Pee, Poo and Periods
A Backcountry Vagina inspired chat
Today is Easter Sunday, so happy resurrection to those of you who celebrate and happy spring to those of you who don’t! I have a feeling this is one of the strangest Easters many of us have every experienced, considering COVID-19 has changed the world as we know it.
I have a feeling that you might have been a little shocked by the title (and the subtitle!). I was too when I was asked to teach a bunch of new outdoor recreation staff a class about personal care and health in the outdoors. Shocked and excited! I’d always wanted to learn a little bit more about these topics and I’ve learned over the years as a beginning environmental educator that teaching is the best learning experience a person can get.
I decided to share my teachings and discoveries on this blog, as well as on my university and recreation department websites. We’re trying to move our workshops and classes online as much as possible so that we can continue with our outdoor education programs even while people are indoors social distancing, quarantining and the like.
I had my trainees play the penis game (well, we actually played the vagina game, but same premise). We went around and around in a circle shouting out a word of my choice louder and louder until the entire campus could probably hear us. Go ahead and try this with whoever is near!
We are going to be talking about some topics that are traditionally taboo, but that are also super necessary for us to be able to talk about as guides and outdoors people. We want to make Ins and Outs a part of our dialogues with our friends and participants when in the outdoors. People with vaginas, some of this probably isn’t new to you. For people without vaginas, this presentation can help you understand what your friends, partners and other people you are taking outdoors are going through as they navigate having a vagina in nature. There is also plenty of talk that is relevant to all genitalia, so don’t worry, there is something here for everyone!
Please read on to learn some fascinating new things about self-care while outdoors.
Leave No Trace: Waste Management
Leave No Trace (LNT) is an international system of interacting with the natural environment in ways that retain the cleanliness and health of local ecosystems. Personally, I think LNT has a lot of good things to say but some of it’s points I find are only relevant to beginning outdoors-people, and people who aren’t naturalists. At some point I want to get a separate post up about LNT practices, as I am trained by the LNT Association to teach workshops to newbies. This is only a small portion of their teachings directly related to waste management.
We need to properly dispose of feces for several reasons:
It’s full of bacteria and can easily contaminate water supplies. Giardia and Cryptosporidium are some of the nastier GI problems you can contract from contaminated water and food, and could actually kill you from dehydration if you get stuck in the backcountry without a way to get into town to get medical treatment.
Human (and pet dog) feces is also full of chemicals, microplastics and other products that are absolutely not meant to be entering natural ecosystems. Even if you eat an all plan diet, the plants you eat are unlikely to be native to the area you are in and therefore you are leaving seeds behind that shouldn’t be there.
There are different ways to dispose of feces and the things you use to clean up with:
- Existing outhouses: If there is a toilet available, it is always preferred to use it: it’s there for a reason, usually due to high traffic in the area that would absolutely destroy the environment and make it very disgusting if everyone was pooping outside in the near vicinity. These are often pit toilets or composting toilets that are basically just a huge hole in the ground that will fill up with human waste and then be buried, only to dig another one nearby and start the process over. It is very difficult and very necessary that we do not throw trash into these toilets, as some poor ranger often has to come through and dig around inside the waste to get out unwanted trash (This, I’m sure you can probably ascertain, is not an enjoyable job. So please, stop yourself from doing the unthinkable).
- Now, if there is NOT a toilet anywhere nearby, according to LNT rules, hygiene, health, safety, common sense and common courtesy rules, for any Ins and Outs you should be at least 200 feet (about 70 adult paces) from trails, campsites and waterways. All y’all who like to pee while standing on the trail, please DON’T.
- Dig a Cathole: Basically, find a sunny location and use a trowel or small shovel to dig a hole into the organic layer of the soil that is 6 to 8 inches deep and wide. The heat of sunny location and the bacteria and decomposers present in the top layer of the soil will help decompose the poop (in dryer environments there will be a much shallower organic layer, so a 4-6 inch deep hole is better). Another thing to do to help the poop decompose is to make something called Poop Soup; add some water to your pooped-in cathole, and stir it with a stick to help break it up. Often the poop trowel has inch measurements on it, so you don’t even have to eyeball it. The purpose of this is to help hide the very interesting scent of poop or period blood from animals, as well as to keep other humans from stepping on it or smelling it themselves. A friendly reminder that the trowel should NEVER, NOT EVER, touch your poop; it is purely for digging the hole which you then poop into. If you happen to miss the hole, use a stick or rock to shove any poop that didn’t quite make it in. A second friendly reminder: there are literally people whose job it is to wander park areas digging up poorly buried piles of human poop. Please be respectful to them and others by taking care of your business properly.
- Dig a Latrine: Latrines are similar to catholes, but are much longer and are either used if you plan on camping in the same place for a long time, or if you have a really big group. You basically create a long trench 6-8 inches deep and everyone poops starting on one end of the trench and buries their own waste, working their way towards the other end of the trench.
- Pack it out in a Wagbag: Pack out feces in narrow canyons, narrow river corridors, coastal areas, frozen areas and high altitude areas. Look into local regulations before you go out on your trips so you can prep properly. Set up the wag bag by laying it out and pooping into the poo powder. If you didn’t urinate into the bag, add some water to help the powder do its job of neutralizing the bacteria. You can mix it in to speed up the process. Keep the pooped-in WagBag in a sealed ziplock or a dry bag or a hard cased container to prevent ripage. Usually Wagbags are reusable for up to a certain weight or number of liters of waste matter. Disposal of used WagBags must be done in designated sites for waste that is dangerous to human health (biotoxic waste like feces, blood, medical waste, etc). Some trails have designated places, other times, you can use the chemicals provided in the WagBag to neutralize the bacteria. Use kitty litter, a wet tea bag or crushed aspirin to reduce and control odors.
Things that should be carried out regardless of whether you have to bag your poop are: Tampons/pads (these take 450+ years to decompose), Wet Wipes, and toilet paper (unless you dug a really nice hole). DO NOT burn these items. It takes extremely high temperatures to fully burn them and any campfire you have should not be hot enough or big enough anyway! Also burning toilet paper can very easily blow away and start forest fires which is a significant danger to you, others, animals and the environment, especially in places that are dry, naturally affected by forest fires and places where droughts are becoming more common place due to climate change.
Personal Hygiene
Ideally, wash your hands before AND after using the toiletrees as a way to keep germs off of yourself and others. Hand sanitizer is ideal, unless you are going to be touching your mouth or vagina soon after, in which case there could be some issues with taste and it could hurt a lot. If you decide to use soap, use biodegradable soap, and only a very small amount, at least 200 feet from water.
People with vaginas: Switch between two pairs of underwear (wash and let dry one while you’re wearing the other). Your best bet are wickdry panties because you want to stay dry down there. Cotton also allows airflow, but takes forever to dry.
Toiletree kit:
- TP
- Pee rag
- Trowel/snow tent stake
- Hand sanitizer/soap/wipes
- Plastic baggie (can have duct tape to hide waste)
- Menstrual supplies
First Aid kit should include these items for people with periods:
- Tampons
- ibuprofen/advil/midol
Pooping
This bodily function is relevant to all people, regardless of genitalia. Please enjoy….POOPING!
The 5 Star Method
In the outdoor industry, we enjoy a little thing called the 5 Star Method that allows us to bring up pooping to our friends and participants in the outdoors to make sure that everyone is doing alright and actually performing all of the outs that they need to be doing. Basically, you rate your poop out of 5 stars based on a number of factors that can be subjective and arbitrary. Some ideas below:
Pooping positions
I had my participants do an activity: we all got into our favorite outdoor pooping position. This was both to show them that everyone pretty much poops the same (regardless of how they urinate), but also that there is more than one way to do it for people who are looking for ideas to be more comfortable.
- The Crab Walk: My personal favorite, which pretty much involves squatting super low and leaning back on your hands, either with your hands on the ground behind you or lifted up a little on a rock or log or hill.
- Fireman Squat: grab a skinny tree and lean back like you’re going down a fire pole
- The Orangutan: hold onto two separate trees and squat between them
- Partner Poop: also goes by some more unsavory names that I won’t list here, for propriety’s sake. For this one you grab hands with a friend (or several) and use each others’ body weight to hold yourselves up while taking mirrored poops.
- Sit and Shit: find a tree to lean against or a log/rock to sit on and just lean back and poop!
- Tarzan Swing: Use a vine to get some lift. My least favorite! One time in Chile, we were camping in Torres del Paine and one of the ‘toilets’ was a hole in the ground with a very wide, concrete funnel and a rope with a single knot in it dangling above our heads. Almost died and couldn’t poop in the position it put me in haha
Options for cleaning up the backdoor:
- Normal, Boring: Toilet paper is a go-to for many people (myself included) and pretty self-explanatory. According to LNT guidelines, you need to bury this in your cathole or, better yet, carry used toilet paper out with you in your trash bag.
- Worried, Beginner: If you’re worried you’re not keeping clean enough, maybe the wet wipe is better for you. Just make sure that you’re prepared to carry these out with you, as they are NOT allowed to leave in a cathole as they take many, many years to degrade and can leave microplastics in the ecosystem for years to come.
- Adventurous, One with Nature: If you’re trying to go Ultralight, consider wiping with natural materials such as leaves, rocks and pinecones (Pinecones seem like a major OUCH but everyone I’ve every talked to who wipes with nontraditional things brings up pinecones as a viable option!). Make sure to be burying these in the catholes you dig for your poop.
- Chaotic, Creative: The Backcountry Bidet. Wipe with natural materials (see bullet above) then finish off with a sploosh with soap and water (if your water bottle has a sports cap you can squirt up there, otherwise you’ll need to get a little more creative. My friend Simon’s philosophy with this technique is: if you got poop ANYWHERE else on your body, you would use soap and water to clean up as quickly as possible, so why wouldn’t you do your backside?? Make sure to stay at least 200 feet from bodies of water and to bury everything in a cathole when done.
Peeing
Peeing presents unique issues between people who have penises and those who have vaginas. Generally people should avoid peeing on plants as it can kill them or attract animals who will defoliate them for the salt, but other than that we have very different experiences.Correct me if I’m wrong, but generally people with penises do the same thing into a toilet as they do when they pee outdoors, right?
For people with vaginas though, it gets a little more difficult. I’ve found that a lot of people have never peed outside before, which puts us at a distinct disadvantage. I’ve outlined some advice below.
Find a slope and face uphill. Squat deeply with your feet wide apart. Make sure all straps and clothes and shoe laces are outside of the pee stream and splash zone, and make sure that you move your feet to avoid the little flows on the ground.
You can wipe or drip dry. Most people prefer to wipe so they don’t drip everywhere; just make sure to wipe front to back, but only in the ‘pee zone’. You don’t want to be spreading poop particles up front. Most people don’t like to drip dry because they get pee in their pants and underwear (and sometimes down their leg!); you also need to wash clothing more often.
There are also some products created specifically for people who have vaginas who like to go outdoors:
- Pee Rag or Kula Cloth: A pee rag can be any sort of cotton cloth or bandana, but the Kula Cloth is a brand specifically made with vaginas in mind. I usually just use a bandana and hang it on the back of my pack to dry out in the UV rays of the sun, one of the most powerful disinfectants on Earth.
- Urination Funnel or SheWee: so you don’t have to squat. I’ve heard this can be a lot faster. I’ve never tried it but would be down to look into it more.
Vaginas
Vaginas present very different issues in everyday life, and those issues can often be exacerbated in the backcountry. People with vaginas have shorter urinary tracts and are therefore more susceptible to infections
- Wipe from front to back to keep fecal matter out of vagina and urethra
- Can use unscented cleaning towelettes, although remember that you have to carry these out with you
- Vaginas have GOOD bacteria, so we don’t want to kill that. Avoid using soap and hand sanitizer in the vagina. And only use mild soaps when you clean the pubic area and labia. (Hand sanitizer will burn and feel absolutely horrible; picture getting it in your eye)
- The physical exertion, stress or environmental change involved in going out into the backcountry can often cause a menstrual cycle to start prematurely or be skipped entirely. I have been on only ONE backpacking trip in which my period did not start.
There are a few tools that we can use to stop ourselves from looking like a crime scene when Aunt Flo comes to visit:
- If you decide to use tampons, you must carry out all applicators and used cotton. These must be changed every 6-8 hours and involve a lot of weighty plastic and cotton that you must carry out. Always bring double the amount you think you could possibly need for the trip and prepare for at least one heavier-than-normal cycle because backcountry trips can really throw you out of whack.
- Pads are more difficult, take up more space and are less comfortable than tampons when hiking. Chafing can be an issue and you also have to carry out all the waste. Same advice as for tampons.
- Period panties: Very hard to clean and only great for light periods. I don’t know much about these and my periods are too heavy for them to be reasonable.
- Menstrual cups: Keep in breathable cotton bag that it comes with (can hang on the back of your bag in the sun to sanitize before next use). There are so many different brands and sizes so you need to explore what is right for you. Ideally, try it out before you go into the woods because it takes some getting used to. These are less waste and less annual cost than other traditional period products (although a bit of an initial investment at $40) and you often get shorter periods. You must pour this into a cathole; often the best time to empty it is before a poop anyway. Change these twice a day (every 12 hours).
- Hormonal Birth control: Can be used to stop periods altogether or reduce symptoms. If you are using the pill, sometimes you can avoid periods simply by not taking the placebo week (depends on the person and the pill). The Pill: For some people, they can lose their periods altogether, others (like myself) just had even more whack periods. The Implant: Can either cause you to stop bleeding or bleed constantly and heavily. An IUD: So far mine sucks, I’m crampy and spotting all the time, but my periods have been shorter. This usually leads to reduced or non-existent periods.
Problems with peeing, pooping and periods
- Dehydration: Being dehydrated can cause a lot of issues with the whole body system. Please drink enough water!
- Diarrhea
- The biggest cause is feces to mouth transmission.
- Being on your period can also cause this.
- Menstrual symptoms
- Cramps back/stomach
- Headache
- Diarrhea (the same chemicals and hormones that the body sends to your uterus to start the flow, are used to make your bowels release). Fiber and exercise can help prevent this
- Gassiness
- Sick to the stomach
- Vaginal problems that can occur:
- UTI
- Constant need to urinate, but with little success
- Pain and burning while peeing
- Can only be treated with medications, although if you’re lucky and it’s minor, it can go away on it’s own.
- Vaginitis/ yeast infection
- Itching
- Pain
- Weird, cottage cheese discharge
- Can only be treated with medications, although if you’re lucky and it’s minor, it can go away on it’s own.
- UTI
These problems can be prevented by:
- Staying hydrated
- Peeing regularly (don’t hold it in)
- Regularly washing hands, clothes and pubic area
- Keeping dry down there (wickable and cotton clothing)
Debunking common myths
- Tampons DO NOT make you lose your virginity.
- Bears are NOT attracted to menstruation (they just want your food).
- People can NOT decide when or where or how they have their periods (although hormonal birth controls can give some measure of control to some people).
- You CAN get pregnant while on your period, so if you’re looking for some backcountry fun, make sure to use protection.
- People’s periods CAN sync up.
- There ARE men’s birth controls, but because they have side-effects (no worse than the one’s people who menstruate have to deal with), they aren’t very common or popular.
- People who identify as males MAY have periods and people who identify as females may NOT. Don’t assume anything.
That’s all I have for today, y’all! Thanks for reading 🙂 I hope you learned something new or affirmed something you didn’t.
If you think I left something out, please leave a comment below or contact me in the tab above!
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Much love,
Kirsten
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Kirsten is an enthusiastic, bilingual naturalist with 11+ years of experience as a non-formal environmental educator, 6+ years as an outdoor recreation guide, 6+ years as a content writer, and 13+ years as an eco-friendly horticulturist and landscaper. She has designed and maintained 2 websites dedicated to public-facing environmental and outdoor education information for community consumption. Successfully taught 5 online, multi-week zoom workshop series to 5-10 regular participants on an international scale.
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