The only reasonable argument against catholes (which I understand to be a smallish hole in the ground for one person’s waste, covered up afterwards with the dirt removed at the beginning) is the pain in the ass factor; doing it right requires a shovel, and then there’s the effort of doing so. Which perhaps can be summarized as “being lazy”.
But from my experience, these weren’t lazy people. I saw no lack of people doing the most amazing, physically demanding labour. Watching a 70-year old man straining to push his 3-wheel cargo bike loaded with 500lbs of cauliflower in 40C heat. Or guys digging a fiber optic cable trench along the highway with nothing more than pickaxes and shovel. These people could do the work.
Also, too many catholes in too small an area is less than ideal. The example I’m thinking of had ~500 people and a field perhaps football-sized. Wouldn’t take too long to become a minefield of harder to find “bombs”.
You probably have the same feeling I had. Just a little bit of organization and a bit of work would provide huge benefits.
