What can we do with our human wastes?
Probably one of the most important questions addressed by Permaculture is not the one about where things come from (food from our garden, water from the rain, energy from the sun, etc.) but where they go once we are done with them. Since the mere idea of trash (junk, garbage, rubbish, refuse, waste, but also pests, weeds, and bad people) contradicts everything Permaculture is about, a completely different approach is called for. Referring to the same things as scrap, raw resource, or compost, is a good start. In this way we start seeing the same things as solutions rather than problems.
When it comes to human excrement, it doesn’t take more than a bit of an effort to view it as a rich source of nutrients (which almost sounds like food) rather than the pile of crap we’ve learned to treat it as. Clearly, in its original state it is nothing more than a nasty, smelly problem, and a potential source of further problems, such as insects and infections, if not taken care of properly. Unfortunately, some seemingly “proper” treatment methods are responsible for even bigger problems.
In the article I published on my blog I go into great detail why our regular flush toilets are such a bad idea, why the traditional long-drop latrine is not much better, and offer an array of alternatives. Here, I want to focus on the cheapest, quickest, and simplest way of composting our humanure (that is human manure):
The Bucket Chuck-it System
Doing a search on composting toilets will give you a good variety of ways to deal with our crap. The basic idea is always the same: covering our excrement with carbon-rich material will give it the optimal C:N ratio for composting, while preventing the exposure to the air, thus keeping the smell and bugs in check. Probably the most common system for this is the two-chamber solution, where a full chamber has time to decompose while the other one is being filled over months. It is a good system, though it requires some construction work to set it up. But where would you go in the meantime? Or suppose you've just arrived on your newly acquired piece of property, without any structures whatsoever, and want to do an observation over the next few weeks. The bucket system is the ideal solution.
Probably the humanure composting system that requires the least infrastructure is the bucket. It’s just as simple as it sounds: a five-gallon bucket with an optional toilet seat on top, and a bag of sawdust on the side. Because of its minimal size, it is inevitable that it must be emptied once a week, at least. Initially, this might seem like a disadvantage. However, taking the bucket to the compost, dumping it out, covering it with some more carbonous matter, then rinsing out the bucket and dumping the water on the pile, can all be done in under ten minutes by one person. And because of the shallow depth of the bucket, it’s fairly easy to ensure that everything is 100% covered, at all times. For this reason I have found this bucket solution to be cleaner, less smelly, and less frequented by insects than the elaborate two-chamber composting toilets. So much so, that it’s even a practically feasible system for indoor use, as it can be seen on this photo of my friend's composting toilet in Hungary.
And once the bucket is full...
Don't wait till it's full! It's much easier to carry and empty it out if it is only about ¾ full. And yes, it needs to have a composting pile prepared, with more carbon-rich material on the side, such as straw. I’ve once had the pleasure to build a so called “Humanure Hacienda,” straight from Joseph Jenkins’ Humanure Handbook, a highly recommendable source on this subject. There the bucket can be emptied on the pile in the left chamber and covered with straw from the dry section in the middle. When that chamber is full, which should take at least a year, the right one can be used while the left side is left alone to decompose. After the second year, the first chamber is ready to be emptied. This compost is safe to use on plants whose edible parts don’t come in contact with the compost, such as fruit trees, hazelnuts, or even corn.
Of course it should be noted, that before the two years are up, the compost should be given its proper respect. Don't mix it with other compost, have a certain sets of tools (shovels pitchforks, etc.) designated for the humanure compost only, and even once it is ready for use, don't fertilize your carrots with it.
All in all, I consider this the most flexible and most efficient way of dealing with one of our most ubiquitous products. It can be as simple as a bucket and a compost pile, or it can be as fancy and high-end as the structures in the photos. Of course, they are not the only type of sustainable toilets around, so stay tuned for more insights into humanure composting.
There is a really nice post by @thehomesteadlife about composting toilets right here. It includes a step-by-step instruction manual to build one. Worth checking out. Also @stellabelle has written about humanure. Her very informative article can be seen here.