Persimmon Glen

I have had several emails from readers asking me to elaborate on how to get by without a conventional toilet and septic system, so here ya go...

When I first moved here, I tried using the Humanure concept of having one bucket with a Luggable Loo seat for all my 'duties'. I did this for about 3 months and didn't like the odor created in the bucket, and anytime I had company they were a little put off by it. It smells just like any other old outhouse or porta-potti. Plus it was actually pretty messy to empty the bucket into the compost bin. It tends to 'slop' everywhere.

I have several books on the subject and have done loads of research and I very much preferred the idea of urine separating toilets.

In my house, I don't have dedicated bathroom yet and won't have one for a while, so I devised an easier way of working this out. Just use two buckets. My urine bucket is yellow ( who'da thunk it) and I have a little bit taller bucket for 'doodie', to which I add three scoops of peat moss every time it's used. One bag of peat moss lasts six months and cost $7 at Walmart. The solids bucket actually has already started composting before I get it emptied.

Voila! No more odor problem and the buckets are much easier to empty. Living by myself and being home all the time since I'm not working, I empty the urine bucket about once a week and the 'duty' bucket about once a month.

I have two sides to my composting bin, one for solids, one for liquids, both about 3 ft by 3 ft made from chicken wire I had leftover from building a dog pen. My main source of organic material is leaves as I have so many I'll never see the bare ground. Every time time I add to the compost pile I add more leaves. I siphon water from a rainbarrel to clean out the buckets and leave them to dry out in the sun for a few days. I have backup buckets for this reason because the plastic can start to smell funny after a while.

I have not had any problem with insects or animals, and no odor and I have used the same bin for going on ten months now, have never had to turn it, and it's still only about half full. The bottom is full of rich, beautiful compost, so I won't be adding much more to it. I want it to fully compost so I can add it to the garden this summer.

 I managed to get ten wooden pallets for free from a pallet company and will make a new compost bin as soon as the blasted rain lets up and we get a warm day. Then I'll build a three compartment bin, the middle bin will be filled with organic matter so it'll be handy to add to the compost. I like Joe Jenkins compost bins and plan to build mine just the same, with a roof over them where I can collect rainwater and it will be right there to clean out my buckets.

Eventually I plan on having a regular bathroom with an Envirolet toilet and a urine diverter built in, and the bucket will be under the house in a concrete chamber so it can be emptied from outside. I may even build the chambers big enough so it can compost right there. That way I can shovel the compost from there to the garden with no stops in between.

There ya go. There are many ways of doing this and when you start researching you may find a way that you like better. Try googling dry Toilets or human waste composting and see what you can come up with. I also have a few interesting sites on my links page.