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Editorial
It’s a shit show out there
Would you shit in your garden and leave a pile of toilet paper beneath a bush or next to a tree, or even under a stone, so you could see this disgusting eyesore every time you went into your garden? Or when your friends came to visit, you could sit on your veranda, sipping a cold drink and look out at the flower beds and the lovely heaps of crap paper dotted around? The answer, of course, is a resounding “obviously NOT!” Then why go out in nature and spoil our beautiful mountains, which is in fact a natural garden for all outdoor lovers, by pooing indiscriminately wherever the urge takes you and then leaving a pile of unsightly toilet paper to mark your creation?
This is not a recent problem. It has been going on for decades, but has been brought to the fore in recent years because of the number of people, particularly school groups on their vision quest journeys (which is quite ironic actually), using the mountains for recreation. It has multiplied 100-fold!
In many areas, particularly in the Cederberg, that I have frequented since the ’70s, I have seen a marked increase of indiscriminate poo warriors. Not giving two shits (’scuse the pun) where and how they leave their creation and, worst of all, their paper. Let’s not even talk about Table Mountain and even worse, Lion’s Head. The human race can be a really selfish and disgusting species.
Listen people, the answer is not a secret. And anyone can do it. All you need is one Ziploc bag. Simple. And in there you put all your used toilet paper (yes girls, also the paper you use when you go for a wee – if you use any). Then you take it home and flush it down the toilet (sans the Ziploc bag of course, which goes into recycling). You may say “Gross!”, but once sealed in the Ziploc, it is odour free and easily tucked away in a corner of your backpack, and it is MUCH less gross than leaving it out blowing in the wind for all to see.
The actual poo is much less of a problem. My MO is to take a little walk far away from any path, water course and anywhere I think people may happen across, find a nice comfortable perch with a view and do my business there while contemplating my future. What a place to do it! I then leave my jobbie exposed to the elements, and within a few days the sun and the wind have reduced it to dust and it just blows away, leaving no trace. No paper, no jobbie.
And if you are leading a group of kids or adults, it is your responsibility to enforce this rule upon your flock. Part of my briefing to my clients (and friends) on all my mountain trips is about poo protocol. And I issue everyone with a Ziploc bag.
Come now people, it really is that easy. Let’s all just do it and keep our beautiful mountains clean.
Be safe in the hills
Tony
Contents
Climbing, the great motivator
by Alta Lourette Venter
Phsicobloc
by Jakob Schubert
RAW Exposure
Classic Tale: Searching for the longest Cape climb
by Tony Dick
Off the Wall – Mind games
by Brenda Marx
Back Page Story – Slingshot
by Terence Livingston
