Composting toilets

[Ersson Family]

we've enjoyed the recent discussion of compost toilets, including the
reference to the article about the "£25 home-made compost toilet".

however, we would like to point out that there is a much simpler approach,
as outlined in the "Humanure Handbook".  the basic idea is to collect human
"waste" anywhere you have space for a couple 5 gallon buckets.  one bucket
is used as the collecting receptacle and has a toilet seat attached; the
second serves as a container for sawdust, wood chips, or other high-carbon
material. (our family uses chipped trees from tree service companies which
is available free delivered to your home in the city.)  after each use,
enough sawdust (usually a couple handfuls) is added to seal any odors.
when the collecting bucket is full the seat is transfered to the
(now-empty) sawdust container and the process is repeated.  the collected
material, human manure and urine mixed with sawdust, is then added to an
outdoor compost pile, and is again covered with more of the same carbon
material to seal the outdoor compost pile to maintain aesthetic appearance
and prevent odors.  the compost pile, of course, is also used for chopped
garden and kitchen waste in the traditional, time-honored manner.  our
compost area consists of three one-square-yard cubicles made from discarded
shipping pallets.  we generate about three cubic yards of compost yearly by
this process.  to make transferring the toilet seat from bucket to bucket
easy, we have attached the toilet seat with screws to a bucket with all but
the top six inches cut off.  this then slips inside the receiving bucket.
when full, the seat is transferred by lifting it out of the full container
and down into a second 5 gallon bucket, which then becomes the new receptacle.

it's an extremely simple and elegant solution to recycling "humanure".  (to
call it waste is a misnomer.)  in the four years our family has been using
this method we have been very satisfied with the process.  for further
details, visit our home page below.  it includes a reference to the
Humanure Handbook.
---- http://www.rdrop.com/users/krishna ----
experiments in low-impact urban living: rainwater harvesting, strawbale
construction, waterless toilets, compost heating, rooftop gardening