Pooping In The Woods

**Disclaimer: This is a great lesson to teach a valuable outdoor skill, but we still want to practice the best LNT that we can. This activity does NOT mean campers actually need to use the bathroom, its just a lesson on how. Please have campers use toilets whenever possible.

How long it’ll take:

35 minutes

What the goal is:

Campers should develop a comfort with the proper disposal of human waste when outdoors.

What the objectives are:

Campers should be able to properly dig and use a cat hole. CLICK HERE to watch a video.

What you’ll need:

• Trowels

• Hand sanitizer

What you’ll do:

1. Begin by asking the campers again, what types of waste happen when people go into the outdoors. Now, focus on the human waste aspect of this. Today, we’re going to become pro’s at dealing with the most challenging aspects of this.

2. Introduce them to the Dozen D’s. It could go something like this (the more ridiculous you make it and the more eccentric your acting and sound effects, the better; try having one instructor narrating while the other acts everything out)….

First, let’s be quite Dignified about this all. It’s not Dirty, it’s not Disgusting, we all Do it, so let’s not Diddle with the Details. You may Dislike this, but don’t worry, you won’t be put on Display. After we Digest our tasty Delicacies of trail food, often times, a little while later, we make a Diagnosis. We may begin to Dance or Dart around, not Daring to admit the feeling we’re having. In our heads, we’re thinking, should we Deal with it? Should we Delay? Or should we just straight-up Deny what we feel? We Deliberate for some time but the growing Discomfort means that, yes, we’ll just have to Deal with it. So, we Design our area. We go a Distance of 200 ft away from the trail, our campsite, and water and we Discover a perfect Destination. We begin to Dig. We Dig, and Dig, and Dig, Deepening our hole. Ideally we want to keep preserve top chunks of the soil so we can place them back when it’s all said and Done. We know we’re Done Digging when our hole should be Dug about 6-8 inches Deep and 6-8 inches wide. (Dig a hole in the sandbox) Now it’s time to Do our Dump, to Doo Doo, to Deliver and Deposit our present into the hole. Phew! Done! Now we need to Dry our Derrieres and Deposit the paper into the hole as well. Now we want this Dump to Decay but it needs our help. We need to find a trusty stick to Drive around, mixing the Doo with the Dirt, helping the Dirt to Decay the Doo. Finally we need to re-Decorate the ground and fill our hole. Deliberately fill the hole with the Dirt we took out before, making it as nice and Dignified as possible. Some people like to Define their Destination by placing a rock over top, Discouraging others from Digging in the same spot. Last but Definitely not least, it’s time to Disinfect. We must say, Death to Disease and wash our hands. Ta-da, we have Dominated the Doo.

3. Now it’s the campers’ turn to become cathole masters.

4. Show them the depth of a desired cathole with the trowel for reference (if the trowel can sit vertically in the hole with the top of the handle hitting the top of the hole, it’s deep enough).

5. It’s off to the races! First, have them identify a good place to dig…you can help them with this. Ensure that it’s easy to LNT after the activity.

6. Next, let them know that they are racing other campers to be the first to dig an LNT approved cat-hole…and you’ll be the judge. One, two, three, go! *

7. Whichever camper finished first with an instructor approved cathole gets to check off other campers catholes…and/or make suggestions as to how to improve.

8. Ask the kids if they can think of a circumstance where digging a hole is not possible or allowed and the only option is to pack it out? Situations like desert environment, exclusively rocky terrain, and extremely high impact areas may require people venturing there to pack out their waste.

9. Play a short review game including questions based on the dimensions, location, set-up, and clean-up for catholes. Also include questions integrating some of the “Facts about Dumps” below. You can frame the questions so that they are true/false or fill-in-the-blank.

Facts about Dumps

• About ¾ of an average poop is water.

• Of the ¼ of poop that isn’t water, about 1/3 of that is dead bacteria.

• Of the ¼ of poop that isn’t water, about 1/3 of that is indigestible food.

• Poop smells bad because of all the bacterial action in it.

• Consuming a lot of a particular color of food coloring can change the color of your poop.

• One of the primary ways that many diseases and parasites are spread is through eating and drinking food or water contaminated with feces.

• Food and water contamination with feces happens usually because people don’t wash their hands fully enough after pooping.

• You can get very sick by ingesting only microscopic bits of poop.

• Poop should sink, not float. Floating poop has a higher fat content, meaning that your body failed to absorb everything from what you ate.

• It is normal to pass gas anywhere from 10-18 times per day. It is simply the result of bacteria breaking down food in your large intestine.

• Trillions of microbes live in your intestines to help break down your food.

*Only do this activity if the backyard has the space for it and with parent approval. If not, do all steps to the game except the cat hole race.

** Talk about the infamous Five Star Poop rating system: 1 star = outdoors, 2 stars = outdoors with a beautiful vista, 3 stars = outdoors, with a vista, and you see an animal, 4 stars = outdoors, with a vista, you see an animal and it is also pooping, 5 stars = outdoors, with a vista, you make eye contact an animal that is also doing it's business