Low Impact – by Lesley Anderson
For several years I lived in a tent in woodland and I never really readjusted to this business of flushing poo away with clean drinking water. Besides, I have always liked to feel I am dealing with my own… stuff, both figuratively and literally. So when we moved into our current house a DIY compost toilet was first project on the list.
Initially I imagined installing an underfloor twin vault system with urine separation. Even going DIY, installing this system was going to be expensive, and either way would involve disruptive house alterations. Then I read The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins. Jenkins advocates a very simple low-cost system which requires no house alterations and takes up relatively little space. He also strongly, and convincingly, argues that the compost produced in a thermophilic (hot) compost heap is safe enough to use on your vegetable patch. Here’s how it works: Continue reading “The simplest DIY compost toilet”