|
|
Post by Alan on Mar 3, 2009 20:02:28 GMT -5
Anybody ever give this a go? Been watching a bunch of youtube videos on it lately and read the humanure handbook as well......it's already started, built a composting toilet and two new composting bins just for this.
I still don't think I have Kim sold on the idea, but we shall see!
|
|
|
|
Post by plantsnobin on Mar 3, 2009 20:10:23 GMT -5
I am with Kim. I'll play in hog, horse, chicken or rabbit shit all day, anyday, but I just can't get my mind wrapped around this, even though I do believe it is a good thing. The amount of water wasted to flush a toilet is incredible. But still......
|
|
|
|
Post by woodchuck on Mar 3, 2009 20:34:16 GMT -5
The amount of water wasted to flush a toilet is incredible. So true....'going' in perfectly good drinking water makes absolutely NO sense! I use a sawdust toilet...bokashi sawdust actually.....then transfer to a homemade compost tumbler...the finished compost goes to the fruit trees...no big deal. <Woodchuck> |
|
|
|
Post by grungy on Mar 3, 2009 21:09:30 GMT -5
Depends on what you are using it for, on trees, yes. On vegetables (especially root vegetables) I would say thumbs down. China is one country that has done this for years, however it also has one of the highest rates of intestinal pathogens such as liver flukes. So for me, sorry, no thanks.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alan on Mar 3, 2009 22:32:50 GMT -5
No worries here, it will be composted beyond pathogen levels and allowed to cure for nearly a year. Though I wasn't into it at first, the more I studied it the more I realized that it's no more dangerous than any other animal manure. Isn't it strange that most of us are ok with using animal manures that come from sources other than our own body, but not something that is litterally a part of us? Even if your not interested in using composted humanure, I strongly reccomend checking out the humanure handbook. The difference between humanure and the Chinese "night soil" is that "night soil" is pure human fecal matter, no composting involved, leading to a higher number of pathogens, a properly managed compost heap will be devoid of these pathogens. The compost will be used for a future orchard and other projects. Back in the old days, outhouses were emptied without composting and used for fertilizer straight up! There really is not much of a risk here in all honesty, it's reuse is a much more viable option than sewage sludge treatments and also it's spread onto agricultural fields in it's raw form which is still allowed in many states. Just a FYI, if you buy a potting mix, there is a good possibility that 10% of that mix is sourced from a human input  Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's for everyone, because it most certainly isn't, but I have to believe that a good portion of the "eww" factor that people have with this is due to our "germ phobia" that is ever present in our society. I would dip my hand into good composted soil before I ever touched a hospital surface and had to eat something without washing my hands!  |
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Mar 3, 2009 22:42:01 GMT -5
For years I have helped a friend gardening over her tile bed. We enjoyed excellent vegetables  |
|
|
|
Post by orflo on Mar 4, 2009 1:23:04 GMT -5
I've been using this for a couple of years now, and I am very happy I switched to the compost toilet. Besides a huge water saving , it gives a perfect compost within a year. The toilet itself consist of solid plastic tons , these are replaced by empty ones when they are filled up. I use either wood shavings or hemp cuttings to cover the poo and paper. Hemp cuttings have an advantage, their composting process is quicker compared to the wood shavings ( but even within the shavings you have differences, beech or cherry shavings detoriate quicker compared to oak or robinia for instance); but I have to buy the hemp cuttings and they come from France, that's not really the good way to go either. The urine is separated fom the poo by a garden hose that fits into a hole at the bottom of the barrels, and for the moment the urine is going to the sewage system, but I have to work on something to re-use this as well. What's also important is a sort of ventilation system, that blows away all possible smells. Otherwise you'll have and smells and fly larvaes and that's not really the thing you want to have... The tons are emptied on a seperate place, and are covered with a bit of hay , just to keep away some animals (I once had a 'lost' dog that seemed to like it  ). I leave the poo , mixed with hemp or cuttings and hay for about one year and use it in the vegetable garden, without any problem. The surprising thing is the amount of compost you get in the end: just enough for feeding some pumpkins and some more things and that's it... I only use the stuff on 'fruit-carrying' plants,I did already mention squash, also cucumbers,.... The most important thing is that the composting cycle is completed: after this completion the stuff is perfectly safe and very worthwile in the garden. It's one of the ways to create a fully home-system for fertilising and recycling. |
|
|
|
Post by grungy on Mar 4, 2009 2:42:11 GMT -5
Full composted, like you fellows are talking about, seems to be a safe alternative. My only concern was a direct toilet to garden deposit, without destroying the pathogens. Being a mother, poo on the hands really doesn't bother me. (Too many diapers not to have had it.)
|
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Mar 4, 2009 6:56:59 GMT -5
I really, really want to do this but other than a manufacted composting toilet, which I am waiting impatiently to try out and someday soon hope to have, my husband frowns on us trying this in our urban neighbourhood. However, I do toss the occasional 'liquid' fertilizer on my plants. No one is the wiser  |
|
|
|
Post by stevil on Mar 4, 2009 9:15:04 GMT -5
Back in the old days, outhouses were emptied without composting and used for fertilizer straight up! I inherited a house complete with old fashioned outhouse toilet (wooden platform with hole and large bucket). Tried unsuccessfully to convince my family to agree to a proper composting toilet when we modernised the inside toilet some years ago. Therefore, I still use the old fashioned method, with composting bark thrown in so that it doesn't get too wet and smelly (straight urine is collected separately and used on my compost heaps). No problems at all with flies. I empty it a couple of times a year and then compost it for a year before using it in the garden, but not on the veggies with respect to the other family members' wishes. I must admit to enjoying retreating to my little outside room with some good gardening literature, even with the air temperature below -15C and a fresh wind blowing from below....there's something primeval about the experience.... |
|
|
|
Post by mamangenevieve on Mar 4, 2009 19:20:59 GMT -5
My husband and I are planning the construciton of a "green" home and to me composting toilets make so much sense but I have some convincing to do. : ) My husband's yuck factor is more sensitive than mine, plus I'm reading the humanure handbook right now, which he is not. I think I have to find someone who has a comsposting toilet in their house so we can go see it in order for my husband to get comfortable with the idea.
I think I would go with something commercial though because we have so many visitors, I would prefer the toilet to "look" as much as possible like a flush toilet. If that makes any sense at all.
Anyway, we have lots to think about right now!
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Mar 4, 2009 19:45:21 GMT -5
Tere are some very elegant models of composting toilets, but they are active, i.e. usinf electricity to heat up and burn the... shit.
There might be newer models in the more passive since the last time I looked...
|
|
|
|
Post by mamangenevieve on Mar 4, 2009 20:01:08 GMT -5
I have seen some that are not electric but they don't look as "normal".
I must say I'm glad to see that some of you gardenning gurus out there are using humanure. It makes me feels less strange of thinking about it. : )
This is one part of my "green building" research I am not sharing with many of the people I know. A passive solar house, people are interested in hearing about. Composting toilets, not so much...
|
|
|
|
Post by canadamike on Mar 4, 2009 21:17:15 GMT -5
The Envirolet composting toilet are electric but don't use much electricity, some are using wind turbines. They have esthetic models, even more so than the regular ones with the tank on top, and use less than one cup of water. I think they would be a nice compromise. As for a passive solar home, Prescott-Russell mpp, Jean Poirier, was an environment scientist and built an elaborate passive solar house somewhere in Plantagenet. I did not visit it, but he explained it to me eons ago, I tought it was pretty cool. I guess he is in the phone book and would be proud to show itto you. You can probably get his phone number by calling the ACFO of Ottawa, they must have his number. www.envirolet.ca/sale.htmlThis fear of composting toilets makes me laugh....people won't buy good matresses even if they spend one third of their life sleeping, will try to save money on winter tireshttp://www.envirolet.ca/sale.htmlr buy cheap tires in the summer to save cash, will eat junk like crazy but they are afraid of what to do to their shit.... as if they needed to give it the ''best'' and most expensive treatment, a good municipal sewage system... Makes me think of one of my insurance clients, she was a drunk and a whore, her kids would not even talk to her, she was on welfare but boy did she get an expensive casket when she died!!! I have my pride, she said.... |
|
|
|
Post by ottawagardener on Mar 9, 2009 8:35:34 GMT -5
On that note Michel, I think we should stop flushing that 'prime' stuff down the drain and show it a little respect by doing with it what it expects and giving it back to the natural system in a more natural way.
I was reading this book which I belive was just called 'dirt' and in it they have a story about a gardener who was sentenced to death (don't remember the reason). When the two roman soldiers went to find this man, they stumbled upon a cottage on their way to his village. The nice man inside asked them to stay for supper, promising to lead the soldiers to the man in the morning after they got some rest. In the morning, the roman soldiers were surprised that the man lead them to a hole in his garden. He said, "I am the man you are looking for, just promise the cover this hole afterwards so that my body will return to earth" or some such nobel quote.
|
|
). I leave the poo , mixed with hemp or cuttings and hay for about one year and use it in the vegetable garden, without any problem. The surprising thing is the amount of compost you get in the end: just enough for feeding some pumpkins and some more things and that's it...
