The scoop on poop

Loveable Loo Eco-Potty

The "Humanure Handbook" refers to people who have severe problems talking about or dealing with poop as 'fecaphobes'. I think most of us who have grown up only using flush toilets are a bit that way. It is considered rude to discuss such bodily functions and, at enormous expense, we flush our poop away using gallons of expensively treated drinking water. The fact that we refer to our output as 'waste' is telling. Joseph Jenkins, author of the Handbook, sees this as a huge problem - a break in the cycle of life - where nutrients that should be returned to the soil are regarded as waste and flushed away into the rivers and oceans, lost to the land forever. Instead, he advocates collection and safe composting to produce human manure - 'humanure'.

Living on a sailboat forces you to confront how you deal with your own 'outputs'. While a few boaters use composting toilets, most long term cruisers use sea water to flush either directly into the ocean or store in a holding tank, which is later flushed into the sea when the boat is away from the land. We are no different here than we are at home...

Dealing safely and effectively with humanure is a real issue when designing a tiny home such as a gypsy wagon. In the rural setting the choices include installing:

1. A full septic field, fresh water system, and flush toilet (cost between 10 and 30 thousand dollars)
2. A caravan style holding tank, disposing of the outputs periodically in someone else's field or sewer (cost - under a thousand dollars)
3. An incinerating toilet that uses propane or electricity to burn the 'waste'. (cost about two to three thousand dollars)
4. A composting toilet - either home built or commercial, dry or with a minimal flush added (cost one to ten thousand dollars)
5. A dry toilet - aka sawdust bucket with or without urine diverter (cost typically under a hundred dollars) 

The first 2 options waste the output, the second probably requiring fossil fuels as well, to transport the stored material to another location for disposal. The third option uses a lot of energy and also wastes the output. The last two options both treat the output as useful and compost it locally. 

I have read the "Humanure Handbook" from cover to cover and am convinced that in most situations the use of a simple bucket dry toilet with plenty of suitable cover material (mill sawdust in our area) makes sense from so many angles. Pathogens and bad smells are the main concerns in treating human waste. Jenkins shows that by composting correctly, in a central bin where temperatures allowing thermophilic composting are naturally maintained, the majority of pathogens can be eliminated in a surprisingly short time (as little as 6 weeks). Bad smells are also eliminated by ensuring you completely cover your output, using cover material. Jenkins recommends a year to two years before using the resulting compost. The system is very simple, requiring only that you are not squeamish about dealing with your natural bodily outputs and that you follow a few simple instructions when using the toilet and moving the results between bucket and the larger composting area.