The Environmental Studies Project of Carleton Place High School continues to put their best “footprint” forward on their June canoe to the Temagami Region. Over the last six years, CPHS Enviro students have worked to reduce their impact during their annual canoe trip by installing box latrines, aka ‘Thunder boxes’, on the campsites they use each year.

Since 1994 CPHS has been using a canoe route from Iceland Lake to River Valley as the culminating trip in senior high school program in resource management. Early on, staff and students began to notice the degradation of popular sites along the route and looked for ways to protect the quality of these special places.

Recognizing that they were part of the problem, students suggested installing box latrines along the route. It was a direct action. They could do it on the trip, and it benefited all users. Plans were obtained from OMNR and materials from two local suppliers of white cedar. The boxes were prefabricated in the CPHS wood-working shop and then assembled on site. Each year, students would select a site to “upgrade” and the box would be installed in a spot selected to protect water quality from contamination by human waste. By returning to the sites each year, the class has been able to maintain the boxes and even reposition them necessary.