anyone have comments or experiences on burying biodegradable toilet paper. seems like packing toilet paper out would be annoying.
cheeserTOM
Comments of burying biodegradable toilet paper
system
#2
Disposal of toilet paper depends in part on where you are. Most places it’s acceptable to bury it. But, in reality, many places look like a mine field with partially buried TP. Not a pretty site.
In some places out west they do request that TP be packed out. It’s usually at heavily used sites.
Peaks
system
#3
one of the best way to pack out TP is in a used coffee bag. the coffee smell is still there so it can help w/ odor and most coffee bags have that metal wire that keeps them folded up.
jerm
system
#4
Most of the problems I see with the TP is that people don’t dig a big enough cat hole to completely cover the poop and TP. Thus as Peaks mentioned you see partially buried stuff.
If we dug a deeper hole and properly covered it all up - may not be so much of an issue any more…
Just my thoughts…
OregonBeerMan
system
#5
I beleive that the recommendation is at least 6 inches which can be difficult in stony or root infested ground.
Another recommendation Ive heard is those airliner barf bags. They are lined with a waxy substance and designed to seal in bad odors.
I remember some of the campsites in the Smokies being absolutely disgusdting with the number of partially buried TP>
Striker
system
#6
At least with the partially burried tp, you know where not to dig your cat hole. Not much is worse then digging a hole where someone else did before you. Just trying to look on the bright side.
miner
system
#7
toilet paper should never be buried- it needs to be packed out, or burned (in very low fire danger areas, and w/extreme caution). no matter how deep you bury the TP, animals will dig it up. Also, even so called bio-degradable toilet paper takes a long time to break up completely. Much longer than human feces, and much more noticeble. I can’t realy think of a more disgusting site in the backcountry than used toilet paper laying around…
And honestly, packing it out is not that big of a deal. you don’t need anything special, just the garbage bag you use anyway (ziplock, bread bag, plastic bag, anything)- it doesn’t even smell.
Remy
system
#8
This was not on the PCT but in the GSMNP a couple of winters ago. I was doing a loop off the Snake Den Ridge Trail and as I came into campsite# 34 that evening, Mother Nature called. I spied a tree just off the trail a couple of feet, and took a dump right there. Complete with a several inch high TP flower garden. Didn’t dig.
Did I suffer a guilty conscience later? NO. In fact, I laughed uproarously to myself thinking of the next hiker who would pass by and see my artwork at the base of that tree, RIGHT BY the trail. The next morning as I was hiking out, I met a guy with his two kids going the other direction, toward #34 and my artwork. I just wished I could have been a fly on the tree to see their reaction. In fact to this day, when I think of my mischevious deed I laugh to myself.
:lol 
:lol
Steam of Consciouness
system
#9
Try em’. I wasn’t convinced at first, but you get good at finding the right shape and texture and it becomes very satisfying. Sticks are particullarly hygenic when there is no way to wash your hands. What you eat with never gets close to the goods! No smelly hands, no ugly TP on the ground!
Leaves can be risky. The best of all is snowballs, clean and refreshing! Trust me, you won’t ever go back once you start doing this.
Hans Berg