New unwanted markings of the Camino

[Willie Jarl]

I have walked the Camino 4 times. First time in 2007. I am very disappointed about the new markings that help me find the way. Many places there are more trash, empty bottles and toilet paper than the traditional arrows.
For a period of time, the Camino is our home. In most homes, it is not accepted to to throw leftovers on the floor, not to mention toilet paper or to defecate on the carpet. Why should this be accepted on the Camino? Do some people think that they are alone?? THEY ARE NOT!
The problem is easily solved. Use a bag such that dog owners use to pick up your leftovers. ( Dog owners can use this, so why can't we?) Put this in the plastic bag that you got when in a shop. Then you put this in an air and watertight bag, that you can get for a small sum in any sport shop. No smell and no mess! Then you can leave your leftovers in a garbage bin at the alberge or when you pass one on your way. By doing this, you will have a clear conscience, and you will make many people happy.
Let the air and waterproof bag hanging on your rucksack be the new symbol showing that you know that you are not alone on the Camino,-- or wherever you are walking out in nature.
Maybe even somebody can start a campaign and sell or even give away such bags with the label: "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"

Buen and KLEEN Camino!

 

[Happy Wanders QLD]

Totally agree, we are almost at Santiago and the whole journey has been disgusting. Littering, signs graffitied and or damaged & the list goes on.
Very disappointing!

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.... (Good old Anglican hymn, 'From Greenland's Icy Mountains', words by Bishop Heber.)

We see what we want to see, I suppose. Earlier this year I walked most of the Frances (3rd time) and then the Finisterre (1st time).... All I saw was the beauty around me. I'm sure that there were people pooping in the bushes but I saw very little evidence of it.

But then, I must go on to confess that I'm easily pleased. I enjoy the 'ugly' urban bits every bit as much as the 'pretty' rustic bits. It's the towns and cities that fascinate. Where vile man resides....

 

[Juspassinthru]

Unfortunately I feel, the guilty parties are probably not the people visiting this site.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

With 300,000 pilgrims and no public toilet facilities, we should be grateful that it is as clean as it is. When an emergency strikes, what are you going to do (if you have not brought a trowel)? Businesses all have signs "Restrooms for clients only." They know the scope of the problem, and they do not want to clean up after pilgrims without a revenue stream to pay for cleanup, toilet paper, towels, electricity, and muddy floors. Yet pilgrims resent them for not supplying free toilets! The problem is complex, and about all each of us can do is leave the Camino a bit cleaner than when we arrived. I think the tissues you see on the trail are from runny noses. I am not picking them up regardless! I use a good old fashioned handkerchief, appalling to my children and the Japanese, but Europeans all seem to use tissues. Maybe requiring long sleeved shirts where cuffs can wipe snot? Walk ten yards into any forest and you will see the real latrine...

 

[Juspassinthru]

No trowel, use a trekking pole, staff or stick. No sensitivity to your surroundings or those around you, what can I say. Editorial Opinion: the vast majority of this particular problem is not “emergencies”, its attitude or entitlement. But what do I know?

 

[Juspassinthru]

With 300,000 pilgrims and no public toilet facilities, we should be grateful that it is as clean as it is. When an emergency strikes, what are you going to do (if you have not brought a trowel)? Businesses all have signs "Restrooms for clients only." They know the scope of the problem, and they do not want to clean up after pilgrims without a revenue stream to pay for cleanup, toilet paper, towels, electricity, and muddy floors. Yet pilgrims resent them for not supplying free toilets! The problem is complex, and about all each of us can do is leave the Camino a bit cleaner than when we arrived. I think the tissues you see on the trail are from runny noses. I am not picking them up regardless! I use a good old fashioned handkerchief, appalling to my children and the Japanese, but Europeans all seem to use tissues. Maybe requiring long sleeved shirts where cuffs can wipe snot? Walk ten yards into any forest and you will see the real latrine...

falcon, I’m with you. The bandana I wore every day was not a fashion accessory.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

But what do I know?

I want to know how you know it is not emergencies. Personal survey? Observation? Personal experience? Do you think people set out to enter the 40-acre latrine instead of using the albergue or a bar?

 

[Juspassinthru]

As stated, Opinion...and, the opinion was about leaving TP, not the need to go. As they say, it happens.

 

[trecile]

I'm apparently not walking the same Camino as some of you, or I'm just blind. Yes, I did see some tissue by the side of the road, but it wasn't everywhere.

I have always managed to make it from one bar to the next, and haven't had to go off trail, yet. I always purchase something at the bar before using los servicios, sometimes it's just a candy bar to take with me for later. Once or twice I bought something that I didn't even eat.

 

[Juspassinthru]

Trecile, I saw very little in May-June. I’ve heard both first hand and in posts that apparently due to the summer crush, that changed. I’ve always carried a “potty-pack” for “emergencies”, I never had to use it on my Camino but it included a roll of TP, wet wipes and 5 ziplock bags with TP in them. The ziplock was obviously for packing out. Like you, I respect and appreciate the service that local bar/Albergue owners provide and only used the facilities at places that I patronized.

 

[trecile]

Trecile, I saw very little in May-June. I’ve heard both first hand and in posts that apparently due to the summer crush, that changed. I’ve always carried a “potty-pack” for “emergencies”, I never had to use it on my Camino but it included a roll of TP, wet wipes and 5 ziplock bags with TP in them. The ziplock was obviously for packing out. Like you, I respect and appreciate the service that local bar/Albergue owners provide and only used the facilities at places that I patronized.

Yes, I always carry emergency supplies too. I'm just happy that I haven't had to use them yet.

 

[David]

Rappahannock_rev wrote - But then, I must go on to confess that I'm easily pleased. I enjoy the 'ugly' urban bits every bit as much as the 'pretty' rustic bits. It's the towns and cities that fascinate. Where vile man resides....

I am SO the same, to me it all being the same manifestation of the same creative miracle we swim and breathe within.

Or as that ancient roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, wrote:-

“If thou art pained by an external thing, it is not this that disturbs thee, but thy own judgement about it. And it is in thy power to wipe out this judgement [and your pain] now. Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears."

 

[jerbear]

We can always pick it up vs make a complaint. One bag over your hand pic up a bag or two of the dreaded white.
Buen camino

 

[Juspassinthru]

Amen Brother!

 

[pilgr]

Just so everyone knows, it isn't just the extranjeros who do the deed on the trail. This summer, I was walking daily on the Valencia city river trail park with all the joggers and I occasionally would see a jogger go behind a bush, squatting relieving themselves #2. When I told the park attendants, they would just shrug their shoulders like what do you expect.

 

[fraluchi]

I'm apparently not walking the same Camino as some of you, or I'm just blind.[...]

Could it have been on a stretch of the Camino which had recently been cleaned by Rebekah S and her team?

 

[Juspassinthru]

It’s about being sensitive to the environment, the Camino and your fellow humans. Please carry out your TP, plastic bag, aluminum can, banana peel or anything else that does not belong there and, I’m guilty of being thoughtless too. We can all do better, the Camino belongs to everyone, no one and those who follow in our footsteps. Let’s leave it better than we found it.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I assure you that all those tissues are NOT for runny noses, unless the offender has --- for brains.
...Which may be the case anyway.
I wish I had the gift of walking by and not seeing what's scattered along the path alongside. But then, I wouldn't get to find a lot of very strange and wonderful objects along with a zillion tissues, water bottles, and candy wrappers.
The Ditch Pigs Camino Cleanup is plotting its course for the end of November. Stop by and join the crew, there's a pair of trash-tongs here with your name on it!

 

[DoubleD]

I just got back yesterday from the Camino. I think I was expecting it to be worse - I noticed the TP at times, but for the most part, was enjoying the views a little higher off the ground. I saw the odd person going into the bushes, but tried not to watch to see if they carried their stuff out. I brought TP and ziplocks, but thankfully was able to use the facilities at bars when needed. I did need my TP in the bars / albergues a few times though - that was a definite life saver.

 

[Tincatinker]

@trecile, good on you. But you don't have to make a purchase of unwanted goods. It is, or at least always has been in Spain's larger cities, acceptable to put 50 cents or so on the bar in acknowledgement of the provision (and the costs). Spanish bar tenders are savvy enough to understand that buying a drink every time you want a pee is a self-defeating process

 

[Icacos]

Just so everyone knows, it isn't just the extranjeros who do the deed on the trail. This summer, I was walking daily on the Valencia city river trail park with all the joggers and I occasionally would see a jogger go behind a bush, squatting relieving themselves #2. When I told the park attendants, they would just shrug their shoulders like what do you expect.

I think this is an awkward situation. Assuming you speak of Valencia, Spain, and the joggers in question are residents of that city, I believe we - difficult as it may be and as extranjeros - need to accept the standards of others on their own turf. I don't mean to sound harsh; that's as I see it.

 

[MTtoCamino]

I just got back yesterday from the Camino. I think I was expecting it to be worse - I noticed the TP at times, but for the most part, was enjoying the views a little higher off the ground. I saw the odd person going into the bushes, but tried not to watch to see if they carried their stuff out. I brought TP and ziplocks, but thankfully was able to use the facilities at bars when needed. I did need my TP in the bars / albergues a few times though - that was a definite life saver.

My mind wandered to helpful pilgrims following pilgrims into the bushes to ensure trash pickup hopefully that level of help never arrives

 

[pilgr]

I think this is a awkward situation. Assuming you speak of Valencia, Spain, and the joggers in question are residents of that city, I believe we - difficult as it may be and as extranjeros - need to accept the standards of others on their own turf. I don't mean to sound harsh; that's as I see it.

Meaning "when in Rome, do as the Romans"? Does that mean, it is okay to do a #2 in the bushes and not take it with you in a doggy bag? My view is that while it may be okay for the locals to do it, I personally don't think it is cool for me to do it. That is because I value the environment and sparing others from 'experiencing' my 'marking'. While I subscribe to the 'Roman approach', this is an exception for me.

On a slightly different point, I think it would be a totally cool camino to do the Camino Francis, dedicated to collecting those little tissues. I would have a box of biodegradable garbage bags and one of those long metal trash 'picker uppers' designed to collect those little tissues.

 

[pilgr]

@trecile, good on you. But you don't have to make a purchase of unwanted goods. It is, or at least always has been in Spain's larger cities, acceptable to put 50 cents or so on the bar in acknowledgement of the provision (and the costs). Spanish bar tenders are savvy enough to understand that buying a drink every time you want a pee is a self-defeating process

I was told by the locals that you are not expected to buy something in a bar if you use their facilities. That is a cultural difference to other countries.

 

[cher99840]

I was told by the locals that you are not expected to buy something in a bar if you use their facilities. That is a cultural difference to other countries.

I saw signs that asked for a Euro if no purchase was made. I also stopped for a break in a place that printed a code upon a receipt. That code unlocked the facilities. This was just this past spring. I didn't see those things in 2013.

 

[pilgr]

I saw signs that asked for a Euro if no purchase was made. I also stopped for a break in a place that printed a code upon a receipt. That code unlocked the facilities. This was just this past spring. I didn't see those things in 2013.

Could it be unique to the CF? I don't think that is standard to the rest of Spain.

 

[Icacos]

Meaning "when in Rome, do as the Romans"? Does that mean, it is okay to do a #2 in the bushes and not take it with you in a doggy bag? My view is that while it may be okay for the locals to do it, I personally don't think it is cool for me to do it. That is because I value the environment and sparing others from 'experiencing' my 'marking'. While I subscribe to the 'Roman approach', this is an exception for me.

On a slightly different point, I think it would be a totally cool camino to do the Camino Francis, dedicated to collecting those little tissues. I would have a box of biodegradable garbage bags and one of those long metal trash 'picker uppers' designed to collect those little tissues.

I believe I have been misunderstood. You said, "I occasionally would see a jogger go behind a bush, squatting relieving themselves #2. When I told the park attendants, they would just shrug their shoulders like what do you expect." Your saying this indicated to me that you found something lacking in the park attendants' response. It is this to which I referred when I said we need to accept the standards of others on their own turf. In no way was I implying that it is okay for anyone else to comport himself or herself in that manner. [ Note that I have not asked you how you determined that the business being conducted behind the bush involved #2!]

As to your other point about walking the Camino while picking up trash, I agree with you completely. Quite some time ago, I actually did some research on those picker-uppers. I found that the heavy-duty ones that might withstand a Camino are not made in a fold-up variety and therefore would be difficult to transport by air, if one were coming from afar, as I would be. And the fold-up ones which would be easier to transport were so inexpensive that I figured they were worth neither the time nor money. I even inquired on the forum whether a sturdy picker-upper could be purchased in Spain. I believe it was our very own Rebekah who responded saying that as far as she knew these were not available. However, from what I see now, Rebekah must have been able to source these picker-uppers as I think they are now provided to the Ditch Pickers. Rest assured that it has been my intention all along that the next time there is a Camino in the offing for me that I would have made further inquiries as to the availability of these picker-uppers.

 

[trecile]

I saw signs that asked for a Euro if no purchase was made. I also stopped for a break in a place that printed a code upon a receipt. That code unlocked the facilities. This was just this past spring. I didn't see those things in 2013.

I only encountered this between Sarria and Santiago.

 

[pilgr]

[ Note that I have not asked you how you determined that the business being conducted behind the bush involved #2!]

I dare say at one point, I saw it all happening. I watched as the runner pass me, then non-chalantly walk behind a rather meager bush lacking in foliage. As I walked by the bush, I saw him squatting and emitting his 'mark.' I couldn't believe it! I have no idea how he wiped. A moment later he passed me by again jogging. Not a care in the world!

I asked the park attendant about what the runners/walkers do about relieving themselves. They said to just use a bar as they expect it (a good 10 minutes out of the way). I told them what I saw of the squatter and they shrugged their shoulders. I told them I felt bad they had to clean up the mess.

 

[Icacos]

I dare say at one point, I saw it all happening. I watched as the runner pass me, then non-chalantly walk behind a rather meager bush lacking in foliage. As I walked by the bush, I saw him squatting and emitting his 'mark.' I couldn't believe it! I have no idea how he wiped. A moment later he passed me by again jogging. Not a care in the world!

I asked the park attendant about what the runners/walkers do about relieving themselves. They said to just use a bar as they expect it (a good 10 minutes out of the way). I told them what I saw of the squatter and they shrugged their shoulders. I told them I felt bad they had to clean up the mess.

No comment

 

[Anemone del Camino]

By all means, please leave something when using the facilities to cover the cost of providing paper, water, cleaning, etc.

As for keeping the Camino clean, here is what a Japanese group has started doing with the help of a local organisation:

https://www.facebook.com/unpasolimpio/

 

[pilgr]

Japanese

The best kind of pilgrim, one who gives back!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I was told by the locals that you are not expected to buy something in a bar if you use their facilities. That is a cultural difference to other countries.

If that is the case, then why all the "Restrooms for Customers Only" signs (in Spanish, of course, mostly)? Your locals may not have consulted with the bar/restaurant!

 

[pilgr]

If that is the case, then why all the "Restrooms for Customers Only" signs (in Spanish, of course, mostly)?

That may be on the Camino Frances. I have never seen that on the caminos I do.

 

[Sailor]

So far I have found a clean camino [when compared to some of my state's roads!] Good luck and clean camino! Que la luz de Dios alumbre su camino.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Just for the record: you can support the DitchPigs cleanup with a contribution... hit the PayPal button on http://moratinoslife.blogspot.com.es !

 

[MTtoCamino]

Just for the record: you can support the DitchPigs cleanup with a contribution... hit the PayPal button on http://moratinoslife.blogspot.com.es !

What a great idea!

 

[Dawn of a new Day]

I have walked the Camino 4 times. First time in 2007. I am very disappointed about the new markings that help me find the way. Many places there are more trash, empty bottles and toilet paper than the traditional arrows.
For a period of time, the Camino is our home. In most homes, it is not accepted to to throw leftovers on the floor, not to mention toilet paper or to defecate on the carpet. Why should this be accepted on the Camino? Do some people think that they are alone?? THEY ARE NOT!
The problem is easily solved. Use a bag such that dog owners use to pick up your leftovers. ( Dog owners can use this, so why can't we?) Put this in the plastic bag that you got when in a shop. Then you put this in an air and watertight bag, that you can get for a small sum in any sport shop. No smell and no mess! Then you can leave your leftovers in a garbage bin at the alberge or when you pass one on your way. By doing this, you will have a clear conscience, and you will make many people happy.
Let the air and waterproof bag hanging on your rucksack be the new symbol showing that you know that you are not alone on the Camino,-- or wherever you are walking out in nature.
Maybe even somebody can start a campaign and sell or even give away such bags with the label: "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"

Buen and KLEEN Camino!

I totally agree. I have just come from the Primitivo. Prestine. Ladies, how would you feel to have toilet paper with pee covered on your body? Well Mother Earth doesn't like it either. Use a pantyliner and leave the TP at home.The Frances is terrible from melide. The markings defaced, bottles around the markings , and the path lined with TP. How things have changed from 2006! Still 2-3 hours to get a Compostela and over an hour to get into the church. . Grateful for having done 3 Camino's over 10 years ago.

 

[easygoing]

Totally agree, we are almost at Santiago and the whole journey has been disgusting. Littering, signs graffitied and or damaged & the list goes on.
Very disappointing!

I agree the toilet paper is ugly and often left on the ground when a garbage can is nearby. I am a woman and I bring 1/2 a hankerchief ( yellow of course) I fold it in thirds and use it to blot myself. I rinse it out each night. If you refold it after use the dry side is out and no need for a plastic bag. I call it my pee rag

 

[pilgr]

I agree the toilet paper is ugly and often left on the ground when a garbage can is nearby. I am a woman and I bring 1/2 a hankerchief ( yellow of course) I fold it in thirds and use it to blot myself. I rinse it out each night. If you refold it after use the dry side is out and no need for a plastic bag. I call it my pee rag

I wonder if there could be a market for something like that along the Camino?

 

[Mudcrone]

With 300,000 pilgrims and no public toilet facilities, we should be grateful that it is as clean as it is. When an emergency strikes, what are you going to do (if you have not brought a trowel)? Businesses all have signs "Restrooms for clients only." They know the scope of the problem, and they do not want to clean up after pilgrims without a revenue stream to pay for cleanup, toilet paper, towels, electricity, and muddy floors. Yet pilgrims resent them for not supplying free toilets! The problem is complex, and about all each of us can do is leave the Camino a bit cleaner than when we arrived. I think the tissues you see on the trail are from runny noses. I am not picking them up regardless! I use a good old fashioned handkerchief, appalling to my children and the Japanese, but Europeans all seem to use tissues. Maybe requiring long sleeved shirts where cuffs can wipe snot? Walk ten yards into any forest and you will see the real latrine...

I have a bandana tied to my back pack I use for runny nose events. Then I wash it with my clothes

 

[easygoing]

I wonder if there could be a market for something like that along the Camino?

What a great idea. They could be the standard bandana print or maybe scallop shell print. I place mine in a pocket after use. However, you can pin it to your backpack. Another idea would be to provide a thin cotton drawstring bag with a saying, like I love the Camino and keep it clean with a shell and little heart. Inside the bag a Ziploc bag with a tissue would be included for the unexpected . The tissue would be returned to bag to be disposed of in the trash. Part of the profits could be contributed to a keep tissue of the Camino fund. I am currently walking the Camino and it is late October and there are piles of tissues behind bushes everywhere and even next to the grapevines on private property.

 

[easygoing]

What a great idea. They could be the standard bandana print or maybe scallop shell print. I place mine in a pocket after use. However, you can pin it to your backpack. Another idea would be to provide a thin cotton drawstring bag with a saying, like I love the Camino and keep it clean with a shell and little heart. Inside the bag a Ziploc bag with a tissue would be included for the unexpected . The tissue would be returned to bag to be disposed of in the trash. Part of the profits could be contributed to a keep tissue of the Camino fund. I am currently walking the Camino and it is late October and there are piles of tissues behind bushes everywhere and even next to the grapevines on private property.

From Mrs Easygoing.. I forgot to mention my original post stated I use 1/2 a yellow bandana folded in half and then 1/3s to blot after urinating, then fold the damp side in, return it to my pocket and wash it nightly. It's the pee rag that may clean up the Camino

 

[Jen Fawkes]

We are almost in Santiago. I have been disappounted in how all the concrete markers in Galicia have had their mileage signs ripped out and covered in graffiti. I just don't get why people think that's OK

 

[pilgr]

concrete markers

This thread is about a different kind of "mark"

 

[Jen Fawkes]

Yes I understand that and have commented and made suggestions about the disgraceful site of toilet paper and tissues. The vsndalusm of yhe concrete markers is aldo disgraceful

 

[JoP]

I want to know how you know it is not emergencies. Personal survey? Observation? Personal experience? Do you think people set out to enter the 40-acre latrine instead of using the albergue or a bar?

It's a universal problem and I think 'pooing in the woods' is a development that has exploded in the last 2 years especially.

I live in France and the Lake District and suddenly, I can't walk in my usual haunts without having to take avoiding action. It is disgusting. And I suspect that some see it as their right to defecate where they please.

This summer I was leaving Le Puy by car, stopped in a layby for lunch and had to leave when I realised that it was basically an outdoor toilet. Vile. Have some self control.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

That may be on the Camino Frances. I have never seen that on the caminos I do.

 

[pilgr]

Okay, you win! It does exist in Spain, specifically on the Camino Frances. But it definitely isn't the norm. I have never seen such a thing. I walked from Valencia, through Toledo, up to Astorga and onto Santiago this year. Two months! I never saw anything like that. Nor did I see it on the VDLP or Norte.

One thing it reminds me of though, the money phenomena the closer you get to Santiago. I have experienced an element of 'extra money focus' with a few proprietors the closer you get. It is human.

 

[Kanga]

It costs money to keep toilets clean, and stocked with paper, soap etc. Fine perhaps on the lesser known caminos, but on the Francés, with thousands of pilgrims passing, I can understand.

In one bar just past the Lavacolla airport they have installed a door with a number lock. Your bar tab comes with a number, allowing you to access the toilets.

Seems reasonable to me to require people to at least buy something.

 

[trecile]

I was told by the locals that you are not expected to buy something in a bar if you use their facilities. That is a cultural difference to other countries.

I wouldn't feel right using their facilities without buying something, or at least giving them some money.

 

[pilgr]

I wouldn't feel right

I hear that people don't feel right and I don't 'feel right' either. The reason is we were raised in a place where we learn 'not to feel right.'

But this is a cultural thing. In Spain, most places don't have public toilets (except on the Camino Frances of course). So rather than you leaving your mark on the central plaza lawn, the Spaniards prefer you use a toilet in the bar. No big deal.

 

[trecile]

I hear that people don't feel right and I don't 'feel right' either. The reason is we were raised in a place where we learn 'not to feel right.'

But this is a cultural thing. In Spain, most places don't have public toilets (except on the Camino Frances of course). So rather than you leaving your mark on the central plaza lawn, the Spaniards prefer you use a toilet in the bar. No big deal.

Still, I prefer to contribute towards the upkeep and supplies that are provided when I use the toilet in an establishment. I'm sure that it is appreciated by them.

 

[pilgr]

I'm sure that it is appreciated by them.

wonderful...you go right ahead. I prefer to leave my mark as the Spaniards do.

 

[trecile]

wonderful...you go right ahead. I prefer to leave my mark as the Spaniards do.

Here's the thing. A Spaniard who uses "los servicios" at a bar without being a costumer is likely a local who more than likely has been a customer, or will be in the future. I'm just one of thousands of foreigners who will travel through that town, and will never be a customer again.

 

[barb77]

We can always pick it up vs make a complaint. One bag over your hand pic up a bag or two of the dreaded white.
Buen camino

 

[barb77]

Done that on the Portuguese - one hour filled the grocery bag. Doggy bag method of pickup worked well although I would not touch used T.P.

 

[barb77]

With 300,000 pilgrims and no public toilet facilities, we should be grateful that it is as clean as it is. When an emergency strikes, what are you going to do (if you have not brought a trowel)? Businesses all have signs "Restrooms for clients only." They know the scope of the problem, and they do not want to clean up after pilgrims without a revenue stream to pay for cleanup, toilet paper, towels, electricity, and muddy floors. Yet pilgrims resent them for not supplying free toilets! The problem is complex, and about all each of us can do is leave the Camino a bit cleaner than when we arrived. I think the tissues you see on the trail are from runny noses. I am not picking them up regardless! I use a good old fashioned handkerchief, appalling to my children and the Japanese, but Europeans all seem to use tissues. Maybe requiring long sleeved shirts where cuffs can wipe snot? Walk ten yards into any forest and you will see the real latrine...

Is that not why we/I wear) long sleeve and fleece gloves (in winter)? sometimes the handkerchief is in the pocket and not available for a quick wipe across the nose.

 

[Robert Long]

I have walked the Camino 4 times. First time in 2007. I am very disappointed about the new markings that help me find the way. Many places there are more trash, empty bottles and toilet paper than the traditional arrows.
For a period of time, the Camino is our home. In most homes, it is not accepted to to throw leftovers on the floor, not to mention toilet paper or to defecate on the carpet. Why should this be accepted on the Camino? Do some people think that they are alone?? THEY ARE NOT!
The problem is easily solved. Use a bag such that dog owners use to pick up your leftovers. ( Dog owners can use this, so why can't we?) Put this in the plastic bag that you got when in a shop. Then you put this in an air and watertight bag, that you can get for a small sum in any sport shop. No smell and no mess! Then you can leave your leftovers in a garbage bin at the alberge or when you pass one on your way. By doing this, you will have a clear conscience, and you will make many people happy.
Let the air and waterproof bag hanging on your rucksack be the new symbol showing that you know that you are not alone on the Camino,-- or wherever you are walking out in nature.
Maybe even somebody can start a campaign and sell or even give away such bags with the label: "YOU ARE NOT ALONE!"

Buen and KLEEN Camino!

I'd be happy if folks would just use plastic bags to contain their TP. That alone would make a huge difference
Buen Camino

 

[Lawrence Klee]

I'm adding my 2 cents here on this topic a little late but I had been meaning to post my first comments on this forum since I returned from my first Camino 2 weeks ago. My wife and I were saddened by the amount of presumed pilgrim trash all along the 500 mile trek. On a few of our shorter days, we decided to make a difference by picking up trash as we hiked. We had saved some of the larger plastic grocery bags in our packs and filled them with various types of trash we picked up along the trail. At first we picked up everything but the amount of TP was most time consuming so we soon left the TP be. Also, since it is biodegradable, we figured mother nature would take care of it herself. However, we easily filled our bags with bottles, candy wrappers, yogurt cups, etc. The plastic water bottles filled our bags more than anything else. We would empty the bags in dumpsters in the towns and villages. If somehow there was a way to encourage all pilgrims to commit a small part of a single day picking up trash, it could make a world of difference. As for peeing in the bushes, I"m personally not offended by that, perhaps because I'm a urologist. However, I suspect a majority of the TP on the trails comes from gals wiping themselves after draining their bladders. This may be habit at home but on the Camino it leaves unsightly and unnecessary markings where the call of nature was answered.

 

[Juspassinthru]

Well said! I too tried to pick up as I could, I was not as organized as you were but when I could, I did. On Oct. 9th in part of an earlier post on this thread I said "It’s about being sensitive to the environment, the Camino and your fellow humans", I still stand by that statement. I do believe that the summer crush this year contributed significantly to the problem. From mid-May to the end of June there was trash on the Camino but it did not seem to be as bad as what Pilgrims who walked the Camino later in the summer and fall experienced. So, if you brought it with you, take it with you! If you see it on the ground, pick it up, please! Thanks Doc for your wise words and thoughtful efforts on the Camino.

 

[shefollowsshells]

Though every prospect pleases, and only man is vile.... (Good old Anglican hymn, 'From Greenland's Icy Mountains', words by Bishop Heber.)

We see what we want to see, I suppose. Earlier this year I walked most of the Frances (3rd time) and then the Finisterre (1st time).... All I saw was the beauty around me. I'm sure that there were people pooping in the bushes but I saw very little evidence of it.

But then, I must go on to confess that I'm easily pleased. I enjoy the 'ugly' urban bits every bit as much as the 'pretty' rustic bits. It's the towns and cities that fascinate. Where vile man resides....

Powerful words! I always try to recommend people never assume or make note of any "ugly" part of the Camino. We hear leaving certain towns are "ugly" but the Camino embraces who we are speaking with, whats in our mind at the time, who our company is and conversation...it's like an onion with all its layers...how can we decide what is "ugly"?

 

[Kanga]

I don't think anyone could approve of the mess along the side of the trail. Well, maybe Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street character).

Some of the installations along the path I find horrible - crudely made "altars" hung with litter and trash. But I realise beauty is in the eye of the beholder. @rappahannock_rev my husband agrees with you - the bits of the Camino that my husband enjoys the most are where there are working factories or industry or building work. Or, as my one year old twin grandsons say joyously "Car! Car!".