Welcome to the Toilet Paper Diaries, a series of lessons about…poop.
Your professors are paddlers and their lectures combine their education, experiences, and professional insights, providing practical advice for whitewater enthusiasts.
These lessons cover three essential feces-focused skills: minimizing environmental impact (water management), connecting with nature (identifying wildlife through scat), and staying safe and healthy (understanding water treatment). All foster a better understanding of aquatic ecosystems where paddlers play, strategies to stay healthy on the water, and mitigating negative impacts on nature.
How to Deal With (Human) Waste
From long days on the water teaching college kids, to spending 24 hours a day guiding clients in remote locations, nature frequently “calls.” How you answer depends on many factors, but it starts with being prepared and deciding if you should pack it out.Waste management will depend on the specific paddling trip (duration, type of vessel, number of people), and the environment you are paddling through.
Meet the Professor
Meet Matt Cuccaro. A teacher of all things whitewater and a professional guide, his lecture hall is anywhere where rivers flow. “All my life I have loved exploring the outdoors, especially by canoe,” says Matt. Canoe tripping as a teenage grew into a love of whitewater. “Now, in my middle age, vessel does not matter so much; whether a canoe, raft, sea kayak, C1 or K1… I would just consider myself a paddler.”
Home is the Ottawa Valley, both the town of Renfrew, Ontario and Pontiac on the Quebec side. “Out my window the grand panorama of the Bonnechere River Valley stretches in front of me. But in the summer the view could also be of any lake or river.”
Matt recently joined the Black Feather family, the prestigious Canadian guiding outfit known best for their arctic expedition packages. “My day job is to facilitate experiences that allow people to grow, and to share the things I love. As a paddling guide and outdoor skills instructor, my job is also focused on teaching, encouraging and demonstrating environmental stewardship through best practices in those wild spaces I love.”
When not guiding for Black Feather, you’ll find Professor Matt teaching canoeing to anyone who asks, working with the Algonquin College’s Outdoor Adventure Programs, guiding on the Ottawa River or teaching river rescue courses to professional guides and emergency service providers across North America.
LESSON 1 | The Skill
You find an epic camp spot, pull your boat up, and go for a wander, only to find a petrified pile of human dung with weathered off-white toilet paper artistically scattered around. Five paces from where you planned on setting up your tent.
There is no excuse for behaviour like this in the backcountry. Or the front country. And it doesn’t take much effort to prevent these situations. The basic principles of Leave No Trace (LNT) apply to any time spent outdoors. But the reality is, when we adventure outdoors, we sometimes do leave traces. When it comes to human effluence, the goal is to minimize the chance of someone else finding our deposit, minimize the chance of water pollution and maximize the rate of decomposition.
Managing waste in the field is important for a few reasons; good hygiene keeps us healthy on expedition; it helps to keep the spaces we love more comfortable and welcoming; and managing our waste is one of the ways we can minimize our impact on the environment, whether it is that great campsite on expedition, that mandatory portage or that park and play parking lot. Treating front country and backcountry waste management with the same prudence means the wild and non-so-wild spots all stay clean. Let’s get to the (dirty) details.
LESSON 2 | Skill Application
You packed the toilet paper. Now what? Assess: Where are you going? How many are you? Is there infrastructure already available?
“A good plan sets expectations, provides the tools and makes dealing with waste on trips easier and more comfortable. When left to their own devices or not knowing better, people will do what is easiest, which doesn’t always help us meet the standards we want to keep,” says Matt. This will depend on what is available and what the regulations are where you are paddling. “In Algonquin Park, for example, all designated campsites have a toilet (a hole with a wooden box with a lid), but many other multi-day river areas won’t.”
Tools of the Trade
- Long drops and Latrines. Many designated backcountry camping areas supply long drops, and if not, group latrines can be made for larger groups or extended stays. Before you dig, choose wisely. A communal pit should be well away from water sources and covered with soil after each use to speed up decomposition (and reduce odors). Packing out your toilet paper is a good practice.
- Shovel/hand trowel. Helpful but not a necessity, the shovel is your friend when using the cathole technique, aka burying waste in a hole. This works where soil and organic matter is plentiful (forest ecosystems) but doesn’t work in arid or rocky landscapes or high traffic areas. “Cat holes can be seen as more hygienic than the groover or WAG bag and easier to manage,” says Matt. “The problem is many high traffic rivers today are running out of space for catholes.”
- Groover. Any good guide knows that the groover is the first thing set up when you establish camp, and the last thing taken down. It’s also the most ‘precious’ cargo on the raft, and always gets a good seat. Groovers originated in the ‘60s as a solution to waste management on multi-day river trips, especially in the Grand Canyon. Solid waste was packed out using 20mm metal ammunition boxes. Modern designs include a toilet seat attachment, but in the good old days sitting on these ammo boxes left two solid “grooves” on users’ bottoms, giving the tool its name. “Groovers obviously require more work to set up on trips and clean after trips, but they are more comfortable and often make it easier for clients.” And they truly follow LNT principles.
- WAG Bags. Waste Alleviation and Gelling (WAG) bags. AKA human waste bags have become part of responsible outdoor recreation specifically for backpackers, climbers, and glacier travel. Double-bag wag bags – often containing chemical crystals that cause gelling- allow you to properly dispose of human waste in a way that minimizes your impact on heavily visited and/or sensitive ecosystems. Note: Always store your WAG bag where wildlife cannot get to it, away from food.
Other considerations are the duration of your trip and how many people you are traveling with.
“At Blackfeather we do not have a strict policy (for waste management) because we guide all over North America,” explains Matt. “Our best practice though is that all we leave is our human waste. We pack out our toilet paper, or if necessary, burn it in a very hot fire at regular intervals.” Each client gets their own “toilet bag” containing a roll of toilet paper, hand sanitizer, several paper bags for toilet paper or other products, and a Ziploc bag.
“You poop in your hole or long drop and put the TP in the paper bag. The guides will collect those bags if needed and burn it if it’s a long trip. If it is a shorter trip, we collect and dispose of them when we get back to town.” The cathole shovel stays in the central camp area, right beside the hand wash station, and acts like the bathroom door.
WAG bag, long drop, cathole or groover, make sure everyone in your group is on the same page. Friends don’t let friends get away with shitty bad habits. Call them out for a cleaner playground. If not for the environment, do it for hygiene. Human waste is packed with bacteria and protozoans, including Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Disposing of waste properly means not polluting water sources, maximizing decomposition and minimizing health risks.
Environment
“My decision is influenced more by the amount of time and the number of people than by the environment,” says Matt. However, understanding the geography and geology will affect your waste management decisions. In arid regions with shallow soil, ‘pack it out’ is the general rule as decomposition will be slower. In lakes or tropical settings, a cathole should suffice. Either way, always do your research. “Solid waste regulations will often be listed on any park or permitted river either as best practices or as a requirement,” explains Matt. “You will find this info on the associated website or at the office when you pick up your permit.”
And it’s not cool to ‘drop trow’ below the high tide line. “The intertidal zone is often a vital area for people who forage from the ocean and wildlife too,” says Matt. WAG bags or going far back into the woods (if possible) are the new standard in many areas.
Paddling Vessel
Kayak, raft, canoe or packraft: Your vessel and available space will also factor into your best waste management system. Note: Groovers are not packraft friendly.
These are things to consider when you are packing the toilet paper, not when you are running with it. Don’t get lazy. But be adaptable. Poor weather might discourage you from walking those extra few hundred meters. But it’s important. And emergencies happen. (Just ask Kyle Smith). But when the crisis is over, clean it up properly.
LESSON 3 | HOW TO DIG A (proper) CATHOLE
Cat Holes are the most commonly recommended backcountry method for disposing of human waste. Matt’s steps for a responsible and proper cathole technique.
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- Choose a location at least 200 feet from water, trails, and camp that has ground you can dig into. Roots or rocky soil will make your task more difficult and organic soil helps waste decompose faster.
- Choose a tool. A shovel works best, but a stick or rock can substitute.
- Dig a hole. At least 6-8 inches deep and 4–6 inches wide, that’s about the size of a standard 8×4 bread loaf pan.
- Do your business. Enjoy the view and the solitude.
- Manage the paperwork. When it comes to toilet paper, don’t bury it, don’t burn it, bag it. Even better is to use natural alternatives like leaves or snow, but if that’s a little too hard core, just pack out used toilet paper in a sealable bag. Bury it only as a last resort, and then only in moist organic soil. The Leave No Trace website reminds us to avoid burning toilet paper on-site, as it can lead to wildfires. And wet wipes, (even the biodegradable ones), should always be packed out.
- Bury it. After use, cover the waste with soil and re-naturalize the area.
- Sign it. Some people like to leave a small mark – like an upright stick – to notify others that someone has ‘been here.’ But don’t overturn rocks or cause any additional disruption.
Pee and the P word
In heavily frequented and arid backcountry areas like the Grand Canyon, all urine must end up in the river. Matt’s general stance on urine for non-arid areas with no set rules is the same as for catholes. “As far back from water when possible and try to pee where there are natural filters present, like plants.”
Those who menstruate need to be extra prepared. Menstrual cups are a waste-free way to manage feminine hygiene. As for disposable products, always bring along several zip-lock bags and pack it out. Remember: Tampons and pads are made of plastic and rayon and do not decompose. Even 100% cotton tampons will not biodegrade.
LESSON HOMEWORK
The lesson is, do better. If you were getting lazy with your waste management practices, pull up your socks before the next time you pull down your pants in the wild. Take these lessons and just, do a little better. Do it for the next visitor, and more so, for the wildlife that call the trees, rocks, and sand home.
LESSON SUMMARY
In summary…Do your research, make a plan, and pack the appropriate tools to minimize your impact. Consider the soil. Arid landscapes, sensitive ecosystems or high traffic areas always mean packing it out. In areas of low traffic with good soil and organic matter, a cathole will usually suffice. But never leave your TP behind. And no matter what, where and how you do it… wash your hands or use hand sanitizer afterward.
Matt’s next big personal trip will be on the Grand Canyon in the fall of 2025, where these skills will be put to use yet again. The next item on his paddling ‘to do’ list is “To be open to opportunities that have the potential to bring me to new wild spaces!” Places that will be kept clean and pristine if we all deal with our doo doo appropriately.