AY Honors/Camping/Sanitation/en

If camping at a facility that has toilets, use them. If camping in the wilderness, you will have to either build a latrine or use cat holes. Do "your business" at least 60 meters away from any source of water (such as a spring, river, or lake), and at least 30 meters away from your camp. Dig a shallow hole 7-10cm deep and go there. Then bury it (and any toilet paper). At this depth, there is a lot of bacteria in the soil to quickly compost your waste. Digging deeper will make it take longer.

Just because you are camping does not mean you are at liberty to skip personal hygiene. Wash your hands before you eat and after you answer "nature's call." Brush your teeth before you go to bed and after breakfast. Wash your face and clean your fingernails.

Keep your kitchen clean too, and wash your dishes as soon as you finish eating. Dishes should be washed with hot, soapy, potable water. A few drops of bleach should be added to your rinse water. It's a good idea to heat dish washing water while preparing meals so that it is ready to use as soon as there are dirty dishes to wash. Be sure the water is not hot enough to scald anyone's hands. Cold water and boiling water can be mixed half-and-half for a comfortable washing temperature.

Be sure to always add hot water to cold water. If you add dangerously hot water to an empty camp sink and then turn your back to get the cold water (to cool it to a safe temperature), someone could easily slip in behind you to wash up and scald themselves. Therefore, always add the hot water to the cold water. That way if someone slips in behind you, they are merely disappointed with cold water rather than suffering a potentially serious injury requiring immediate medical attention.