Ew, ucky, poo!!

Post by **Savage** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:44 pm

for some reason, it bothers me that LNT said "through them in the garbage" instead of "throw them in the garbage." =)

Post by **the lurkist** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:54 pm

I read Rick's post about the challenges of pit toilets, but how about a pit toilet on around on the south slope, down the old logging road (logging- get it?) as you go up the hill to the undertow wall. The old road peels off to the right shortly after the trail tops out on the approach to the Undertow. The squatter could be built a bit just down this old two track. A platform would be built over a deep hole (to accomodate quite a bit of poo. ) You poop, drop in a handful of organic matter and let microbes, metabolic heat, and oxygen doo the rest. It would need to be resupplied occ with organic matter to mix. Wood chips, or just leaves (in which case no resupply needed). Yes, it would fill evetually. It would need to be moved at some point. But being built on the south sun exposed slope with good drainage it would basically take care of it self. It would be far enough up hill from any water that all infectious disease risk (Hep A, typhoid, e coli, giardia, etc) would be degraded in the drainage field (the long hillside down to the creek.)

Clearly I have been thinking of poo at the lode (huh..) for a long time.
A good friend (Danita Dolores- yes that one) is a chemical engineer/ ground water specialist. She always said that open pit toilet with organic matter is the best waste treatment system. The one limiting factor is how much poo would be deposited. If the pit toilet was used too frequently it would fill faster than degradation could occur. How many defacation occurances are there at the lode per day/week. I would think that they would be some what finite.

Post by **pigsteak** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 12:59 pm

it really does boil down to selfish climbers...we don't care about the person next to us...at all.

sorry to burst the communal love bubble, but human nature tells us that people look out for their self interests...

that being said, you have to have a reward/punishment for the action we wish to change.

Post by **Savage** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:01 pm

way to bust some science on us.... I smell a nerd of my caliber.

Post by **the lurkist** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 1:06 pm

pigsteak wrote:it really does boil down to selfish climbers...we don't care about the person next to us...at all.

sorry to burst the communal love bubble, but human nature tells us that people look out for their self interests...

that being said, you have to have a reward/punishment for the action we wish to change.

True dat. Climbers are humans and please themselves mostly.
That said, give the people what they want--> a place to poo.

Post by **Meadows** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:16 pm

pigsteak wrote:it really does boil down to selfish climbers...we don't care about the person next to us...at all.

sorry to burst the communal love bubble, but human nature tells us that people look out for their self interests...

that being said, you have to have a reward/punishment for the action we wish to change.

Actually, studies have shown that group beliefs will override individual beliefs. I'll have to get the specific sources from Gita who told me about such studies when we were discussing why so many people followed Hitler.

Teaching and advocacy, I believe could very well bring about a change or improvement to the problem.

Post by **GWG** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:28 pm

I was at Camp Muir up on Rainier after summitting and watched the following take place. It brings a smile to my face just thinking about it:

There are toilets up there but can get pretty disgusting. The park service does provide "blue bags" and expects people to use them if they choose not to use the restroom. There was a guy who didn't want to wait so he headed off around a boulder to do his business. It was pretty clear he didn't have a "blue bag". The ranger saw him head out so he decided to investigate. He headed up onto the boulder and upon looking over, he points down at the guy behind the rock and yells: "Pinch it off dude, you're busted!"

$250 fine issued on the spot.

Post by **the lurkist** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 2:54 pm

with a international destination site like the Lode, people come. Clearly there is a human waste problem. I doubt education will totally affect this. Bodily urges are somewhat unpredictable.
Let's build the poo spot. I will donate the lumbar for the platform above. Just need some strong backs and weak minds to dig the hole/ drainage trench.
see cdc.org for a good description for exact diminsions.

Post by **Dhaulagiri** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 3:48 pm

GWG wrote:"Pinch it off dude, you're busted!"

$250 fine issued on the spot.

Might be the funniest thing I've ever read.

Post by **rustyvasectomy** » Fri Jul 10, 2009 5:08 pm

hell yeah wag bags! every time we shit lets wrap it in plastic twice, throw a bunch of packet wrappers in there and toss it in a landfill! Who cares about the environment as long as our crags are shit free...