Compost Toilets

On our recent trip to Nepal, I was quite tickled to learn that for the last 30 years ago the monks at the Kopan Monastery have been using human gas for cooking!! YES! and it was not until a little sceptical monk went in to the holding tank and lit a match that they decided to end the practice. The same monastery is equipped solar power panels on its roof tops, and recycles batteries as well!

But I digress. Here is a wonderful display of compost toilets and the science behind it. Compost is a combination of food waste and brown waste that is being decomposed through aerobic decomposition into a rich black soil. The process of composting is simple and practiced by individuals in their homes, farmers on their land, and industrially by cities.

Good for the environment, good for your garden.

The Future of Poop
Popsci.com
In a basic outhouse, or pit-toilet, waste composts (at least a little bit) as bacteria digest raw material and transform it into more benign stuff. But it may not compost fully, or as quickly as in a more advanced system, where the waste can be turned, aerated and heated.

Modern compost toilets control the process of waste breakdown by enclosing waste, sometimes adding heat to evaporate extra liquids or water to keep compost moist, and allowing for finished compost to be removed.

Another option is to separate urine out at the very beginning with a double-hole toilet system. Keeping liquid out reduces odor and allows the solid waste to compost better.

Read the full article.