AWASTE, or the Alaska Wild And Scenic Toilet-training Experience, is a river stewardship project in Alaska, educating river users on the proper management of human waste. Our primary goal is to introduce Alaska river trippers to the concept of packing out all their solid waste from river trips by using one of the many products designed specifically for handling human waste on rivers.

AWASTE is spearheaded by Fairbanks Paddlers, an organization that promotes paddle and oar powered recreation in Interior Alaska. AWASTE is funded through the Clif Bar & Co. Flowing Rivers Campaign grants, an annual program administered by American Whitewater, the premier whitewater conservation, access, and stewardship organization in the U.S. Matching funds have been provided by Fairbanks Paddlers. Several organizations and equipment manufacturers or retailers are co-sponsors and have donated goods and services to the project. Sponsors and collaborators are listed on the SPONSORS page.

The first AWASTE expedition will be an upper Gulkana River trip on June 11-14, 2009. In the course of a four day trip down the upper Gulkana River, participants will “field test” a variety of the systems that are currently being marketed in the U.S. for dealing with human waste on rivers and in the wilderness. The Gulkana River is the perfect location for the first trip; it is a beautiful clearwater stream that also happens to be a Wild and Scenic River and one of the most heavily used of all our streams for multi-day trips.

Because of historically low levels of use, Alaska’s rivers have not required much management or regulation to date. That is changing now; there are a few rivers used heavily enough for human solid waste to be a serious and growing problem. The historical lack of need for regulation has, unfortunately, resulted in resistance to any limitations on what we Alaskans do in and on our abundant wild lands. We are way behind the curve with regard to the Leave No Trace ethic of most backcountry river trippers in the U.S. today. AWASTE will help to educate river trippers in Alaska about the impacts of human waste in heavily used river corridors and the ways in which we can take personal responsibility for waste management and disposal on our rivers.

In the course of the trip, in addition to using the human waste management systems we bring along, participants will evaluate each system for a range of factors and strengths and weaknesses related to their use in various river contexts, including capacity, portability, ease of use, content security, odors, disposal and cleanup, and environmental impact. An account of the trip and the results of this assessment will be published in the Fairbanks Paddlers newsletter. We also will submit an article on AWASTE to the American Whitewater Journal, which is distributed nationally to all AW members. AWASTE results will be publicized through newspaper articles, sponsor websites, participant blogs, and other media outlets in order to distribute the message as widely as possible.