I don't actually want one in my home, I'd like to have one installed into an outhouse. Mr. A and I have talked about building an outhouse before. The other night he was saying he needed to get around to putting in that outdoors toilet. I again reiterated to him that I wanted him to put in a composting toilet.
I like the idea of having an outhouse for when company comes over and we're having fun outdoors; it's a hassle to go inside just to use the toilet, especially if there are lots of people and children. It would be a lot easier when I'm working in the yard or garden.
Besides, I think it's a good self-sufficiency item to have. If the world falls apart, you still gotta use the loo. I mean, the world doesn't even have to fall apart where we live. We haul our own water from the community well, and our water is pumped into our house from our underground tank, by electricity. The electricity goes out often enough out here that it would be nice to have an alternate means for toileting.
I haven't mentioned the family cloth idea to Mr. A… especially since he responded so disfavorably to the composting toilet. He seems terribly squicked out by the very idea. He said, “I don't want to deal with other people's waste!” I tried to explain to him it's not like that, not at all. And besides, the toilet wouldn't be used that much to take that much work. It's not like we have tons of company coming over, hanging out and spending time outside.
I told him I don't know why he wants to go through all the work and trouble of making a traditional toilet system, when the composting toilet would be so much easier. It's also frugal since it doesn't use water. Joseph Jenkins who sells the Loveable Loo Eco Toilet says in his book The Humanure Handbook
Would you ever consider having a composting toilet?
Of course you know I would love this!! I totally am down with the outhouse idea! Let’s be neighbors!!
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The only thing I don’t know about is some people actually use the waste product (once it’s composted) in their garden, calling it humanure. They seem pretty convinced that it’s safe, but… I dunno.
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@Mrs. Money, I chuckled as I read your comment and read it to my husband. He grimaced. LOL. I would love for you to be my neighbor! It is so cheap to live where I am at, you would love it so much. We could garden together, help each other with our goats, lol. Oh and you know some people use the composting toilet IN THEIR HOUSE to save on water usage. Thanks for stopping by!
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@Mrs. Gardener, me, too. I have always heard human waste cannot be used for gardening. But yeah, I have been to sites that discuss how it’s totally safe, and even show their huge gardens. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
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Maybe I’m too much of a city girl, but I don’t see why you would want an outhouse. If I was at a friend’s house and they wanted me to use an outhouse, I’d leave!
I’m wondering if you like the idea of it more than you would the reality?
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 4th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Hi Bucksome, if you were my friend and you were visiting, I would not ask you to use the outhouse. I bet when you think of an outhouse, you think port-a-potty. Or, maybe you’ve gone to a state park that had “outhouses” – those stinky boxes you have to get into and if you peer down into the hole you can see deep down in there wads of toilet paper and everyone’s waste for the last few weeks. Or, maybe you’ve used an outhouse in the dead of winter. So your impression of “outhouse” is ewww, gross, the smell is gagging me. But with a composting toilet, there is no smell and they are very easy to maintain. Little House mentioned having been in a situation where the toilet could not be flushed due to the electricity being out, and that is exactly one of the reasons I would like to have an outdoors toileting area. And honestly, when little kids are having fun playing, the last thing they want to do is stop playing and have to go in to potty. But to be able to go outside! Wow, they would love that. LOL. Thank you for participating in the conversation! 🙂
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I would totally use a composting toilet! In fact we have considered it as a strong possibility if we get a house. Mr. B’s only concern was capacity, and once we figured that out, he was pretty open.
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 4th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
a.b.: I think that’s my husband’s concern in a way… he has said during our conversatiosn, “I’m the one that has to clean the cat litter boxes!” I guess he’s imagining that we’ll have to get out there with a pooper scooper. LOL. He’s so opposed to the idea he won’t even listen to me when I try to explain how a COMPOSTING toilet actually works. Key word being COMPOST. COMPOST. Hello? Thanks for your comment!
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I want to add that a composting toilet could come in handy if your electricity went out and you couldn’t flush your one indoors. This happened at my cousin’s, we couldn’t flush for hours!
just a thought-
Little House
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Mrs. Accountability Reply:
October 4th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
Little House, oh yeah, we’ve had this happen many times in the eight years we’ve lived here. It is so weird because usually when the lights go out you can’t cook (unless you have a gas stove), you can’t use the computer, but it still surprises me when I remember we can’t turn on the water or flush the toilet. If we run water, the lines empty and then we will have to go through the hassle of priming the pressure tank and water pump. As a result, we’ve learned to keep bottled water on hand, because inevitably, you know how thirsty you get when you realize there’s no water? LOL. Thanks for stopping by and adding to the conversation!
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