Leaving your waste lying around—literally—could pollute your water supply and/or attract large, scary animals. Like bears. Here are some ways to keep your surroundings both safe and sanitary.

YOU CAN TAKE IT WITH YOU

It’s not the most pleasant option, but it’s the one that’s guaranteed to keep you and your campsite in good health. Both toilet paper and human feces take about a year to break down. And if they aren’t buried properly, they can contaminate groundwater with giardia, a nasty intestinal parasite that causes explosive cases of diarrhea typically referred to as “beaver fever.” Several national parks now have “pack it out” rules to encourage hikers in rural backcountry areas to clean up after themselves. Thankfully, this environmentally friendly procedure is pretty simple: Poop in a plastic bag or bucket, toss in the TP, and when you’re heading back to civilization, take it all with you. Dispose of it properly when you find a trash can.

THE POOP BURRITO

A lot of backpackers swear by this technique. Lay a good amount of toilet paper on the ground, poop on it, and wrap it up, thus creating a “poop burrito.” Then place the burrito in a plastic bag, and put the bag in a plastic container with a lid. This will help make getting it back to civilization easier and much less stinky. (Just make sure that the lid is sealed tightly.) We also recommend only using the container for this purpose and cleaning it thoroughly if you intend to use it again.

DIG A CATHOLE

Here’s a method if you aren’t planning to stick around for long and don’t have any storage materials. Grab a small shovel (if you don’t have a shovel, use your hands to dig) and find a location a safe distance from the nearest trail, the closest source of water, and your campsite. Dig a hole six to eight inches deep and roughly six inches wide. After you’ve done your business in the hole, cover it. Once you’re all done, place a rock or another heavy object on top of the spot so you don’t dig there again. To reduce the chances of contaminating groundwater, try to dig your catholes as far apart as possible and in sunny spots. Sunlight will help your waste decompose more quickly.

BUILD A LATRINE

If you’ll be at your campsite for longer than a few nights, you may want to consider constructing a latrine. Using the tips outlined above for making a cathole, dig a deeper pit. How deep? That depends on how long you plan to stick around. A foot per week is one way to determine how low to go. To keep the smell under control and assist decomposition, cover your doodie with soil after every use. If you’re the industrious type, you may want to consider building a makeshift commode to stick over the hole. Remove the bottom from a five-gallon bucket and place a toilet seat on top of it. If you don’t have either of those, you could attempt to construct a wooden potty out of timber. Really bored or ambitious? Add a few walls, a door, and a roof to create your own wilderness outhouse.

THE SMEAR METHOD

It should go without saying that dropping your droppings off the edge of a cliff is considered very bad form—especially if there are climbers below. The frosty temperatures at high elevations means that poop decomposes slower; it can take years for the average mountaintop turd to completely break down. To avoid polluting the great outdoors, you may want to try the “smear method”. Simply find a good-sized stone, do your dirty business, and smear the rock on yourself and then across the ground in much the same way you would ice a cake. Spreading it as thin as possible speeds up the decomposition process. (Sorry we ruined cake for you forever, though.)