DIY Composting Toilet
“Make your own composting toilet using a 55 gallon drum, peat-moss and a few other items.”
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“Make your own composting toilet using a 55 gallon drum, peat-moss and a few other items.”
This mini documentary is a bit rough because it’s old and grainy and in German (narration) and French with English subtitles, but it is worth watching because of the amazing energy innovation it shows.
“Jean Pain – A French innovator who developed a compost based bio energy system that produced 100% of his energy needs. He heated water to 60 degrees celsius at a rate of 4 litres a minute which he used for washing and heating. He also distilled enough methane to run an electricity generator, cooking elements, and power his truck. This method of creating usable energy from composting materials has come to be known as Jean Pain Composting, or the Jean Pain Method.”
This video follows Greg Willerer of Detroit Dirt and Brother Nature Produce in Detroit who is trying to help build a viable food system in Detroit. As part of those efforts he’s trying to create a local compost network (he’s involved breweries, coffee houses and even the Detroit Zoo — all of whom give the project their waste).
Chris Towerton, in Australia, shows us an experimental compost heater he build to provide heat for at least two hours per day for up to 9 weeks. He’s using his system to heat one room in his house with a hot water radiator.
Happily, he talks in detail about what he did – so if you’re interested in doing something similar, this is a good starting point.
Helpful here too are Chris’ comments about how long the process took to ramp up, how long the effects lasted, etc.
simplelivingskills shows us how to make a simple, inexpensive, indoor worm composting bin:
Liz of BigTexWorms gives us the low-down on how to care for the worms, how best to prepare their food, bedding, etc. Liz has got to know everything about red wriggler worms.
MrTerrym1964 shows us how he makes compost tea.
Cfenster shows us how he makes compost tea to improve soil fertility.
Yorkshire’s Allotment Diary guy shows us his jigsaw-powered compost sifter in action. Interesting idea.
Laura Allen shows us her composting toilet system. She is using a toilet that separates urine and feces, with feces being deposited into bins under her house. From there she dumps it into a sealed compost bin for a year, after which it has broken down into an inoffensive compost that she uses in her garden.
On the tour of her bathroom, she also mentions that her bathroom sink directly waters plants in her garden with its greywater (since it’s a sink, in this case, greywater is likely soapy water).
I understood that the composting process breaks down any pathogens that might be in the feces, but wondered whether substances like any drugs the person may have been taking would remain.
I also would have loved to see where the urine was diverted and what she did with it.
The Real Know How 