There are three ways of disposing of garbage when in camp. Burn it, bury
it, give it away. Sometimes all three ways are necessary in one camp. If
the group is small and there is little garbage it can be thrown around
the edge of a hot fire and when dried out, raked onto the hot coals.
In larger camps a portable incinerator can be used. One form has a basin
over the fire pot, into which garbage is placed to be dried out and then
turned into the fire.
In camps of 100 or more people where burning is difficult, pits for
burying garbage have been found satisfactory if properly cared for and
dug not near the camp buildings or source of water supply. They should
be deep, oblong in shape, and the earth should be thrown up at one side
to be used in covering the garbage as soon as it is thrown into the pit.
In a camp where there is no plumbing, liquid waste as well as garbage,
can be disposed of in the following way. Dig a trench four feet long,
two feet deep and thirty inches wide at one end; eight inches wide and
level with the ground at the other end; line with stone, or if this is
impossible, use tin, sheet iron, or brick. Put the garbage into the
trench, build a fire on top of it, when the fire is very hot pour the
liquid waste into the trench at the small end. If there is a great deal
of garbage some of it will have to be put on top of the fire which
should be made of heavy logs of hard wood. Tin cans can be burnt in this
fire and then treated as stated before.
The disposing of camp garbage is not a difficult matter if some system
and care are used. It is necessary to have a covered pail near the
kitchen door for use during the day. The contents of this pail should be
burned or buried every night after supper and if necessary once during
the day, preferably after dinner. If this pail is lined with two or
three thicknesses of newspaper each time after emptying, it will be kept
in good condition.
If garbage is to be carted out of camp, have proper receptacles for
transporting it and do not let too much accumulate at any one time.
Under no circumstances allow waste food to be strewn on the ground
anywhere within camp limits, or the ground around the garbage pail, pit
or incinerator to be untidy.
One of the best disinfectants for latrines and garbage pits is
smouldering tar paper. Break the paper into small pieces, throw into the
latrine or pit, light and let smoulder.