Toilet Roll

[Allister]

Just arrived in Estella.. and was dissappointed at the used toilet paper all thrown on the ground on the path into Estella.... Why don't they carry the pooh bags people use for dogs and put their paper in them and then find a bin... That's what we do and a roll of bags is very light .

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You are preaching to the choir here, but a very small percentage of pilgrims read the Forum. You need a way to reach out to the Spanish, French, Germans, and Italians, if you want to be effective. But be assured your dismay is shared on the Forum!

 

[Olivares]

Wait till you walk out of Burgos....oh, boy!

Absolutely agree there are better options to dispose of used toiletries and some just don't care.

 

[CaptBuddy]

I'm sure those spots have been used for the past thousand years. And many others, as well.
What is new is the toilet paper.

 

[annelise]

Wait till you walk out of Burgos....oh, boy!

Re walking out of Burgos: The Camino sometimes provides! – a strange example …

Inspired by another thread asking something along the lines 'what you wish the Camino needs more of', I have a very mundane example of what the camino may provide:

I was on the long trudge out of Burgos – on one side a solid wall to a park, on the other side university buildings. I had thought that there would have been bars along this stretch, but not so, so be warned.

When I realized that my urge was of catastrophic dimensions, I even thought about invading one of the university buildings! – but lo and behold: suddenly on the boulevard there was a round white structure which I understood to be a toilet! (Would this be a kind of port-a-potty?) – My problem then was that I didn't have the coins to enter this heaven – but a passing kind Spanish gentleman helped me to change to get the coins needed to open the temple ...

So make sure you have done your 'errands' before leaving Burgos ...

annelise

 

[yogaflowjo]

My son and I found this sign walking out of Najera ... no beating around the bush .... straight to the point!
This is a subject that I get really cranky with ... toilet paper strewn everywhere. No one wants to walk amid exposed human feces or tufts of soiled toilet paper floating merrily on the breeze. Feces contain a cocktail of germs, and no one enjoying the camino wants to see it, smell it, come in contact with it, or worse, get sick due to its improper disposal. OK ... when you gotta go you gotta go ... but please, at least cover it up people ... leaves, rocks, broken branches, find something.

 

[Olivares]

View attachment 13070
My son and I found this sign walking out of Najera ... no beating around the bush .... straight to the point!

Embedded in that picture is a bit of poetic justice...see where the output is falling...shoes be dammed! LOL!

 

[Anniesantiago]

Oh don't get me started...

 

[CaptBuddy]

View attachment 13070
My son and I found this sign walking out of Najera ...

I'm struck by the fact that the sign is in Spanish and English only.

 

[Arn]

Oh, don't get me started

That, Anniesantiago IS often the problem

Although there were indoor facilities (sitting area with running water to evacuate waste) as far back as 3000 B.C.E. (the Far East/Middle East), in the main, proper indoor facilities didn't flow into Medieval Europe until the Crusades, when returning knights brought the the idea home. The knights were often among the upper classes, while the commoner was using a pit out back. Even among royalty the chamber pot/cabinet/garderobe was the norm up through the 16th century. At the Palace of Versailles, only the courtiers and royalty had access to these "private" facilities and the commoners relieved themselves behind curtains and in stairwells. When traveling between towns, inns were often spaced at a distance where travelers would be expected to end the day when in a carriage, or on a horse. Travelers on foot would evacuate whenever/wherever the need arose; covering the waste with dirt, stones or branches. Toilet paper was seldom available, or used by the commoner. I can remember that my grandparents used a Sears catalog on the farm.
This then appears to be the source of the problem. When the Crusaders were exposed (no Joey...) to indoor/public facilities and became accustomed to using them, upon returning home they sought to approximate the same atmosphere (Joey...) and sanitary utility of indoor plumbing. If one didn't have such a convenience (comfort station), they were made to feel backward, or uncouth. If visiting guests weren't enough, in 16th Century France, the Government of Normandy regulated indoor facilities and their construction in every private residence.
So, with the increase in pilgrims from the big city on Camino, they tend to bring their "civilized" views/prejudices on the environment and their toilet paper.
I agree that there are a whole raft of reasons why evacuation enroute can be disgusting, odorous, unsightly and a biohazard.

 

[Tincatinker]

This topic appears on the forum with the regularity of bedbugs, sleeping bags and ponchos. And no bad thing say I, to keep it in public view. Sadly the only answers are education or appropriately armed snipers with clear line of sight at all the common potty spots - usually side-tracks just off Camino, any clump of bushes or anywhere you might have wished to stop for a picnic lunch.

To paraphrase an ex president of the UK " education, education, elimination".

 

[Kanga]

It's an intractable problem. Pun intended - groan....