Fundraiser started for composting toilets after Churchill River being 'loved to death'

The Barker Island area in northern Saskatchewan is known for white water rafting and camping and is home to the Whitewater Festival.

But it's been having a problem — human waste being left behind. 

Now, locals are fundraising for composting toilets so they can preserve the area for generations. 

The Barker Island area is a part of the Churchill River where it breaks up into channels that flow amongst islands. The geography drops about seven metres and causes rapids of all levels, Ric Driediger said. 

Driediger is a tour guide with Churchill River Canoe Outfitters. He's been guiding people through the rapids since the 1970s and is one of the people behind the Whitewater Festival. 

"That area has become an amazing whitewater playground," he said. "So Barker Island is kind of in the middle of that and it's an area where a lot of people camp."

On summer nights, anywhere from 20 to 100 people could be camping there, he said. People have been good about taking out their trash, Driediger said, but have not been as careful when it comes to human waste. 

"The area is basically getting loved to death," he said.

Some people use portable toilets — which are five-gallon pails with a toilet lid — and garbage bags, but not enough, he said. The composting toilets would allow them to have something sustainable. 

To start, the toilets divert the solid and liquid human waste. Then the solid waste is moved on a conveyor belt to a spot where it's dumped in with composting worms that break down the feces. By the end of the summer, they'd have a large pile of usable compost, Driediger said. 

The reaction to the campaign as been amazing, Driediger said. They started a campaign on GoFundMe and have been getting daily donations, he said, but still have a way to go to reach their goal. 

If all goes well, he hopes to have the composting toilet — or even two — ready to go for the next canoeing season. 

"I can't see this area being used less in the future. I have the feeling that it'll continue to attract people from all over the world to go paddling," he said. 

Currently, they need to go in with a motorboat weekly to take out garbage, he said, and he doesn't see that stopping. Maintaining it is going to be key and he'd like to see more locals helping out, Driediger said. 

"The first time I went into the Barker Island area, you could tell that people had camped there but barely," he said. "And, you know, you could camp there for days and days and not see another person."

It hurts like crazy—like as if somebody's slapping me in the face—to see the area abused.- Ric Driediger

Driediger said it's partially his fault there's more people with his sharing the word about the area and introducing people to it, but he still enjoys it, even if it's more crowded. 

"I absolutely love this. I mean this spot is just so amazingly gorgeous, and it's so intricate with so many different rapids and different channels that one can paddle," Driediger said. "It's one of the most special areas that I've ever been in."

"There's a part of me that wishes it was like it was when I first went there," he said. "And there's a part of me that thinks 'No because so many people are there enjoying such an amazing area.'"

Seeing people enjoy the area gives him a warm feeling, he said. People will be laughing as they go down the rapids. 

"It just makes me feel really, really good when I see people enjoying the area," Driediger said. "And it hurts like crazy —like as if somebody's slapping me in the face — to see the area abused."