#humanure

What can we do with our human wastes?

Probably one of the most important questions addressed by Permaculture is not the one about where things come from (food from our garden, water from the rain, energy from the sun, etc.) but where they go once we are done with them. Since the mere idea of trash (junk, garbage, rubbish, refuse, waste, but also pests, weeds, and bad people) contradicts everything Permaculture is about, a completely different approach is called for. Referring to the same things as scrap, raw resource, or compost, is a good start. In this way we start seeing the same things as solutions rather than problems.

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When it comes to human excrement, it doesn’t take more than a bit of an effort to view it as a rich source of nutrients (which almost sounds like food) rather than the pile of crap we’ve learned to treat it as. Clearly, in its original state it is nothing more than a nasty, smelly problem, and a potential source of further problems, such as insects and infections, if not taken care of properly. Unfortunately, some seemingly “proper” treatment methods are responsible for even bigger problems.

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The Bucket Chuck-it System

Doing a search on composting toilets will give you a good variety of ways to deal with our feces. The basic idea is always the same: covering our excrement with carbon-rich material will give it the optimal C:N (carbon : nitrogen) ratio for composting, while preventing the exposure to the air, thus keeping the smell and bugs in check. Probably the most common system for this is the two-chamber solution, where a full chamber has time to decompose while the other one is being filled over months. It is a good system, though it requires some construction work to set it up. But where would you go in the meantime? Or suppose you've just arrived on your newly acquired piece of property, without any structures whatsoever, and want to do an observation over the next few weeks. The bucket system is the ideal solution.

Probably the humanure composting system that requires the least infrastructure is the bucket. It’s just as simple as it sounds: a five-gallon bucket with an optional toilet seat on top, and a bag of sawdust on the side. Because of its minimal size, it is inevitable that it must be emptied once a week, at least. Initially, this might seem like a disadvantage. However, taking the bucket to the compost, dumping it out, covering it with some more carbon rich material, then rinsing out the bucket and dumping the water on the pile, can all be done in under ten minutes by one person. And because of the shallow depth of the bucket, it’s fairly easy to ensure that everything is 100% covered, at all times. For this reason I have found this bucket solution to be cleaner, less smelly, and less frequented by insects than the elaborate two-chamber composting toilets. So much so, that it’s even a practically feasible system for indoor use, as it can be seen on this photo of my friend's composting toilet in Hungary. Isn’t it pretty?

And Once the Bucket is Full...

Don't wait till it's full! It's much easier to carry and empty it out if it is only about ¾ full. And yes, it needs to have a composting pile prepared, with more carbon-rich material on the side, such as straw. I’ve once had the pleasure to build a so called “Humanure Hacienda,” straight from Joseph Jenkins’ Humanure Handbook, a highly recommendable source on this subject. There the bucket can be emptied on the pile in the left chamber and covered with straw from the dry section in the middle. When that chamber is full, which should take at least a year, the right one can be used while the left side is left alone to decompose. After the second year, the first chamber is ready to be emptied. This compost is safe to use on plants whose edible parts don’t come in contact with the compost, such as fruit trees, hazelnuts, or even corn.

Of course it should be noted, that before the two years are up, the compost should be given its proper respect. Don't mix it with other compost, have a certain sets of tools (shovels pitchforks, etc.) designated for the humanure compost only, and even once it is ready for use, don't fertilize your carrots or cabbages with it.

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All in all, I consider this the most flexible and most efficient way of dealing with one of our most ubiquitous products. It can be as simple as a bucket and a compost pile, or it can be as fancy and high-end as the structures in the photos. Of course, they are not the only type of sustainable toilets around, so stay tuned for more insights into humanure composting.

- Menstrual blood, mixed with sperm if possible, diluted with water - Horse manure ( Perfect Carbon to Nitrogen ratio: 30-1 ) - Human urine ( Carbon to Nitrogen ratio: 1-1 ) - Water used for boiling pasta is full of carbohydrates which fungi love, it can also be used to dilute menstrual blood and urine - Banana peels and other fruit and veggie kitchenscraps. Variety is key!

All this, for FREE.

Human waste, in the form of menstural blood, urine, hair, and feces are all naturally occuring fertilizers we quite literally throw out instead of amend our soils with. While you can use urine, blood, and hair immediately as nitrogen-rich fertilizers, feces takes a bit more processing.

The basics of transforming your feces into fertilizer is fairly simple; use carbon-rich waste (such as sawdust, fallen leaves, charcoal, etc) to top off your pile after each use. This will help absorb and mask the foul smell, but also assist with it's transformation and removal of harmful pathogens.

A simple DIY composting toilet is using a bucket, and dumping it out into an area on soil for it to decompose/ process. Another method is to have an empty raised-garden bed closed off with windows, and using that as a dumping site for feces. The sun will assist with pathogen removal. (be sure to have a vent for the smell!) In about 6 months- 2 years, it's ready to use!

While in the video waste is gathered and transported to different locations, you can set up an innoculated deep litter type of composting toilet system, and simply scoop it out when you're ready to use (no turning needed!).

Regardless of the method you use, humanure has incredible benefits for soil and plant health. It's gold we shouldn't be flushing down the toilet.