It may not be the usual pitch for a GoFundMe page, but it’s for a good cause in northern Saskatchewan.
Organizers are trying to raise enough money to buy a composting toilet for a popular camping spot along the Churchill River.
It’s being organized by Churchill River Canoe Outfitters, a company that has hosted canoe trips in the region for decades.
Sarah Driediger, with Churchill River, said the plan is to put a composting toilet on Barker Island – about a two-to-three-hour paddle upstream from Otter Rapids.
She said they estimate around 8,000 “person nights” of camping occurs in that area every canoeing season and that doesn’t include the impact of ice fishing in winter.
Even though some people may pack it out, the company said the amount of human waste being left behind is becoming a serious problem in the otherwise beautiful area.
The hope, she said, is to have a toilet installed by next year.
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The money raised will go to the Saskatchewan Trails Association, which wants to start with a toilet on Barker Island, and eventually get a number of them set up in some of the busiest parts of the Churchill.
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The company said the provincial government is installing similar toilets in the Otter Lake area but because Barker Island is outside the provincial park, the money has to be raised privately.
Otter Rapids is approximately 480 kilometers north of Saskatoon.
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