Composting Loo
Christchurch residents without flushing toilets are being encouraged to turn their brown waste green.
A workshop on building composting toilets is being held in New Brighton tomorrow as householders with earthquake-damaged sewerage seek alternatives to their chemical loos.
Compost toilets combine human waste with a carbon-rich material, usually sawdust, and compost under hot conditions to produce material that is safe to use on the garden. Raw sewage never comes into contact with water or soil, and chemicals are not required.
Construction requires only plywood or particle board, screws, three buckets, and two toilet seats.
Workshop facilitator James Bellamy, who has used a compost toilet at his Whangarei home for about five years, said often the biggest hurdle was for people to feel comfortable putting human waste on their garden.
The compost toilets could be used inside and did not resemble a long drop, he said.
“It’s all about changing that public perception, which is difficult, but once we explain it, a lot of people come around and see how simple it is,” Bellamy said.
The feedback on Christchurch’s chemical toilets was that they were “not nice to deal with”, he said.
“A compost toilet, if it’s done properly, doesn’t smell and it’s not wet. It’s actually really dry because we’re adding sawdust to the mix or a carbon material.”
The free workshop starts at 10am at the New Brighton community gardens, Rawhiti Domain. Visit www.composttoilets.co.nz.
Commendments to James Bellamy, finally someone stood up about this, good on ya! To help with the development of this idea, The Kiwibog designed and made in Nelson is the ideal solution for this type of bucket composting system because it has a unique urine separator which keeps the bucket contects completely dry and odourless. The urine can be dilauted at the source by rinsing the separator with water and collected in a 200Ltr plastic drum from the recycle centre. Fitted with a hose tap this makes excellent fertiliser for fruit trees and fallow garden beds as the urine is not contaminated with faeces. Using Eden Enterprises biodegradeable starch plastic bags as bucket liners allows just one bucket to be used rather than 3. The bags can be stored in an old bath covered with roofing iron for three months then put on the compost heap or in an Earthmaker bin. The Kiwibog also has a small quiet fan to keep negative pressure in the toilet as an extra measure towards an odour free daily experience. The whole unit is only $1200 but you can also just buy the urine separator for a fraction of that and make your own outhouse seat etc. I have enjoyed my Kiwibog for two years now and my garden is better for it too!
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