[Greenbuilding] [BULK] Re: [BULK] Composting toilets

[Lawrence Lile]

Ingenious!
 
The system I used was a toilet seat bolted onto a 50 gallon plastic drum.  Also about $15, but your system is neat and not too heavy to carry out to the heap.  

________________________________

From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org on behalf of Leslie Moyer
Sent: Tue 12/19/2006 6:00 PM
To: GREENBUILDING at LISTSERV.REPP.ORG
Subject: [BULK] Re: [Greenbuilding] [BULK] Composting toilets



 >> What sort of composting toilet did you build for $50?

We're using a system that costs much less than $50--something closer to
$15.  A system like the sawdust bucket toilet in The Humanure Handbook,
but simpler.  It's not beautiful (we're temorarily living in a barn, so
it doesn't have to be), but it's a *great* "starter" method to try out a
non-mechanical system....very low investment. Basically, if you can
handle this method, you can *certainly* handle a commercial composter.

Our homemade system is:

1. A couple of 5-gallon buckets.
2. This toilet seat from Cabela's:
<http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0009518514868a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=luggable+loo&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=luggable+loo&noImage=0>
3. Free sawdust from a very close local cabinetmaker as cover material.
4. Biodegradable trash bags from BioBag:  http://www.ecoproducts.com/ --
we use the 13 Gallon BioBag  - .86 Mil -- the thicker, the better.
5. Newspapers from the recycle bin.

It works very well as a starter because the biodegradable bags make it
nearly mess-free.  We just rinse the buckets with plain water after the
bag has been removed--no real "cleaning" necessary. The seat from
Cabela's works better than a regular toilet seat because it closes
securely to keep out bugs/flies, etc. (That's my review on the product
page at Cabela's--"OKComposter".)

Here's what we do:  Insert a biodegradable bag into a dry 5-gallon
bucket. (If the bucket is wet, the liner may decompose too quickly--we
have about 3 buckets on hand so we always have a dry one.)  Line the
sides of the bucket with old newspapers (a whole newspaper section,
unfolded) & line the bottom with another section of newspaper. 
(Newspaper helps hold the liner to the outside of the bucket & absorbs
some moisture.)  Put about 1-inch of sawdust into the bottom of the
bucket. Snap the Cabela's lid to the top of the bucket. As you fill it,
the layers can be somewhat compressed by adding another folded newspaper
section & pressing down.  When full, take entire bucket to the compost
bin and lift out the whole bag. Rinse & repeat.

We've been using this system since August and it's really much easier
than I expected.  I was a reluctant humanure composter, but our options
were limited at the time we had to make this decision & we've been very
pleasantly surprised at the results.  We had considered a commercial
composting toilet in our new home (soon to be under construction), but
it seemed like a big risk to install one without having used one
before.  I still don't know if we'll buy a commercial composter, but we
know for sure that we'll always have the sawdust toilet available....in
fact, I hate the idea of going to the bathroom away from home knowing
that that "lost fertilizer" won't be available to our orchard!

--Leslie



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