In the event you do not have a loo with a view, please do the surrounding landscape a favor and pee in the river. Why you ask? Well, dilution is the solution to the pollution! Say that three times fast…
If everyone peed at every campsite, put-in, lunch spot, and take out on the river it would become incredibly gross incredibly fast, and smell incredibly bad. Especially now, with so many newcomers to our river corridors. I’ve seen it— a lot— these past two summers. Do everyone a favor and pee in the water. This isn’t your neighbor’s pool when you were a kid. It’s moving water, and there’s a lot more of it. Your sterile urine won’t make a difference to anything in the river.
Ladies, I know… this can be a bit more challenging for you, but not impossible. You’ve also got the added problem of toilet paper, which adds to the impact of a lot people relieving themselves on land. So, use a pee rag. What’s that, you ask? See here. Or bring a ziplock and pack out ALL of your toilet paper. Also check out this well-written piece on a women’s guide to personal hygiene on the river from the good folks at Oars.
There you have it. Pee in the River. It’s fun.
Rant over.