They’re made from plant-derived resin, vegetable oils, and compostable polymer and have the advantage of a stated length of time – 45 days to decompose (a year’s shelf life, though). It’s perfect for festival goers or camping enthusiasts who need somewhere to readily use the toilet. But when we pitched up at the campsite, I discovered a major obstacle – we couldn’t sit down on the Bog in a Bag inside our very snug pop-up tent. We think this is important because a plastic bag filled with sloshiness sounds like a disaster waiting to happen and isn’t pleasant for waste collectors.

She is the author of Raising Boys Who Do Better: A Hopeful Guide for a New Generation (DK/Penguin Random House), Bringing Up Race: How to Raise a Kind Child in a Prejudiced World (Yellow Kite/Hachette UK) and the delightful picture book A World for Me and You, illustrated by Jennie Poh (Hachette Children's Group).It provides a simple and sanitary solution to pack out your waste until you reach somewhere where it can be disposed of properly. We don't wild camp (or haven't yet) so we always use the facilities at camp sites and haven't bothered with a proper portable loo. Folding out as a seat and having the function to be a toilet that is hygienic and uses no chemicals, making it totally unique!

I'm not sure whether this is in the spirit of this thread as it is at the extreme end of the portable spectrum, but the Bog in a Bag saved my life at the Belgian Grand Prix camping last year. Kate Castle came to Innovate Product Design to develop her idea for a portable toilet after identifying nothing else on the market which provided a decent solution. The Thetford Porta Potti Qube has a pump flush and a waste collecting tank at the bottom that you can empty in a loo. Other items you might want to arm yourself with: extra loo paper, anti-bacterial toilet seat wipes, air freshener (you could make up an essential oil spray if you don’t like the ones on the market), disposable seat covers.

It’s better to half-fill the bucket with water and then you can dispose of the whole lot down a normal loo or motorhome waste point when you reach civilisation. At home, we use recycled and plastic-free loo roll, but the important thing for camping toilets is dissolvability! Not only is it better not to be washing formaldehyde into the sewage system, many campsites with septic tanks don’t allow these sorts of chemicals. You’ll need to hover, though, and beware pressing down on the edge or you could end up with a collapsed mess. A friend of mine was leading a group trip on Lough Erne and she was asked by one of the punters where the conveniences were.