toilets for emergencies and camping

[ladykemma2]

it has been my experience that people get upset when i speak of this, but in post hurricane houston, it is becoming an issue.

in my emergency planning i have included efforts for sanitation. obviously people can dig a hole and do the outhouse thing. yuck.

this is what i do for sanitation emergencies of 2 weeks or less - or big camping events like SCA wars.

5 gallon buckets with a lid. sawdust. go potty, sprinkle with sawdust. Gerbil wood chips do well. do not put toilet paper in there. put on compost pile or directly on flower beds (no garden crops). make the flowers green green green. (only one neighbor knows )

alternately kitty litter in pails works well also, but you can't compost it after. refer to humanure handbook online for more information.

[Ali Lee]

Not upsetting for me! Good info. We live by a creek and when the electric goes out...we bucket 5 gal creek h2o to the house and flush the toilets that way. But..what is "SCA wars?"

[madhen]

In her book, Solviva, Anna Edey talks about the use of humanure, and urine as fertilizers for plants. She uses diluted urine as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer for her plants. She also designed a composting toilet that looks like a "normal" toilet, but feeds to a big tank on the outside of her home. I like her design idea, but it also looks like a project that, if it goes wrong, would go TERRIBLY wrong!

[ladykemma2]

i lived in a cabin by pear lake in sequioa national park. in it was a sawdust composting toilet. it worked great! this is where i learned to do this. it used to get very hot, steamy from the hot composting that was happening within.

the only unfortunate part was having to dig it out and helicopter it out in the spring. er, the top foot or so was gross.

gorgeous compost.

SCA (society for creative anachronism) wars (pennsic, estrella, gulf) happen throughout the country and are huge medieval reenactments/gatherings. they are 1-3 weeks long. that is where i learned to camp in decadence.

[Durgan]

it has been my experience that people get upset when i speak of this, but in post hurricane houston, it is becoming an issue.

in my emergency planning i have included efforts for sanitation. obviously people can dig a hole and do the outhouse thing. yuck.

this is what i do for sanitation emergencies of 2 weeks or less - or big camping events like SCA wars.

5 gallon buckets with a lid. sawdust. go potty, sprinkle with sawdust. Gerbil wood chips do well. do not put toilet paper in there. put on compost pile or directly on flower beds (no garden crops). make the flowers green green green. (only one neighbor knows )

alternately kitty litter in pails works well also, but you can't compost it after. refer to humanure handbook online for more information.

A five gallon pail with lid and a strong plastic garbage bag inside, and pieces of newspaper. After each dump pack up and store until convenient to remove. Odour free and simple.

When in the wilds dig a small hole, use green leaves for toilet paper, do you thing, cover, and leave. Simple and no trace left.

[madhen]

AWhen in the wilds dig a small hole, use green leaves for toilet paper, do you thing, cover, and leave. Simple and no trace left.

I have been told that this is not recommended, because human feces has so many pathogens in it, it is actually bad for the native fauna. The fanatic backpackers/climbers that I know all pack their own waste back out with them.

[Durgan]

I have been told that this is not recommended, because human feces has so many pathogens in it, it is actually bad for the native fauna. The fanatic backpackers/climbers that I know all pack their own waste back out with them.

You got to be kidding. That solution is for the backpackers wanderings around city parks with a bottle of water. I was born in the bush, and certainly have no desire to pack a pile of human feces around looking for some place to dispose it. Reality is slowly disappearing from our society. Too many TV shows!

[QuadSquadMom]

it has been my experience that people get upset when i speak of this, but in post hurricane houston, it is becoming an issue.

in my emergency planning i have included efforts for sanitation. obviously people can dig a hole and do the outhouse thing. yuck.

this is what i do for sanitation emergencies of 2 weeks or less - or big camping events like SCA wars.

5 gallon buckets with a lid. sawdust. go potty, sprinkle with sawdust. Gerbil wood chips do well. do not put toilet paper in there. put on compost pile or directly on flower beds (no garden crops). make the flowers green green green. (only one neighbor knows )

alternately kitty litter in pails works well also, but you can't compost it after. refer to humanure handbook online for more information.

We use pine litter (compressed pine sawdust) and it would work GREAT for this. Sold at Wal-Mart & most stores under the brands Feline Pine and Feline Fresh.

We use it for our small dogs who are litterbox trained ZERO smell - great stuff!!!

[madhen]

You got to be kidding. That solution is for the backpackers wanderings around city parks with a bottle of water. I was born in the bush, and certainly have no desire to pack a pile of human shit around looking for some place to dispose it. Reality is slowly disappearing from our society. Too many TV shows!

No, actually that solution is one that is required by many national parks and is practiced by serious climbers and hikers and people who believe in the motto of taking nothing but photos and leaving nothing but footprints. I am sure the animals and plants that aren't exposed to your shit on a daily basis appreciate you not introducing your pathogens into their environment.

[Durgan]

No, actually that solution is one that is required by many national parks and is practiced by serious climbers and hikers and people who believe in the motto of taking nothing but photos and leaving nothing but footprints. I am sure the animals and plants that aren't exposed to your shit on a daily basis appreciate you not introducing your pathogens into their environment.

When the Eskimos vacated an igloo, the last thing they did was to go to the toilet. Then left and let the dogs in to clean up. One animals excrement is an others feast.

In China and Japan human excrement is the fertilizer of choice, since they aren't blessed with large domestic animals. The richest man in town is/was the night soil collector.
Realities of life!

[Gabe]

Do not forget the old ways...
Make a sh*t knife!

Listen to the end of this!
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[Gabe]

could not resist...

"That Eskimo has his sh*t together."

[madhen]

I would hope that you would know the difference between raw human waste and composted human waste. If you are dropping your drawers in the wild, you are doing the former.

Quote from weblife.org:

Humanure is a little bit different. It shouldn't simply be flung around in a fresh and repulsive state. It should undergo a process of bacterial digestion first, usually known as composting, in order to destroy possible pathogens. This is the missing link in the human nutrient recycling process. The process is similar to any animal's: a human grows food for herself on a field, or in a garden. The food is consumed and passes into the digestive system where the body extracts what it needs, rejects what it doesn't need at the time, or what it can't use, then excretes the rejected material.

Raw humanure carries with it a significant potential for danger in the form of disease pathogens. These diseases, such as intestinal parasites, hepatitis, cholera, and typhoid are destroyed by composting, either when the retention time is adequate in a low temperature compost pile (usually considered to be two years) or when the composting process generates internal, biological heat (which can kill pathogens in a matter of minutes). Raw applications of humanure to fields, on the other hand, are not hygienically safe and can assist in the spread of various diseases which may be endemic to areas of Asia.

[Gabe]

I would hope that you would know the difference between raw human waste and composted human waste. If you are dropping your drawers in the wild, you are doing the former.

Everything has context. Your hiking, you not staying in the same area for several days/weeks for compost.

I have no issues with pulling down the trousers and doing it in the wild. Heck, that's what animals do. (Source: Making Camp)
That is if your in the wild, as indicated by Durgan, you do not want to do this at your state park.

You can spread it in the sun for a high biodegradability.
Backpackers advocate this technique. (L.L. Bean Hiking and BackPacking)

There are techniques for disposing of the waste.



Source:
Page 61 -Sanitation-
Making Camp: The Complete Guide for Hikers, Mountain Bikers, Paddlers & Skiers
By Steve Howe, Alan Kesselheim, Dennis Coello, John Harlin
Contributor Alan Kesselheim, Dennis Coello, John Harlin
Published by The Mountaineers Books, 1997

Page 127
L.L. Bean Hiking and Backpacking Handbook
By Keith McCafferty
Published by Globe Pequot, 2000
ISBN 1558219404, 9781558219403
208 pages