The rise in tourism in Scotland can often be a double-edged sword as people flock to the country in the summertime. Thousands of people enjoying staycations and others travelling to Scotland from around the globe can be a boom for local economies during the holiday season, however, the extra numbers can also bring with them problems.
With more and more people enjoying road trip routes such as the North Coast 500 and taking up outdoor pursuits such as wild camping and hiking, Highland Council has taken the unusual step of asking visitors to change the way they approach one thorny issue.
Taking to social media, they posted on their official Facebook page asking that instead of burying human waste, which is the normal procedure, they've asked people to 'bag and bin' it instead.
They wrote: "The Outdoor Access Code would recommend burying human waste but with such high visitors to the Highlands digging a hole is no longer viable. We need people to take their waste away with them."
The change in tact included the launch of a new poster, which has the tagline "Be prepared before you 'go'".
The post garnered a large response with people taking to the comment section to offer their own solutions.
One person wrote: "We need the Highland Council to provide proper public toilets."
While another added: "Public composting toilets would be a better idea. They are environmentally friendly and the waste can actually be used."
Another offered the idea that with so many public toilets being closed because of vandalism and maintenance issues, that at the very minimum there should be "seasonal mobile toilets at tourist hotspots".
The news comes as a number of beauty spots around Scotland, including the Fairy Pools on Skye and the Finnich Glen and Devil's Pulpit in Stirling, have been plagued with problems of human excrement being left behind by busy crowds.
While last year, the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) says there has been an “unprecedented rise” in issues such as human and animal waste being left and littering at some of its sites such as Ben Lawers and the Hermitage.
Would you be prepared to 'bag it and bin it'? What do you think the local councils should do to fix the problem?
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