Celebrate Earth Day With an Eco-Friendly Poop Kit

Celebrate Earth Day With an Eco-Friendly Poop Kit

At Gossamer Gear, “take less. do more.” is much more than a tagline or hashtag. We’re always looking for ways we can give back to our community and our earth. And this Earth Day, we’re excited to introduce you to the GVP Poop Kit.

The GVP Poop Kit is a simple but innovative tool aimed at helping keep the outdoors pristine. It was developed by Gossamer Gear Founder Glen Van Peski in collaboration with author, illustrator, and UFO researcher Mike Clelland. If this is your first exposure to advanced backcountry wiping and you don’t already own Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips by Mike Clelland, we recommend immediately buying a copy! 

Now, you may still be wondering: But, what exactly is the GVP Poop Kit?

Well, let’s dive in!

Everything You Need to Know About the GVP Poop Kit

The GVP Poop Kit leverages a shop towel (or half of one), which—with its additional heft—provides a more satisfying wipe than toilet paper while using a smaller quantity. Of course, you must pack out your used shop towels, as they won’t degrade in the soil, but packing out your toilet paper is considered the best practice for Leave No Trace ethics now anyway.

To get a clean butt in four wipes with the poop kit’s shop towel, you should start the process with natural materials. As Mike explains in his book, you can usually find snow, pine cones (be selective), sticks, bark, leaves, grass, or stones to start the cleaning process. That way, when you pull out your half of a shop towel, you are down to what we call “polishing.”

The GVP Poop Kit includes a handy graphic on one side of the kit’s towel to show you how to get four polishing wipes out of one half of a shop towel.

All in all, the GVP Poop Kit includes:

  • 1 printed shop towel (which will do 2 wipes)
  • 2 unprinted shop towels (which will do 4 wipes)
  • 3 black (for privacy/not having to gaze at the gross stuff) 5” x 8” bags for used towels
  • 1 Ultralight Backpackin’ Tips reprint booklet on Tip #116, “Liberate Yourself From Toilet Paper,” stapled, 5.5” x 8”
  • 1 instruction sheet, folded, 5.5” x 8”
  • All contents in a 6” x 9” bag

Before leaving on a trip, cut the shop towels in your GVP Poop Kit in half. We recommend taking one piece for each day, but you should be guided by your personal experience. Include the half with the printed instructions, and save that for the last use. By that time, you should be an offal origami expert.

Love the Earth With the GVP Poop Kit and Other Leave No Trace Resources

Ready to minimize your backcountry wipes? You can purchase your GVP Poop Kit here.

We’re also happy to share that all proceeds from the GVP Poop Kit will go directly to the nonprofit Leave No Trace.

Looking for additional ways to take care of our planet and/or upgrade your trail pooping techniques? Check out some of our other articles on the Light Feet blog:

You may also want to snag our favorite pooper scooper, the Deuce Backpacking Trowel, to round out your backcountry pooping ritual!
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