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The 'Haybox' & other composting toilets

  • 03 Dec 2012 19:18
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    Reply # 1151461 on 679928
    Deleted user
    I live off grid in Portugal  for 6 moonths a year and have a composting toilet, very simple seperating toilet.
    It is made as an enclosed box with a 30lt cool box for the solids and a standard 5lt Asda Spring water bottle for the pee. Works a treat, we throw a hand ful of sadust or earth on the solids.  I'm sure it could be altered to make it work at sea as well by putting seals round the seperator and the lid of the cool(solids) box.
  • 11 Nov 2012 05:05
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    Reply # 1134557 on 679928
    Anonymous member
    We've been using our 20 litre bucket with dry sawdust for the last 3 days and it has worked very well with virtually no unpleasant odour. I brought it home today and tipped it down the composting toilet. Not the nicest job but it's over quickly.
  • 11 Nov 2012 03:59
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    Reply # 1134527 on 679928
    Deleted user
    It is probably true that my Nature's head has few actual environmental benefits outside the hull of Flutterby...but it does make the environment soooooooo much nicer aboard than a "normal" marine head. Annie, I actually find it works even better in warm climates than cold ones--the composting bacteria are more active and do their work faster.  And as somebody reminded me...one of its best features compared to the Air Head was that it didn't have a hinged seat...and I've seen too many of those broken to want one at sea.

    Thank you Annie (& others) for clearing me up on the "peat moss" I will try to find better products I can use instead like coconut coir. If I find a source for sawdust I may try it also.
  • 05 Nov 2012 06:58
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    Reply # 1126542 on 679928
    Deleted user
    Actually, I know there is nothing green about the device if there isnt a compost heap or garden at the end of the process. I should refer to my home built compost head as a "fancy" bucket and chuck it. Which is what it is, since I dont think they (including airheads etc) really decompose the deposits. At the same time, we aren't creating pollution either..

    Those expensive sewerage processing machines are no more green either, since they aren't generating compost to replace fertiliser on land, just adding a complex system on a boat which may or may not still be working after 2-3 years.
    Last modified: 05 Nov 2012 07:08 | Deleted user
  • 05 Nov 2012 00:26
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    Reply # 1126366 on 1126339
    Anonymous member
    Gary King wrote: So Paul, when you are cruising the worlds oceans, will be storing all your head's waste and mailing it home from the next port, so it can be put on your compost heap in NZ? I only ask this because palming it off to a landowner in a foreign port might be a hard sell..
    Whales, btw, store it up and dump 1 ton at a time.


    No, I'll be dumping over the side as I'll be in the open ocean, not in non tidal waters.

    Or though no doubt my wife would like me to ship it home so she can use it in her garden. She is Chinese and the Chinese being sensible practical people have been using the product from compositing heads for centuries. However we would have problems with MAF not to say finding a shipper in mid ocean, so no go :-(
  • 04 Nov 2012 23:44
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    Reply # 1126350 on 679928
    Anonymous member
    Now, now, boys, let's not squabble.  I think you are all essentially in accord but pressing Post a bit too soon.
  • 04 Nov 2012 23:33
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    Reply # 1126339 on 1126183
    Deleted user
    Paul Thompson wrote:
    Gary King wrote:
    Robert Groves wrote:
    Instead of trying to rationalize contamination of any water source, 

    I know its not cool to vigorously disagree on this forum, but the above is either so wrong or trillions of defecating fish, mammals and marine organisms of some sort are under arrest!


    Sorry Gary, I have disagree. If you read the whole paragraph it makes perfect sense.

    "Instead of trying to rationalize contamination of any water source, whether it be salt or fresh with science or opinion, it makes far more sense to adapt a lifestyle of living softly on the planet and contributing to its enhancement. Composting makes that possible and is scientifically proven"

    I agree that the fish etc.. are all doing it BUT they are not storing the stuff up for days/months and then suddenly dumping large quantities (think cities, cruise ships and some yachts). I also agree that the average yacht in open tidal waters is much the same as the fish et al... but in confined waters with little tidal flow it is different.

    However, I'm in full agreement with Roberts statement and try to live my life according to the same ideal. Over and above, if theres any doubt whats so ever and an alternative exists, its logical to use the alternative.

    Just because one cannot see so much of the damage that we do to the sea and our waterways, does not mean that it's not happening.
    So Paul, when you are cruising the worlds oceans, will be storing all your head's waste and mailing it home from the next port, so it can be put on your compost heap in NZ? I only ask this because palming it off to a landowner in a foreign port might be a hard sell..
    Whales, btw, store it up and dump 1 ton at a time.
  • 04 Nov 2012 17:41
    Quote
    Reply # 1126183 on 1126133
    Anonymous member
    Gary King wrote:
    Robert Groves wrote:
    Instead of trying to rationalize contamination of any water source, 

    I know its not cool to vigorously disagree on this forum, but the above is either so wrong or trillions of defecating fish, mammals and marine organisms of some sort are under arrest!


    Sorry Gary, I have disagree. If you read the whole paragraph it makes perfect sense.

    "Instead of trying to rationalize contamination of any water source, whether it be salt or fresh with science or opinion, it makes far more sense to adapt a lifestyle of living softly on the planet and contributing to its enhancement. Composting makes that possible and is scientifically proven"

    I agree that the fish etc.. are all doing it BUT they are not storing the stuff up for days/months and then suddenly dumping large quantities (think cities, cruise ships and some yachts). I also agree that the average yacht in open tidal waters is much the same as the fish et al... but in confined waters with little tidal flow it is different.

    However, I'm in full agreement with Roberts statement and try to live my life according to the same ideal. Over and above, if theres any doubt whats so ever and an alternative exists, its logical to use the alternative.

    Just because one cannot see so much of the damage that we do to the sea and our waterways, does not mean that it's not happening.
    Last modified: 04 Nov 2012 18:00 | Anonymous member
  • 04 Nov 2012 14:49
    Quote
    Reply # 1126133 on 1126070
    Deleted user
    Robert Groves wrote:
    Instead of trying to rationalize contamination of any water source, 

    I know its not cool to vigorously disagree on this forum, but the above is either so wrong or trillions of defecating fish, mammals and marine organisms of some sort are under arrest!

    Last modified: 04 Nov 2012 14:54 | Deleted user
  • 04 Nov 2012 11:19
    Quote
    Reply # 1126070 on 679928
    Deleted user
    I am really pleased to see all this discussion about composting toilets. We have used the same rationalizations, as many of you, in our boat based waste management practices.

    As a composting junky I am interested in taking our land based experiences to sea.

    I keep seeing the term WASTE used in reference to our personal excretions. Waste is something that we cannot use, is created in excess and requires processing for safe disposal. We use our compost toilet PRODUCT and return it to the earth as a nutrient for plants and a basic soil builder. This helps in full cycle replenishment of the raw products used in the composting process from out food, soil and trees.

    Instead of trying to rationalize contamination of any water source, whether it be salt or fresh with science or opinion, it makes far more sense to adapt a lifestyle of living softly on the planet and contributing to its enhancement. Composting makes that possible and is scientifically proven.

    Reading the user instructions on the AirHead companies website they are also advocates of this philosophy. Disposal of the solid waste in planting beds and the urine in an onshore facility, diluted with fresh water it makes good fertilizer as well. This is the recommended disposal method within legislated non disposal areas. On the open ocean past practices prevail.

    I will seriously contemplate the installation of an AirHead toilet in Easy Go. I will also incorporate a productive utilization of the compost product as a natural soil enhancement.

    Now this could lead to a whole new interpretation of our boats name!

    Thanks everyone for your interesting thoughts.
       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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