Trash and Poop
This chapter includes info on trash and Solid Waste Management (which includes info on the Day Tripper), how to deal with trash including grease and a day trash container
Encourage everyone to limit the amount of disposable stuff they bring with them. Remove as much packaging from food before it is packed as possible, e.g. box from cereal, plastic rings on six packs. If you don't bring it in, you needn't pack it out.
Bring rice sacks or burlap sacks for dry 'clean' trash or recyclables. Bring them up to the kitchen for use each night. If you have a lot of soda/beer cans, consider keeping a mallet in the kitchen and encourage everyone to build muscle by smashing them into smaller units. They can also go in crates that had vegetables in them.
Large trips often have all their food for one day (dinner/breakfast/lunch so you only bring the one box up each evening)in one box. Empty the box out before you start cooking dinner, line the box with two layers of trash bags and use it as a wet/dirty trash bin. If it looks full, fold the bag over and step on it to compact it. If you are having the food pack done by an outfitter, CHECK that they allow trash in their food boxes. They don't all.
Soak up the grease in a pan that is about to be washed by wiping it out with kitchen paper first. Or save a jar from the trash and when grease is cool but not yet solid pour it into the jar and put that in the wet trash.
Glass is always a worry. Better to put it in the wet trash which should be a pretty solid unbreakable unit itself. Fill jars with peelings, small trash etc first if you are very limited on space. Some obsessive types wrap duct tape around all their glass. I just bring my gin in a nalgene bottle...
Before the kitchen is closed each night, the sacks should all be back on a boat and any rocket boxes should be closed down. There is no point attracting mice (and therefore snakes looking for mice) or ring tailed cats into your kitchen. You just end up with dead mice floating in water buckets etc and poop on the tables.
During the day you may put candy wrappers etc in those handy mesh pockets you find on some life jackets. Empty them out each night or you'll end up like me with un-handy mesh pockets with holes in them where ravenous beasties have gnawed through them to get at the smidgen of tootsie pop on the paper. Sigh.
these river runners below stopped for lunch on their first day and discovered a cache of trash. They cleaned it all up and rowed it out of the Canyon! Excellent work!
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