Have you ever wondered where goes what you put in the toilet? In most cases, it goes to a septic tank or to the local wastewater treatment plant. The former need regular emptying, the latter is expensive and is often overflowing into rivers or the sea.
There are lots of options online for compost toilets or composting toilet or dry toilet or off-grid toilet or bio-toilet or humanure system. Some are expensive and complex, some look like “normal” toilet, most are interestingly smell free.
And they save so much water! And they close the food cycle too!
I made one.
My system is simple, in a corner of the garden : a bucket, a toilet seat and lid from Wastebusters, a toilet paper roll in a water tight container, a bag of saw dust.
I love being with the birds under the trees. I use it for number 2s. I love that I don’t use water to flush. I love that my poo becomes fertilization for the garden. Not a waste.
Like most people, we have toilets inside, so I only use it when I want. In nature.
When the bucket is full, I empty it in a compost bin, nested into straw, covered with straw. It does smell but already hardly looks like what it is.
In summer, a bucket can receive about 30 uses. In winter, only 12 or 15 as it doesn’t decompose as it goes.
I can empty the full bucket in compost bins four or five times as it reduces quickly.
In autumn, I incorporate the content of the compost bin into the hot compost. At this stage, we cannot tell what it is. I make layers of leaves, mulch, a bit of biochar, our cold compost, bokashi, straw, alternating fresh (nitrogen rich) and dry (carbon rich) layers.
The layered compost is watered, often by rain this autumn season, then covered.
Temperature will reach 70 degrees C. It smokes in the morning. All baddies are transformed in goodies by wonderful nature.
In spring, the pile is 1/3 of the initial height, all nicely decomposed, used in the garden.
For commercial use in the garden, a second turn of the compost and another season are practiced, I think. Any precision on that?
Even in a small garden, it’s possible (In my previous urban garden, I had hidden it in a corner, with a few planks and a frost cloth!)
I find it rewarding to close the loop!➰🌏💧🐞💖
I hope I’ve inspired you to do your own dry toilet. Post your experience or problems in the Comments below, we may find solutions together.
Regenerative Livestyle Blog 