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nytimes.com:
In addition to catching raindrops, homeowners and building managers are trying out another way to conserve water: composting toilets.
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I always thought that composting animal waste depended a lot on the diet of the animal. Vegetarian diet equals effective composting material. Carnivorous diet, not so good for composting.
I used to think that too, yet after reading "The Humanure Handbook" now I think it's all a great deal about untreated saw dust to dry out and kill pathogens at a certain temperature...composting in the correct manner is not what your great grandparents did in the out house; I hope more people read this book and get the compost piles going in every backyard in America ;-)
Exactly right Angie. That book is rather amusing, but the data and factual stuff is what interested me most. I started doing it this year. I'll be the more paranoid type that gives it two years to mature though, just in case! :)
can't wait til my neighbor gets one.
Better than having "their $hit" in our water, is that what I'm hearing... hold that thought next time you shower or rinse your vegetables with city water.
Do you mean, outhouses? or port-o-potties?
this turns my stomach "green"!
These things are foul. I can't imagine wanting one when water and a sewage system is available. I use one at a fish camp I go to. It however is necessary as there is no sewage system or running water. I am going to remove my new low water Toto that cost 2x a regular toilet and put it out for the garbage men and replace it with the largest water consuming toilet I can find. The low water toilets suck; I wouldn't ever recommend getting one. Certain things I don't compromise on and this is one of them.
I have a friend who built a passively heated solar home outside of Columbia Missouri during the early 80's. The house incorporated many energy efficient designs for its time-including a clivus multrum composting toilet. The unit fed a holding receptacle with double doors at rear of his house. In order to ge the unit to fit in the bathroom, he had to elevate the toilet about six feet off of the floor on top of a platform. The platform had a short winding staircase ot access the toilet. The unit was very functional and oderless. It did, however, give new meaning to the word throne. He installed it at about the same time Reagan's defense budget was under attack for a $12,000 toilet and a $600 hammer.
I have another friend who also lives outside of Columbia Missouri who received a $1,200 grant from the federal government to build a solar outhouse. When the project was completed he received an award from then Wisconsin Senator William Proxmire. He received the Golden Fleece Award. We all thought it was pretty shortsighted of Proxmire to ridicule a Patriot for taking the time to reduce his water consumption and give back to the Earth with human manure. Proxmire would likely give him a different award today were he still alive and witnessed the green revolution playing out now.
A NEW idea? Oh come now!
Have not these men of the world at the New York Times ever heard of an 'outhouse'? What exactly is an outhouse if not a composting toilet?
With this sort of reporting, the Times is ready to take its rightful place in the new world order, hanging in strips next to the composting toilet. Maybe that will improve NYTimes' circulation?
An efficient composting toilet is much more than an indoor outhouse. It actively turns waste into a usable byproduct, whereas an outhouse is simply a hole in the ground that collects it. People are quick to discount composting toilets because they associate them with the concept of an outhouse, and that's just not the case. One that works properly omits far fewer offensive odors than even a standard toilet. My point here is that people should not be so quick to "poo-poo" these types of products. (Sorry, had to go there). If you're not so gung-ho, you can still do a lot of things to improve your conventional commode. This link has some helpful advice: http://www.sierraclubgreenhome.com/go-green/water-fixtures-and-plumbing/water-wise-toilets/
Emits - not "omits" - to omit is to leave out or forget, to emit is to exude or broadcast. E.g., he omitted to collect the signatures of the family next door, vs. She emitted a powerful fragrance of violets. Also, it's "pooh-pooh," not "poo-poo." These two phrases mean two completely different things. To "pooh-pooh" something is to deride it, as in "She pooh-poohed his concept of military strategy." To "poo-poo" is to excrete, as in "The baby poo-pooed all over his Dad's new shoes." Sorry, the grammatical errors are just making me crazy.
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Posted: 07- 6-09 12:22 PM