmental issue, unlike the practice of letting human waste and woodpulp decompose in the biologically active soil layer.

[walk2wineries]

You can pack out your urine....in your bladder. But you need the steely resolve and self discipline of John J Rambo.

What about tampons/pads? I must say I have never struck these while out, they must all get humped out thank Jeebus.

Oddly saw some recently in Wilson's. Ick. Along with the brown and white butterflies they are something I won't touch, although I carried out a bag of litter. Mainly drink botttles, I suspect the school trips.

[walk2wineries]

Seem to be revisiting this subject.
This is an excellent discussion http://www.amazon.com/How-Shit-Woods-3r ... 1580083633.

I always carry one of these in my pack even for day walks - its not always possible to go 50metres or even 10 from a track or watercourse, and one doesn't normally pack a trowel for a day walk. http://www.biffybag.com/ Good insurance in case the restaurant the night before was dodgy...

[walk2wineries]

Oh dear. The book title was censored

Author Kathleen Meyer , publisher in US is now one of the penguin/randomhouse mob - TenSpeedPress a/c to the Amazon site although my earlier edition is Hill of Content I think. Title "How to Sh** in the Woods : An environmentally sound approach to a lost art"

Good discussion of why solutions that work in some areas aren't suitable for others, eg the Colorado River is pack-it-out and rangers WILL check, frosting might be best in hot dry areas...

Her website has links... http://www.kathleeninthewoods.net/Kathl ... uthor.html