The Allure of Humanure: Ten Reasons To Love a Sawdust Toilet

My recent adventure involving a clogged low-flow toilet makes me miss the days of the bucket.

We used the Humanure system for over 5 years, and it worked great for us. Sure, there were bitter cold January days when I heard "Papa, the toilet's full. Will you empty it?", when I wished we could just flush, but overall, I'm quite fond of the bucket.

Here's why:

The Allure of Humanure: Ten Reasons to Love a Sawdust Toilet

1. A sawdust toilet never gets clogged.
2. When it needs cleaning, you just take it outside and spray it out.
   
3. It uses no water, except for cleaning.
4. Composting returns nutrients to the soil.
5. There's no splash.
6. It's great for camping. Leave no trace.
   
7. You'll never have a plumbing leak.
8. It doesn't smell like an outhouse. It smells like the woods.
   
9. They make for great conversation. "What do you collect?" "Funny you should ask..."
   
10. They never get clogged. Ever.

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Infant Potty Training

Infant Potty Training is something so intuitive and natural that it's hard to remember that many parents don't know about it. It's the method that most cultures that don't have access to disposables or washing mashines use. We started our youngest when she was an infant, and she was pretty much done with diapers by 1 and a half. When she was old enough to want to go by herself, I built her this potty chair out of scrap wood , scrounged from a cabinet shop. There is a removable container (a large yogurt tub) underneath , and it fits nicely in the truck and tent for traveling.

It takes an investment of time in the beginning to start the process of "elimination communication", but for those of us who are attachment-parenters, our children are always with us anyway. I know that when we went on a 5 week camping trip last year, not having to wash diapers in a bucket every day was such a blessing. Now she goes into the bathroom and says "me need space", and sits down and does her business "all by myself".

Such a simple thing, taking care of our own "business", yet many adults still have issues going to the bathroom anywhere other than into a ceramic bowl filled with water. Somehow our waste being flushed magically away is the only way we can deal with our bodily functions. I personally enjoy peeing on my compost pile, and for 5 1/2 years, composted all of the contents of our sawdust toilet. It was a great learning experience, and the sawdust toilet is adaptable to all sorts of situations where you may need to create an outhouse for the people.

Think before you flush...

peace

a little context

For the last 5 1/2 years, I lived in a travel trailer 8 feet wide and 15 feet long, with my wife, our two daughters, and our cat. We rented a back corner of a friends' lot, ran an extension cord from the nearest shed, and called it home. We used a compost toilet, hauled all of our drinking and wash water, took solar showers outside, and lived as simply as we could. I'm sure I'll be sharing many of our experiences on this blog.

We recently decided to rent a house, as in, a real house, with running water, a shower, more than one tiny room for all of us... It took some time to find the right place for us, but now we're enjoying the benefits of a municipal infrastructure (and paying for it...!) It's amazing how soon you get back to taking things for granted, like a washing machine, central heating and hot water. And internet access...

We unschool our children, ages 10 and 2, we eat a vegan diet, and we don't own a t.v. We spend outrageous amounts of money at the farmers market each week, constantly exceed the maximum limit for books checked out the library, and buy most things at thrift stores and yard sales. It's a good life....

Thanks for reading.