Selected areas in Antarctica are considered to be ASMA's (Antarctic Specially Managed Areas). The Dry Valleys are one of these areas so we are bound by law to follow specific procedures while we are camping and working here. One huge thing is that we can't leave any waste here. Everything we bring here, we have to bring back with us. This includes all of our trash, grey water, food waste, and human waste. All of our trash is separated into five different buckets; food waste, non-recyclables, glass, aluminum, and mixed paper. Once a bucket is full, we pack it up and put it into a huge box to be flown back to McMurdo. We also have liquid waste called grey water from washing dishes, cooking, brushing teeth, etc... We store the grey water in buckets and when a bucket gets too full, we pour it into 55 gallon drums called U-Barrels.
All the different bags of trash that have been sorted and will now go into a box to be flown to McMurdo.
Our grey water bucket in the kitchen tent is used for holding leftover water from cooking and washing dishes.
The last type of waste that we have to deal with is human waste and I am sure this is the one most people want to hear about. It is actually kind of tricky because we have to keep the solid waste separate from the liquid waste. We pee into pee bottles (girls have funnels to make it easier for us) and then pour our full bottles into the U-Barrel (Urine Barrel). When it's time to go #2 and you are in camp, you head over to the Scott tent and poop into a bucket with a box surrounding it and a toilet seat attached to the top. Once the poop buckets are full, we cap them off and they will eventually be flown back to McMurdo.
The U-Barrel (Urine Barrel) is what we pour our pee bottles and grey water into to be flown to McMurdo.
Do you have to go #2? This is where you go.
In the scott tent is a wooden box with a toilet seat on top and a poop bucket inside.