Clean Camping - Staying fresh and Leaving No Trace - Super Good Camping Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello and good day.

(00:01):
Hey, welcome to the Super GoodCamping Podcast.
My name is Pamela.

SPEAKER_01 (00:04):
I'm Tim.

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
We are from Supergoodcamping.com.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today we want to talk aboutcommon but rarely discussed
reality is gimmicky hygiene.
So things about washing anddoing dishes and bathroom
breaks.
We're going to be boldly goingwhere no podcast has ever gone

(00:26):
before.

SPEAKER_01 (00:28):
Everybody everybody fails at it at some point.
For instance, uh beginning ofthe pandemic, uh, I went out and
bought a solar air quotes, solaruh water bucket.
I don't even remember what theheck it was a contraption that
basically was black, so it wouldsuck up the heat from the sun

(00:48):
and heat the water.
And then like a shower stall,basically uh a dark shower
curtain that had four sides toit.
And then because I thought,well, you know, great, we're
staying away from people, doingall the things.
Uh, and then we got I got closeto actually doing a front
country camping and started toread the rules.

(01:09):
You can't.
You can take it on a you know,on if you're on a Crown Land
trip or something like that, butnot into an Ontario Provincial
Park.
So I returned all that stuff.
All right, so it's been on.
I was trying to be hygienic andsafe and stuff.

SPEAKER_00 (01:23):
Well, and I appreciate that.
There you go.
I like it when you're morehygienic.
Um, so why it's important?
Because partly that if you'reunhygienic, you can be getting
yourself sick.
So we want to prevent GI orgastrointestinal illness, skin
infections.
Um bugs might be more attractedto you if you're not smelling so

(01:43):
clean.
Uh, it's good for theenvironment, um, depending.
So you have to be careful aboutwhat you're using and how you're
disposing of it.
And it can impact well, that'sjust we don't want to be it
attracting animals andor makingthem dependent on us or more
dangerous.
Uh, and so as more people arecamping post-pandemic, um, it
puts more strain on the park'secosystems as well to try to

(02:05):
keep things clean.

SPEAKER_01 (02:06):
Uh yeah, two two two of the things you're gonna hear
a lot uh throughout this episodeare uh cat hole, which is uh
basically digging a hole aboutsix to eight inches deep.
So what's that, fifteen totwenty uh centimeters deep.
Uh the diameter of said holedepends on what you're doing.
If you're disposing of, say,gray water, uh it won't need to

(02:28):
be it'll need to be bigger sothat it can, you can, you know,
you're putting a lot of fluidinto there.
If uh you're using it for yourbathroom break, you you and you
have good aim.
You can you can make it smaller.
Um the other thing you'll you'llhear is that regardless of what
you're doing, you want to be 200feet, so 60-ish meters away from

(02:49):
any any water source.
Uh whether it's a lake, youknow, a burbling brook in the
back of your your site, uh,whatever.
We'll get to how becausebiodegradable the is a thing,
except it's not like you justyou don't wash in the water and
it's fine.
It doesn't work that way.

SPEAKER_00 (03:08):
One and the term cat hole conjures up images of a cat
in a litter boxing doing this.
You'll have a trowel.

SPEAKER_01 (03:16):
Yes, I don't dig with my fingernails, uh although
when I get back from abackcountry trip, it looks like
I dig.
Um and I just cut them offbecause I can't clean all that
crap out of there.
Uh yes, uh we we we take atrowel.
There are all kinds.
Uh go check out.
You've uh chances are you'veseen our or or heard our our
episode on uh with Steve Evansuh Sulik 46.
He has it wickedly light, very,very good, like an awesome

(03:40):
trowel.
And it was that's what his wherehe started from.
So go check his out.
It's it's cool.

SPEAKER_00 (03:44):
Yeah, so with your personal hygiene, it's important
for food prep, it's important tohand wash your hands before and
after using the bathroom, orbefore prepping food and after
using the bathroom.
Uh use a biodegradable soap wellaway from your well well away
from any water source.
So even if it is a so-calledbiodegradable soap, we don't
necessarily want it going rightinto the drinking water.

(04:07):
And uh sponge baths, so andsolar, as Tim mentioned, solar
showers, but um only onCrownland, not in Ontario Parks,
and rinsing things off withoutpolluting the water sources, um,
spitting your waste into the cathole.
So you're brushing your teeth,then you're spitting into a cat
hole, and also away from watersources, uh, menstrual hygiene

(04:28):
options, so sustainable optionslike menstrual cups, um period
underwear, resealable wastebags, just so if you are taking
something that's not um sosustainable, then it goes into
your ziploc bag or somethingthat's kind of well sealed, so
you're not attracting animals,and making sure that you're
packing that stuff out.
And then with laundry doing likesmall loads, if you need to kind

(04:51):
of scrub some things withminimal soap and then disposing
of the wash water properly.

SPEAKER_01 (04:58):
Yeah, and and just on the note of minimal, uh, and
it'll probably come up later.
The when you buy biodiversityfor the sake of argument, we use
camp suds uh most of the time.
I think that's the name of ours.
Um Canadian Tire.
I almost said.

(05:18):
Uh Outbound from Canadian Tirealso has one.
They're concentrated soaps, soyou need very little of it in
order to get enough sudsybusiness going on to get, you
know, and to boot, you can justrinse your shirt off sometimes.
Like why why would I clean ashirt that's only going to get
filthy again, just and stinkyand stuff, especially if I'm
backcountry camping, justsaying.

(05:40):
Um yeah, if it's warm enough tojump in the water, you can jump
in the water with the bigger.
I often jump in with my clotheson and don't bother putting on a
bathing suit or anything, justand not lay it out to dry.
I get uh well, no, I just wanderaround until it finishes
dripping and stuff.
Keeps me cool for longer, right?
Uh gray water management, dishand wash water.
So it's uh why it matters isyou've got food particles,

(06:03):
you've got soap chemicals, andthey harm the aquatic uh
ecosystems.
So when you're doing your yourkitchen things, uh when you're
when you're coming to to thewash portion of your program,
strain out uh solids and packthem out with your food waste.
And once it like if you'vestrained out, so so it's so the

(06:26):
cooking part, but not not eventhe washing part, you know, it
be it I would take it again 200meters away once I've strained
out the the food particles, takeit 200 meters away and either do
a large cat hole and dump it in,or at the very least, spread it
around far 200 meters away fromwater sources, but you want it

(06:48):
200 meters away from yourcampsite as well.
Because if it smells like food,guess who's gonna come visit
you?
Animals that are hungry.
So use again, small amounts.
It's it's you don't literallytake drops, you don't be
squirting it, besides you don'twant to be carrying that's why
it's concentrated because youdon't want to carry you know a
big big jug of liquid with youbecause it weighs a lot.

(07:11):
I think a gallon of water islike 9.6 or 9.8 pounds,
something like that.
And that's so that's fourliters.
That that's but that's tenpounds.
No, no, no.
Yeah, and car camping, when youso there'll be designated places
to dump it.
Like don't go wash your dishesin the sink in the vault toilets
or in the in the in the umcomfort station.

(07:32):
In the comfort station, or orwhen you you know the the the
little spigot that'll be inbetween campsites.
Don't wash it there.

SPEAKER_00 (07:40):
No.

SPEAKER_01 (07:41):
So you go and you see like somebody's egg
breakfast like, what are youdoing?
Don't do it, don't do it.

SPEAKER_00 (07:46):
Yeah, it just attracts animals and nobody
wants that.

SPEAKER_01 (07:49):
Yep.
Uh so we use a it depends.
You can use it with single stagewashing where where you wash in
a bucket of water, whatever thatis.
For us, we uh if we'rebackcountry, we've got a liner
that goes that holds our messkit together.
Inside of that liner, um, we'veset it in because it's soft, it

(08:11):
doesn't have a lot of wallstrength to it.
We set it in one of our pots anduse that to wash everything in.
We wash it and then we use oneof our water jugs, uh water
bottles, uh, to rinse it intothe same pot.
So we end up with one bucket ofwater that we have to go deal
with.
Uh, if we're front country, wewe do two.
We have a collapsible bucket aswell, so that we can you can you

(08:35):
can wash in one and then justdip it into the other bucket,
rinse it off, and then you takethe two of them and go away and
dispose of them properly.

SPEAKER_00 (08:42):
Yeah, so bathroom basics and waste disposal in
established campgrounds, sothere's proper, like use the
vault toilets properly, don'tthrow like other things,
anything other than toilet paperand waste, don't go in the vault
toilets.
Uh and uh backcountrywise, soyeah, Tim's mentioned the cat
holes, six to eight inches deep,200 feet away from water,

(09:03):
trails, and your campsite, andpacking out things that don't
belong there.
Uh, wag bags, that I was gonnaleave that to you because I
don't know what that means.

SPEAKER_01 (09:12):
Yeah, so well, so they're so they're often used in
in alpine and high traffic areasuh or places that you're uh
above the trees.
Uh there's no grass, there's noyou can't dig, it's just rock
and stuff.
Um uh for me, the as soon as Ihear the word wagbag, uh uh rock
climbers, especially ones thatdo multi-day climb, face climbs

(09:36):
where they actually hang asleeping platform, you've got to
do something and it's gotta gowith you.
So you use a wag bag, that'swhat they're called, uh to pack
out your waste.

SPEAKER_00 (09:46):
Toilet paper options, a biodegradable packing
out.
Well, though I don't think mostpeople need to pack out.
As long as you're burying itproperly, you can certainly just
bury your for those of us on theground, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 (09:58):
Yeah.
Uh and but but do, please dobury it because we show up at
sites so often and you and it'slike, did it snow here?
What's with all the white bits?

SPEAKER_00 (10:07):
It was that's how it was when we were in Georgian
Bay.
It was like scattered, and youjust knew where everybody had
been going to the bathroom wasbecause all the little bits of
toilet paper everywhere.

SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
Yeah, well, when when we went on our most recent
uh the tomogamy trip, what ourput-in was at a like a place
with like a parking lot and aroadway, and it had toilets.
And literally a hundred, noteven a hundred meters away
inside of the trees, but onlyabout four feet inside of the
trees, you could see a pile oftoilet paper.

(10:37):
It's like, but that you there'sa toilet over there, man.

unknown (10:40):
Come on.

SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
Uh so you could use something like leaves to be uh
hygienic.

SPEAKER_01 (10:45):
You could use leaves and uh pine cones have been used
as well uh for clearing somethings out.
I have I have multiple thoughts.
One, be really careful aboutwhat leaves you use, because
that could go poorly for you.

SPEAKER_00 (10:58):
Poison Ivy might not be.

SPEAKER_01 (10:59):
That might not be a good thing.
Uh three, let it be.
Let it be.
Yeah, don't be wiping your buttwith that.
Uh and I don't I'm not sure howI feel about it in a leave no
trace, right?
Like you're you're now so partof part of Ontario Parks, you
can't take anything out of thepark.
You're not supposed to disturbthings in in the parks.
Uh, and I totally buy into thatbecause it could be, you know,

(11:21):
it's breaking down naturally toadd to the soil, or it's a home
for some grubs, or uh, you know,if a down tree could could be a
home for anything, raccoons,squirrels, you name it.
So I kind of be inclined to takeuh toilet paper with me, uh
especially one that doesn't haveperfume or anything like that,

(11:43):
um, because it will biodegradeif you put it in a cat hole and
cover back up properly.
Over time it will biodegrade.

SPEAKER_00 (11:50):
Yeah, so the impact of human waste in the
environment can be that you'readding nitrogen, phosphorus to
the soil, which those are notbad.
They're used for fertilizer, butthat you can also be introducing
pathogens that would alter thelocal ecology, might not be good
for the local wildlife.
Do you want to we mention somenotes about like what to do or
not do?

SPEAKER_01 (12:10):
So yeah, it's uh at when you're when you're using
the bathroom.
Uh in the front country, you canwash your hands afterwards.
There's usually facilities oneway or another, depending on
what level of whether it's avault toilet or you know the
comfort station, but there'susually something.
Uh in the back country, not somuch.
Um hand sanitizer works verywell.

(12:30):
Small, like our package, our uhwe have a Ziploc bag that will
have toilet paper in it, andhand sanitizers.
So uh do not, I don't this is apet peeve of mine, do not use
wet wipes, man.
I don't care whether you'refront country, back country.
They're when they say flushable,that's because they can be
flushed down the toilet.

(12:50):
It's not good for any system toflush them down the toilet.
There's a a place in London onthe on the Thames River that is
called Wet Wipe Island, and it'sliterally millions.
I think they've just cleaned itup or they're in the process of
cleaning it up, but it'sliterally millions of wet wipes
that has actually affected thethe river's path.

(13:15):
Don't do it.
Just just don't do it.
They're not they're notbiodegradable, they're not
actually flushable.
Take them if you I by all meansif you feel a need to use them,
but pack them out if you please.
What I don't care how, or throw,you know, pack them and put them
in a bag and throw them in thegarbage, whatever.

SPEAKER_00 (13:30):
Yeah, so uh biodegradable soaps, how how
they break down, I mean they'renot still perfect, and they're
not safe in your drinking water.
So that's again, you don't wantto be necessarily dumping your
biodegradable soap waste nearwhere you're gonna get your
drinking water from.
Eco gear, so collapsible washbins, so that's we have a
collapsible bucket.
We also have our, as Timmentioned, our bugaboo, which

(13:53):
has this soft liner in that canbe used as a wash basin, um,
solar showers, and resealablewaste kits or wag bags.

SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
Wag bags, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 (14:03):
Do-it-yourself hacks, so reusable cloths, which
you can just bring in, bring outwith you.
Uh vinegar is a natural kind ofeco-friendly thing,
cleaner-wise, if you needsomething.
Uh, and then otherwise try toavoid things that contain
phosphates.
So you might see that even onyour laundry shirt that says
phosphate-free, uh,microplastics, and anything with

(14:25):
fragrances.

SPEAKER_01 (14:26):
Yeah, all things that will alter the ecosphere of
where you're at.

SPEAKER_00 (14:31):
Okay, so we decided I would do this section because
it's about lemon's hygienestuff.
Uh, so menstrual hygiene, justuh try to use something that you
can bring out with you easily.
So um there is reusable periodunderwear, that's super easy.
Just take it in, put it in aZiploc bag because it's gonna
have a scent to it once you'redone using it.
So put it in a Ziploc tightlysealed so that you're not

(14:51):
attracting animals.
Um, you can use period cups,that's super easy too, and easy
just to rinse those out.
Although, again, you don't wantto necessarily want to be
rinsing them out anywhere nearyour campsite or where your
water supply is.
And for hot for kids, uh handhygiene, trying to emphasize
with them as well how howimportant it is that they keep
their hands clean.
Uh they don't want to be andthey don't want to be um

(15:14):
drinking water directly out ofwhatever lake or stream or
whatever you're swimming in.
And uh for infants, um diapers.
Like how many times have we seenalso like diapers just left out
somewhere?
So you have to bring stuff backout with you wherever you happen
to be, and you can't certainlycan't throw diapers down vault

(15:36):
toilet, you can't just leave thediapers sitting somewhere, like
it you have to bring them backout with you.
Uh, and then yeah, um, propersanitation is it's important for
everybody in whatever contextyou happen to be in, but
certainly when you're out in thebackcountry, then or in nature,
we don't want to be messing upour environment.

SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
Uh okay, I'll take tackle the next one.
So leave no trace.
Uh an environmental stewardship.
So dispose of waste properly,leave what you find.
Uh, those seem verystraightforward to me, but I
would judging by what we do seewhen we're we're out there, we
not not all the time.
I'm just saying that it reallystands out when you look and see

(16:18):
something like uh toddler's youknow, diaper.
Is that no, no, that doesn'tbelong in nature, man.
You take it out with you.
Or or down in the vault toilet,because it's like, uh no, that
also doesn't work.
It says right on the sign in thevault toilet while you're
sitting there reading.
Just saying, come on.
Uh small habits, you know, thethe the washing your hands not

(16:39):
in the the lake, um, you know,making sure you're using
biodegradable soap.
And I'm not sure that we werequite clear enough about so it's
biodegradable, but it it's notbiodegradable in water.
It actually has to use the earththat it's going to, because it
will end up in the water table,but it's it gets filtered by the
earth as it makes its way to thewater table.

(17:00):
All right.
Um, yeah.
Uh that it it's those littlethings, they add up.
They add up to in doing thingsproperly, like you're going to
have so much less impact on thenature that you're in.

SPEAKER_00 (17:16):
Yeah, so clean camping isn't just about your
own comfort and your own health,but it's also the health of
nature and then it's an act ofrespect for the place that
you're camping in.
Uh so trying to make thosechanges, so switching to
biodegradable soaps, making surethat you're disposing of your
great water properly, makingsure you're packing out anything
that you've brought in.

SPEAKER_01 (17:36):
And take a take a look at the what wherever you're
going, um specifically to parks,but you know, take a look at
their their rules andregulations.
There's a reason they went toall that effort to come up with
those things to protect, youknow, all the things that we all
love, right?
So it's it doesn't take much toto educate yourself on what they

(17:57):
say don't do, or you know,because different animals,
different, you know, differentuh ecology for different places,
different areas means differentrules.
So I I I read, I mean, I I haveissues.
But I I read you know all therules and stuff before we go to
a certain place.

SPEAKER_00 (18:15):
Well, along those lines of educating yourself,
Tim's got some really greatresources.
So there's Leave No TraceCanada, which is the website is
leavenotrace.ca.
So that's a great resource.
Parks Canada, soparks.canada.ca, and
outdoorgearlab.com are allreally great resources to find
out about like what you shouldbe taking in terms of soaps or

(18:37):
what the proper sanitationprocedures are.
Uh and that's it for us fortoday.
I think so.
Uh excellent.
So if you have any questions forus about camp hygiene or
anything else, we would love tohear from you.
We are at high atsupergoodcampaign.com.
That's H I atSupergoodcampaign.com, and we
will talk to you again soon.

unknown (18:56):
Bye.

SPEAKER_00 (18:57):
Bye.

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