Waterless in Winter

[PulpFaction]

First time living without water in the winter. Have an porta-a-potty, however, my butt freezes to it if it's too cold....so.

I'm thinking about getting a covered 5 gallon bucket for the closet and just emptying it in the outhouse once a day. (God, I never thought I would be seeking advice on this subject.) Should I keep a bit of sawdust in there with it for sprinkling on top of whatever, or will that be bad for when the port-a-potty gets pumped out?

I'm guessing if it's emptied everyday it may not be necessary but....

[texican]

Ask your grocery store for some of their grape boxes... they're made of a styrofoam type stuff. You can 'carve' out a seat to put on the portapotty seat, and not have any hiney freezing issues. I've been making insulated igloo dog boxes for our outside dogs, using the grape boxes as insulation.

If you're going to be toting your honeybucket out and dumping it's honey in the portapotty, you're going to have issues with cleanliness (actually smells). Sawdust is great, but you might also want to look into getting some lime or wood ashes, to help with odors.

Grape box solves the freezin problem at least.

[PulpFaction]

Brilliant! And, I am lucky to have fairly frequent access to heated bathrooms for when I, uh, need to drop the kids off, so to speak. Most of what would be in that bucket would be liquids...I drink a lot of water. (And, as it turns out, eggnog!)

[Buffy in Dallas]

Everything you ever needed to know about composting toilets. Just built one for my daughter.

http://www.jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

[Humburger]

I agree with Rose. You can use sawdust, pine shavings, or dirt. We use pine shavings and it works just fine. Be sure and use enough to cover deposits, don't be too skimpy. Plus the compost is great and ... that "P" word ... that word that means sustainable within a closed system ... you know ... I can't think of that word! LOL! Anyway, I agree with Rose.

[Humburger]

PERMACULTURE!!!

That's the word.

[Windy in Kansas]

Decades ago Mother Earth News did an article with a title along the lines of How to Cope with a Subzero Outhouse. They use a portable seat that was brought into the house after every necessary trip thus keeping it warm.

[PulpFaction]

Me personally, I'm all about humanure composting. However...I am renting, and my landlord lives next door. She's totally an old hippie, so I might venture bringing the idea up to her, but I'm pretty sure she won't be into me dumping my poo, even if it has ceased to be poo and become nutritious soil amendment, into our shared yard.

Wait, is there some way to use humanure with vermicomposting? Because I could have a second worm bin without drawing attention.

[Humburger]

I don't see why you couldn't incorporate vermicomposting. It is done with animal manure. Good idea!

[PulpFaction]

Just found this very useful link: http://www.feralscholar.org/blog/ind...re-composting/

Very good stuff. Perhaps this is a perfect opportunity to try it out and close the loop....

[Pouncer]

Most folks up here use plain two inch styrofoam. Cut out to fit your receptacle, and use some duct tape to hold it down. Works like a charm for not sticking And many people string an extension cord to the outhouse, with a 50 watt light bulb inside. You plug it in for a few minutes before you head out so that it has a chance to warm a tad.

Goes without saying that most are insulated to some degree, some with very surprising materials. If you can scrounge up some cheap space blankets and carefully tack them to the walls and ceiling it will make a world of difference, trust me.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

i have filled my compost bin, it always slows way down with the freeze i am adding another by cutting the bottom off a screw top plastic 55 gallon drum drill a few holes for air and to drain water from the lid , this would make a good humanure compost bin , it's covered and if you keep everthing covered in saw dust there is no odor it doesn't take to much space and you just call it a compost bin before you take your pail out each day or 3 toss your food scraps on top they go in the same pile afterall anyway

i really need to get in the habit of putting a tarp down before i buck logs into stove lenght the chainsaw makes quit a pile of chips when i am cutting stihl even makes a vegtable base bar and chain oil now if one was worried about that , i don't figure it to be that much oil but i suppose it is techicaly staying with the chip.

be easy on yourself , maybe print the handbook and give a copy to your land lord hippi lady , but relive your self in comfort with your humanure toilet inside. peat moss also works , heck if you have a paper shreader the news paper would probably work fine basicaly any carbon

just don't anounce your saw dust toilet just do it descreetly so that if someone does catch on after a while you can say i have been doing it for x long you have never noticed it is sound science and very safe when done correctly.

[fishhead]

People have used "chamber pots" for nighttime urination for centuries. It's just a bucket with a lid that you empty and rinse out each morning.

You could also get one of those traveling gizmos like women use in the car and then dump that into a bucket outside where it will freeze.

[rancher1913]

at work they stuck a oil filled electric heater in the porta poty.

[ronbre]

i know this will only work in sunny areas but we had a friend that had a solar roof on their outhouse here in the northwoods..they also had some form of biomass but they are both dead now so i can't tell you what it was