Sawdust Loo/Strawbale Urinal

[squidler]

I very much want a composting loo. We already use washable family cloth instead of toilet paper (are a pretty crunchy family in most respects..) and want to take an extra step toward dream of living off grid. But I rent at the moment, so I cant have a traditional interchangable chamber system.

But, having just read Humanure Handbook, I am thinking Sawdust Loo and Strawbale Urinal. I can use a chamber pot for pee, and the boys can use the bale and pot at night.

Anyone got a composting loo, traditional or otherwise?

I commend you.

i find it really bizarre.

No, but I second Madame Ch0let. Is the washable cloth actually more ethical than recycled toilet paper though? Just wondering if it has to go through the machine or whether you handwash?

squidler, what is a crunchy family please?

good luck!

in what other ways are you crusty?

Please don't think I'm being dispespectful, but is a normal plumbing system really so "earth unfriendly"?

Sawdust/strawbale loos really don't sound awfully hygienic although I admit to not having read the lovely sounding "humanure" literature

Being as green as we can should be mandatory.. but a composting loo sounds to me like taking a step backward.. several hundred years

Used composting loos in remote locations (Loch Garten RSPB reserve in Scotland has one) when it isn't possible to connect to the local sewerage network. Was a bit stinky but then it was communal loos and they can be a bit stinky anyway.

I think it's a very generous gesture .. to share your threadworm!

Will the bleach get rid of the terrible smell?

Or do you not use bleach?

wtf is with some of these comments? There is nothing wrong with a properly used and maintained composting toilet. Educate yourselves before you criticise.

ffs. Read here

Composting toilets are fantastic - and of course 'normal plumbing' is environmentally ludicrous. Seven litres of trested chlorinated drinking quality water wasted, to flush away one wee! Madness.

Obviously many people don't have the option of having a compost toilet (us included - rented house with shared garden), but if you can then go for it.

I've lived on sites with compost toilets (affectionately known as shit pits) and they are not at all unhygienic, they are a far beeter way of dealing with human waste.

composting toilets are much different from Tudor chamber pots thrown outside into courtyards.

Well the OP better answer that one

Sounds like a trip back to the Stone Age, or any age where disease due to hygiene was ripe.

Message withdrawn

You don't use bleach - it would defeat the point.

They don't smell if you put straw down after each use - also ashes from an open fire are good for deodorising.

Ok StripyMama. I said I wasn't clued up. But a system which takes your waste away just seems preferable to me. Sorry for being so irritating.

sorry, slooooow typing. That was for KerryMum.

And again

Sorry StripyMama, my comment below was for WineBeforePearls. Your comment was very patient.

WHAT IS A CRUNCHY FAMILY???

I know crusty. Still got the boots myself.