December 2018 – Thoughts from the Oval Office

A Unique Blog!

Welcome!

There aren’t a lot of blogs that dedicate themselves to topics about using a toilet. This one does. Here we talk $#!+ about a specific kind of toilet, commonly (and many believe erroneously) called a “composting” toilet. What does that actually mean – composting toilet? Well, I guess that is open to interpretation. But for our purposes, it is referring to a specific toilet, the C-Head, a compact toilet that initiates the composting process of solid human waste while the waste is inside the toilet. These types of toilets are finding their way into use more and more. The significance of that is that we are coming to appreciate and understand the efficiency, the advantages, the logic and the harmony with nature that composting of our waste engenders. I fully expect to see them grow in usage once people come to understand the advantages.

This is an information blog. If you are impatient and want to get on to the articles regarding a specific topic, there are three ways to do that. One scroll down and read the intro of each article, or two use key words in the search box to the right to locate an article or three, click on a category heading on the right column of this page and then scroll down through the list that comes up. Otherwise click on “read more” below to continue reading this introduction.

Your toilet papers, please! Is the C-Head a legal MSD Type III?

Is the C-Head toilet a USCG “certified” MSD Type III? I get this question fairly often. People assume that the poop police and the harbormaster are going to want to see that your toilet is “certified” to use it in their waters. It seems that people are most concerned about the state of the head when boarded by the Coast Guard or Marine Patrol, more so than half a dozen other things that are more important like life jackets, flares and propane. “Did I lock the Y-valve shut?” “Am I going to have to follow them back to the station?”, “Are they going to confiscate my boat!?”

Who Dumps the Poop Out! Ew . . . Ew . . Ew, Ew!

So, the dreaded task; the one that every marine toilet owner has to exercise in some capacity or another, has finally come due and volunteers are short handed. Unless Captain Bligh has assigned the job to someone of minor status or meted it out as a punishment, the crew will have to decide among (more likely between) themselves who gets the honor of emptying out the head.

Compact Composting Toilets – Do They Really Compost?

The great debate!

There seems to be a lot of controversy over whether certain “composting toilets” are in fact composting toilets. Joe Jenkins addresses this question in his book “The Humanure Handbook” which is available for free (here). I have the highest respect for him for giving away (for the benefit of mankind), all his hard research on composting human waste. His book isn’t expensive and I encourage everyone to buy it outright (here) and give him the reward he is due. But to the point, he points out in it that the definition of what constitutes a “composting” toilet is basically in the eye of the beholder.

Coco Coir, Peat Moss? Which Medium

After experimenting with numerous mediums, it has become clear that the ideal medium (sawdust, peat moss, coco coir, etc.) for processing your waste into compost depends on how you plan on using your C-Head toilet. Boaters and RV owners are going to want something that stores easily and doesn’t take up space. They may also consider the ecological impact of disposing of the waste be it in the trash or in the woods. Homesteaders and permaculturists are more concerned with which mediums compost the fastest and best and are compatible with their gardening philosophy. The C-Head can accommodate a variety of mediums in processing solid waste.

Aggressive pest control

Using a composting toilet and composting your waste in general is a good way to help protect our environment, and people inclined to use composting toilets tend to be very environmentally conscious. One of nature’s “all natural” gifts to mankind is the fruit fly and sewer fly, both of which seem to have an extraordinary sense of smell. All composting toilets are susceptible to fly larva infestations. These infestations are more of a nuisance than a health hazard but they add significantly to the “yuck factor” of composting toilets. They are more common in areas where livestock is present or fresh vegetables or table scraps are kept in the home on the counter. Infestations can be avoided using simple preventative techniques such as thoroughly washing the skins of vegetables with a scrubby and regular once a week emptying and adding diatomaceous earth to the medium as needed.