Comments on: A Simple, Elegant Composting Toilet

By: chaburchak

chaburchak — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 00:41:06 +0000

Be sure to check out Jenkins’ videos on YouTube, they’re very informative…

http://www.youtube.com/user/jcjenkins01

By: Zana

Zana — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:03:04 +0000

Another resource which Emma directed me to is a long, informative page by Joe Jenkins, the Humanure Handbook at
http://humanurehandbook.com/manual.html

By: Emma Holister

Emma Holister — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:18:40 +0000

Hi all, thanks for all the lovely and interesting comments. I will soon be doing an article with step by step photos on how to build a pretty compost toilet. Plenty of exciting new designs…
Still, I must insisit….my toilet isn’t at all smelly…!…come and sniff it if you don’t believe me!
I have to assure you that there’s no chance I’d put a toilet in my bedroom if it smelt!
Basically, this version, which is small, contained and easily controlled, is very different from other types of compost toilet that can have larger collection chambers and can get a bit out of control as a result.
If ever this 25 litre bucket version ever starts to get smelly, it would only be because not enough cover material has been used or the wrong type, for example wood chips instead of sawdust.
Which is basically the person being smelly rather than the toilet….which remains utterly innocent…
As for the veggie thing, as long as people respect the guidelines for maintaining healthy compost in the bin with a thermometer to make sure that the temperatures are in the range that transforms the pathogens and yuckiness into wholesome yumminess, then veggies are very happy in it indeed.
http://www.art-margin.com and http://www.candida-international.org (Section on Permaculture Design now on Candida International, soon too to be added to Art Margin).

By: Zana

Zana — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 23:31:13 +0000

Thanks for your comments, Cathy.

We had friends several years ago who had this sort of an arrangement, and it never smelled. I used it quite often at their house. They did dispose of the waste daily, into a special composting bin they had outside the house, where dogs couldn’t get to it.

I don’t think we need to worry about the ecological impact of a huge need for sawdust for 2 reasons: [1] most people using these things would be reluctant to buy sawdust, they are using up a renewable resource in their area… and [2] in my own experience with composting toilets, many people are extremely squeamish about the whole topic and really prefer what they are used to!

Readers, if you click on “Composting Cathy” in the comment above, you will go to her website on composting toilets.

By: Composting Cathy

Composting Cathy — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:02:08 +0000

I agree, that is a nicer looking toilet than the “wooden box” style Loveable Loos. But the smell issue is my primary concern with these type of toilets, too. I just find it really hard to believe that covering with some sawdust is sufficient to keep them odorless. And I guess the other thought that comes to mind is… can you imagine the ecological impact if everyone in the world were using one of these toilets, and all the sawdust that would need to be supplied to keep them all operating correctly?

By: Zana

Zana — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 21:07:18 +0000

She’s an artist, so probably does everything with that kind of flair.

They were both more traditional.

BTW, Emma did another article which my husband just put up on his site:

http://greenhomebuilding.com/articles/humanure.htm

By: chaburchak

chaburchak — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 19:10:44 +0000

Attractive design. Certainly more appealing than the usual boxy-looking sawdust toilets I’ve seen. But I doubt I could build something that nice…maybe she should try selling them?

Zana, of the two toilets you’ve tried, did they require covering material like a sawdust toilet, or were they the more traditional composting models like Biolet or Sunmar?