Managing Waste and
Emptying the Groover

In the grand scheme of outdoor education, waste management is not among the most glamorous of duties. It is, and always has been, an area of great importance. Reducing our impact on wild places and teaching others how to reduce their impact is de rigor of all outdoor education programs.

Remote hikes and backpacks
For solid waste on remote hikes where facilities are not available, we recommend "cat holes". It is our practice to supply participants with two zip lock bags and TP. One of the bags is placed inside the other along with the TP. If a participant must relieve herself, the second bag is available to contain the used TP until the participant can dispose of it back in town. We don't leave the TP in the cat hole.

For liquid waste we recommend urination on non permeable layers (rock) at least 200 feet form the nearest water source.

Car Camping and River Trips
Whenever practical, we use a portable toilet system. We pack out all solid waste.

For liquid waste we recommend urination on non permeable layers (rock) at least 200 feet form the nearest water source. On bigger rivers, it is preferable to urinate directly into the water or at least 200 feet away.

The groover is OAC's portable waist management system. This type of system (or similar) is required of all campers in many heavily used recreation areas. This requirement has reduced the impact of human waist and has resulted in an improved user experience in many areas.

The system we employ is among the best. It is easily portable, easy to set up, is compact and has an excellent seal, when not in use. These are all very important, particularly the last item!

The system will handle approximately 50 uses before it must be emptied.

Of course, this system must be emptied following each outing. The process is described below:

Emptying the Groover:
Visit a commercial RV park with a dump station.
Both ammo cans are required
Gather the following parts: Rubber gloves, the groover, the hose adapter and wrench, the drain hose, waterless hand cleaner, and odor crystals

Assemble them as indicated:

Connect the drain hose, tilt the the unit and turn water on (slowly at first then increase) to flush contents:

Add odor crystals, clean the seat, close lids and fit everything back into the boxes

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