A Simple Solution

Whether you want to invest in a composting toilet for the good of the environment but don't want to spent $1000+ on the available toilets or you just want to stop flushing so much cash down your toilet, here is a simple solution. With just a non-corrodible and waterproof bucket with a 5 gallon capacity, you can put together a very simple, and very cost-effective, composting toilet. This could be a plastic bucket, or a clay urn for example. You can also collect your food scraps in the same bucket, or you can collect those separately. If a full five gallon bucket is too heavy for you to carry, simply empty it when it is half full instead of full. The downside to this toilet is that it takes a little more management than your average commercially available composting toilet and does require space for a compost bin. Outdoor space with direct contact to the ground is best to allow your worms to come and go as needed throughout the composting process, but is not necessary. A completely isolated compost bin can work just as well, and can even be kept indoors. Just be sure to add your worms at the proper time, or use a bin that allows the worms escape when the temperatures get too high.

Make sure you keep the contents of the toilet covered with clean organic material. This material could be grass clippings, hay, leaf mould, peat moss, rice hulls, sawdust, straw, weeds, etc. If you are using sawdust, rotted sawdust from a sawmill, which has some moisture content, is recommended over kiln-dried sawdust from a carpenter's shop. Kiln-dried sawdust is too light and airy to be really effective as cover material, and may contain hazardous chemical poisons, especially if it comes from "pressure-treated" lumber. You should always avoid putting materials in your compost that have been treated with toxic chemicals. You do not need to collect urine separately from your feces; it can go in the same bucket. Just be sure to keep the contents covered with whatever clean organic material you have readily available for your use, which will prevent odours and the attraction of flies. This cover will also absorb the urine. If the liquid surface rises, just use more cover material.

It is preferable, for convenience and aesthetic reasons, to keep a lid on the toilet. This lid need only be your standard, hinged toilet seat, which will cost you around $10 or less (unless you want to get fancy about it, in which case it can cost you up to $1,000 or more). It is a good idea to keep 4 five gallon buckets around, with lids. Since buckets vary in height, width and shape, these buckets should be exactly the same so that they fit your toilet. If you have a large number of people to compost for, you may want more buckets. As a recommendation, use one bucket under the toilet seat and keep two set aside in the toilet room, covered with a lid. When the first bucket is full, take it out of the toilet and replace it with one of the empty ones. You can set the full bucket to the side with a lid on top. When the second bucket is filled, replace it with the third. It is just as easy to empty two buckets onto the compost pile as it is to empty one bucket. Keeping extra buckets on hand also eliminates the need to empty a full bucket and prep it for use again while someone is waiting to use the toilet (or while you, yourself, are in need of the toilet). The extra buckets are also useful to avoid a shortage of toilet capacity when you have guests, unexpected or not. This way, you will have buckets on hand to replace full buckets without the need to empty them while your company is present.

The top of the bucket should be taller than the toilet cabinet and have contact with the bottom of a standard toilet seat. This will help make sure that all organic material goes inside the bucket and not elsewhere. Since all buckets tend to be of slightly different height and diameter, it is suggested that you buy your buckets at once and of one style. Your toilet should be made to fit the size of your bucket.

To make this simple toilet, you will need: 2 plywood boards that measure 3/4"x10"x18", 2 plywood boards that measure 3/4"x10"x20.5", 1 plywood board that measures 3/4"x18"x18" and 1 plywood board that measures 3/4"x18"x3", 4 plywood boards that measure 3/4"x3"x12", 2 hinges, 4 identical 5 gallon buckets (more or less, as you desire), 1 standard toilet seat

~Cut a hole the size of your bucket in the 18"x18" board
~Hinge the 18"x18" and the 18"x3" boards together
~Screw together the 10"x18" and 10"x20.5" boards to form a box that is 10" deep, 18" wide and 21" long
~Screw the 18"x3" board to the box, leaving the 18"x18" board loose (you can attach the 18"x18" board if you desire, and create a toilet you lift away from the bucket, instead of a hinged seat)
~Screw the 4 3"x12" legs to the inside of the box, in the corners (you should adjust the height of the legs so that your bucket can protrude through the top of the box by 1/2"
~Swivel the plastic bumpers on the bottom of your toilet seat so that they will fit around your bucket
~Place the toilet seat over the 18"x18" top and mark the holes for the toilet seat's attachment
~Drill the holes and attach your toilet seat to the top of the box
To put a final touch to your composting toilet, you can be as creative as you like with your box and stylize it with stains, varnishes, paint, etc. Be creative, make it your own. It can be attractive as well as functional. If you want a few examples or are just curious to see what other people have done, this page has many examples of homemade composting toilets.

This toilet is one part of a system. The second part is your compost pile and don't forget that clean organic material! In the end, you aren't flushing it anymore, but make sure to keep it covered! This will prevent the smells. Compost it and keep the compost covered! Here are instructions to your composting toilet.

You may, for added convenience, wish to locate your toilet room by a door that allows direct access outside to your composting area. When the bucket is full (or half full, as you will), carry it out to your composting area and deposit it on the top center of the pile. Digging a slight depression in the top center of the pile helps to keep the fresh deposit in the hotter center of the thermophilic compost. Just rake (or shovel) the cover material on top of the pile aside, dump your toilet contents in the space you just created and rake the cover material back over the deposit. Don't forget to cover the area with fresh cover material (straw, leaves, weeds, etc) to eliminate odours and trap in essential oxygen. Prefer pictures and step-by-step instructions? This page should help you with that.

After that is done, scrub your bucket thoroughly with a small quantity of water and a little bit of biodegradable soap (if desired); a thorough rinsing is adequate. If you do decide to use soap, make sure it is not anti-bacterial soap, you don't want to kill the bacteria in your compost pile, after all. Pour your soiled water on top of the pile and not on the ground. Once done, the bucket can be placed back inside your toilet area with the inside of the bucket dusted with sawdust (or whatever material you are using). With an inch or two of cover material at the bottom of the bucket, it is once again ready for use.

"After about ten years, the plastic bucket may begin to develop an odour, even after a thorough washing. Replace odorous buckets with new ones in order to maintain an odour-free system. The old buckets will lose their odour if left to soak in clean, soapy water for a lengthy period (perhaps weeks), rinsed, sun-dried, and perhaps soaked again, after which they can be used for utility purposes (or, if you really have a shortage of buckets, they can be used in the toilet again)." (Humanure Handbook: Chapter 8: The Sawdust Toilet)

If you want an even cheaper solution, try Cabela's "Luggable Loo".