Awesome video. We've been using this system for 5 years now and we wouldn't do it any other way. We purchased my Grandparents homestead deep in a WV hollar and they only had an outhouse. There is no septic tank or room for one. Grandpa said "a man shouldn't poop inside his house". I highly recommend reading the book "The Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins and follow it to the letter. It is the "Bible" for Humanure.
When I say that God with His grace can heal through nature and act through infinite number of things, even believers in God often knock on the head and telk me that I am mentally ill or something. And I've just been in bad condition but it keeps getting all the way better. Certainly there are many graces of God in action for matters which are missing in the world and about which people think that they are not working but work wonderfully. I hope that it will gradually change and people will be able to take advantage of the good that is contained in this matter and also be able to discover many other wonders so far hidden for humanity or old and forgotten or considered not working but works great. Cordial greetings and blessing for You everyone ❤
Good stuff. I will start putting down a layer of shavings before depositing into my receptacle which is a chunk of culvert vertically situated. I also have it covered with a large (3') round piece of 3/4" plywood as I didn't want the rain to wash away any good nutrients. Also, I use a plastic garbage can instead of 5 gallon bucket, plus my o/h is outside.
thank you for this helpful video. does it need to have air coming in or could you just fill up a larger plastic container/bucket and stop using it once it fills, cover it and wait two years. My thinking is I wouldn't even have to empty out a 5 gallon bucket every week. Would that work?
I got to say that's not only humanure for me Since I started doing it, my physical, mental and spiritual health inproved a lot. I recovered from a very hard and difficult to cure disease. Because of this, I could start doing in my life and invent many new things that I could not before due to poor health and poor general condition. Beacause of this, I was able to start working a lot physically and intellectually. I also feel better spritually- happier and freer to do good and generally as me and I can also give this happiness to others. The very sad thing is that people do not want to see that the changes that have taken place are the results of working towards humanure.
Well put, I’m happy to hear you were able to recover! We talk a lot here about how humanure acts as a kind of foundational building block that ultimately leads to a mor holistic lifestyle. For me, it has to do with taking full responsibility for our own shit, both literally and figuratively. Through doing this, I’ve found a deeper understanding of the interconnectivity of all aspects of life, not only limited to the physical plane of reality. Perhaps the biggest roadblock to widespread adoption is the societal stigma surrounding our perception of our own waste. Once we move past that, the benefits are innumerable. So happy to encounter others doing this, Cheers!
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Using our own manure in the soil that produces the food we eat also gives the soil information of the nutrients it has to provide the plant. It's all an intricate system that is interactive whereas our orthodox systems pay no attention to that as it grabs everything to centralize and control. I'd love to see compost toilets rather than PortaPotties those things are so ugly and nasty. Love this video, very well done - thank you!
Hey there fella, good to see you. I have a question about this tutorial. Should one worry about any kind of combustion with this or similar methods? I’ve seen leaf piles go up in smoke after sitting. Thank you for making this and the other vids. Much appreciated.
Hey! I would say no, in my experience, and we’re in a location where that happens pretty frequently - I’ve had to put out spontaneous fires several times, from piled field waste left by other farmers. The pile should stay pretty moist for optimal composting, which isn’t a problem given the amount of urine, and the water used in washing out the buckets that goes back on the pile, plus retained moisture in the food scraps. My pile is usually between 140-150F in the core where the material is fresh, but I’ve never had it get hotter than that.
Great video! I really appreciate the details you went into to guide other people through this system. One question; after you rinse the buckets one time, do you rinse them a 2nd or 3rd time to get them really clean? If so, where do you dump the water from the 2nd or 3rd rinse?
Thanks so much. I generally rinse only once, and then periodically scrub out the bucket really well to get rid of build up that occurs. Soap and a stiff brush for this are more than adequate, and that rinse water could go onto the pile if you are using a natural soap, though large amounts of soap might cause issues. If you would feel better sanitizing the bucket with bleach, that’s also an option. That could go into your drain system, though high amounts of bleach can cause problems with decomposition in a septic system. I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping a separate compost pile that handles all the waste from the dogs, and that’s what I use to process chemicals I need to dispose of(from the wood/metal shop, etc), as it’s a long term pile that I don’t use for applying to plants because the dog waste on its own can take a long time to break down. There was a study I found awhile ago on stormwater compost systems for processing road water runoff that showed a slow composting system would break down fuels like diesel and kerosene to virtually undetectable levels.
Thanks for this great video. I am building a completely off-grid house made of recycled plastic roof tiles, bricks, and pavers. I will have a composting system. One concern I have is sourcing the wood for the sawdust. I worry about inadvertently using treated wood. If I cannot find untreated wood, I guess I will have to go the long-term composting route to give the wood enough time to lose its toxicity. Sound like a plan?
That sounds like an amazing project! If you are able to source wood shavings(not sawdust) from a local mill, or even material from an arborist who shreds their waste, pressure treated lumber shouldn’t be an issue. I would ask just to make sure however, as you don’t really want the chemicals in your compost.
@paavo Hirn - a properly prepared pile with the dry sponge layer as shown will not present a leaching problem, unless you live in a high rainfall area. In that case, a roof would be in order to more effectively control moisture content. Joe Jenkins talks about this concern at length in the Humanure Handbook.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 I'm more worried about trace amounts of chemicals from treated wood than anything seeping out of a humanure pile. You're probably right. I'll try to get my hands on that book. Thanks!
That’s a fair concern. To my knowledge, the odds of getting a large enough quantity of pressure treated wood shavings suitable for composting is extremely low since the wood is milled to final dimensions prior to being sent for treatment. Sourcing your shavings from a local mill that handles only untreated wood is probably the safest option.
Hi!! thanks for the tutorial:) was wondering, do you put any barrier layer down under the bins to prevent liquids from seeping directly down into the ground?
You’re welcome! The only layer that goes between the pile and the ground is the wood shavings(or other dry carbon material). That layer acts as a sponge to prevent runoff. If you’re experience runoff, the issue is likely from too much rain, rather than the water you’re adding to the pile, in which case you would want to build a roof over the pile, and ideally collect the rainwater from there to use for washing buckets or for irrigation. If the pile starts drying out too much during our dry winters, I will sometimes just stick the hose in the middle of the pile for an hour or so, and I’ve never had water run out the bottom of the pile. Joe Jenkins discusses this at length in The Humanure Handbook(available as a free download), and I would highly recommend his book.
Thank you for the perfectly presented video. Straight forward and easy to grasp. I will be setting up a homestead near Algonquin Park, in Ontario Canada. I want to set up this kind of system there, even though I will have a flush toilet for my guests. Do you live in an area of the US where it is very cold in the winter? Would the pile stay warm in the winter? Would this slow down the process?
Where do you get so many wood shavings? And what about dog poop, can you put that in there too? If you feed your dogs a raw diet, organic, no kibble, that is. Thanks for video! Very interesting!
Thank you! If you live in a high rainfall area, then a roof over the bins would be best so you can control moisture level in the pile. Best if you can do rainwater collection from the roof to supply water for washing the buckets. Ours isn’t covered, but we get only about 20” rain annually, and only during half the year. I compensate by using less wash water during the rainy season, and more during the dry season. The pile will absorb a shocking amount of water though, once it gets up to a cubic meter or more, I can let the hose run directly into it for an hour if I like, and there will be no runoff. I do this periodically during the dry season if the pile looks like it’s drying out too much. You’ll have to experiment to figure out what works best in your own region, as every situation will be a little different.
Thanks so much, Eric! I intend to start a system for a community with several households. Maybe 100. Yikes, just saying is feels both exciting and intimidating at the same time. When do you start seeing the thermophilic process start? After the first deposit? Is that what you are saying? World changing work. Thank you.
@@per6644 Thanks, Eric. I had watched this link earlier and love the reminder and refresher. A friend is going into Peace Corp and is very interested in this work.
Definitely. I’ve found the wood shavings work best, because of the high C:N ratio. You can do it with grass and weed clippings, or leaves, but the ratio is less with those and the pile tends to go anaerobic which requires more maintenance
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Hi thanks for your video's very informative. I have access to grass clippings but not sawdust or wood shavings. Will the grass clippings in "damp" form be enough to seal odour in the toilet bucket during use? I have access to eucalyptus leaves. Are these ok to use ? Thanks .
Thanks! Sorry for the delay, haven’t checked this in awhile. Definitely no pressure treated lumber, and you’ll want to avoid anything allelopathic(walnut, eucalyptus, pine, etc)
Hi, Eric! Thank you for this great video! I am a tad puzzled, though, that you said you have 3 active compost piles - is there one off camera? Also, I believe you mentioned turning each pile - is that after bin is full? THANK YOU!
You’re welcome! When the video was taken, I had one pile complete and was starting the second. To the right of the bin of wood shavings, there’s another bin visible, which is currently filled with bags of chicken manure and scrap wood. So, 3 bins for composting, and one for storing cover material. Yes, I turn the pile once, after 1 year of building it. That pile then rests for two years before use.
@@ericoberholtzer1949I thought that you were using 3 compost bins which would make sense. The first bin would sit for 2 full years by starting a new bin every year. In the 4th year you would have compost that has sat for 2 full years.
Great video! Just wondering, you dig a small cone hole in the ground, how deep should that be? and after covering the pile with wood material, do you open up the pile pushing aside the wood material like the cone hole you dug, when you empty the buckets next time? Then cover with material again?
Thanks! I don’t dig anything to start the pile. Just put a thick layer of wood chips/other dry material on the ground to start. It’s not even necessary to remove grass or other vegetation before starting. To make additions to the pile, open a small hole by pushing material to the side, add your waste, and cover with fresh material. Hope that clarifies things!
Rainy and dry seasons here only. It gets down a little below freezing for a few weeks during the dry season, but not enough to affect my pile in any way. I think the generalized rule is that a compost pile needs to be minimum 1 cubic meter to hold and maintain heat. Snow will help with insulation to a degree, as well as providing some additional moisture, and if it’s extremely cold you may see a decrease in microbial activity during the coldest months. It won’t hurt anything, the pile may just go dormant for a bit, and as soon as it warms up activity will restart. If it were me, I’d probably turn it after the spring thaw to aerate and get things moving again, with a few fresh additions right in the core of the pile.
We all need to do this instead of the enormous waste of good water…excellent video thank you for sharing…I’m assuming no worms to help out with the composting process since it starts off as a three year plan and plenty of time to bring the process to fruition without additional help…
Can I use a layer of vetiver roots as my base in the pile before I start to empty out the buckets?? And what if I don t choose to use scraps from the kitchen??
You can use whatever aint no real science to it. Pile it up turn it everynow an then. Sift out good soil leave the rest to break down add more stuff on top of what didnt break down keep the cycle going
Very good tutorial....thank you for sharing. Quick question. Thinking about doing this at our little cabin we just bought in the woods of PA (Alleghany Forest). Being that it is bear country around there should we skip adding the food waste to the compost pile as to not attract bears? And is it okay just to add only human waste to the pile?
Greetings, thank you! I’m from Lancaster(Lititz) originally :-) yes, if you’re worried about bears, skip the food waste unless you want to build a bear-tight enclosure. The pile will still function the same as long as the carbon/nitrogen ratios are good. The number one sign that it’s off is smell. If it smells like ammonia, add more carbon material. If it smells dead animal or manure, it’s fermenting anaerobically, you need more air. If it smells like poop, you may need a different ratio of air/water/carbon because that means it’s just not breaking down. When you open the top of the pile to make another addition, get in the habit of smelling the pile, that’s your feedback for how it’s going. At 4-5 days between additions, most of the poop in my pile from the previous addition is unrecognizable, and it no longer smells.
Hey there! I tried going through the comments but so far I haven’t found this question. If I’m repeating another person’s question..my apologies! Is there any reason in particular as to why you don’t use a urine diverter?
@@timgiles9413So why do you think that so many people do use a urine diverter? It seems like manufacturers of composting toilets include a urine diverter in their designs
Hello Eric! Great video, thank you very much! I understand you use 20L buckets for the toilet right? How many people use it daily? Thank you so much! Have a great day!
Great video brother appreciate your input! So would it be as safe to just keep stacking and storing your full toilet buckets until you’ve got a full piles worth, and dumping them all into the designated area at once, instead of taking them out individually every time? I plan to build an outhouse with storage next to it which I could use to store the full buckets.
Thanks! If you wanted to do it batch-style instead of the continuous method it might work, but I’ve never done it. There are a few reasons why I wouldn’t take this route - 1. Simply storing a load of full buckets presents a situation where you have a less than ideal anaerobic fermentation happening. This produces a lot of methane gas buildup, and could potentially lead to lids blowing off the buckets and creating a bit of a biohazard. 2. The continuous method allows for easy layering of waste(high nitrogen) and carbon (wood chips, etc). In a batch system, you’d have to do that layering as you add each bucket to he pile, otherwise you’ll end up with hard to contain liquid mess in the middle, which will decompose anaerobically, and smell absolutely awful. 3. You’d still have to wait the 2 years for the resting period, and possibly longer because you’re attempting to break down a lot of material all at once, and the process may not be as efficient. Not to mention the smell from decomposing anaerobically fermenting shit. Imagine the classic manure pit on a farm, only with human waste. The reason I like the continuous method is that the labor is relatively minimal, and the pile is able to stay in largely thermophilic state in the core between additions, which kills off most of the pathogens. If it’s possible, I would recommend placing the pile in a convenient location nearby the outhouse to make the trip less of a hassle. Properly managed, the pile has no smell, and the labor with this method is as minimal as it gets with making compost.
Absolutely, with the caveat that you may have remnant seed germination. I don’t care about that, and use whatever dry material happens to be available. Others may have different priorities.
Thanks! Prior to this year no, but this season leading up to the corn harvest the rats were exceptionally bad. It seems they came out in force during the extended quarantine here. I would recommend using heavy gauge coated hardware cloth, as the rats chewed through the standard stuff I had used, and it also started rusting out much faster than I anticipated. Lessons learned! Also definitely recommend a framed hardware cloth lid on top of the bins. That said, it’s been easy enough to put out rat traps to keep them in check, and the dead rats go directly in the compost and are fully broken down in about a month.
It smells a bit, yes, though the smell disappears as soon as it’s covered. The urine in the bucket makes it much easier to pour out as well. That said, I’ve changed baby diapers that were far worse than the bucket is, and the same goes for cleaning up dog poop. There’s a bit of ammonia in there, especially if the bucket has sat for more than a few days, and between the urine and the wood chips, it doesn’t smell nearly as bad as you might think. Taking a dump in the woods directly on the ground, say on a camping trip, smells much stronger than this does. Course, maybe I’m just used to it and not grossed out by poop, and I totally understand that people have different thresholds of tolerance with this.
Properly built and maintained, the pile does not produce runoff or leak anywhere. This is the reason for the dry ‘sponge’ base layer. If you have large amounts of rain you may need to consider a roof, ideally that also serves to collect rainwater.
Lol. My nose is decent, but my wife is the one with the super sensitive sense of smell, and even she’s amazed that pile doesn’t smell. I’ve opened it up for plenty of curious people to verify for themselves, and it’s always the same response, wow, no smell. The key is managing the carbon/nitrogen ratios
@@andrewhudson2860 Is your worm compost tray resting on the ground or up on that legged tray system? My bottom tray is on the ground and there is no odor even when all trays are full.
I would recommend keeping them separate to reduce the possibility of cross-contamination. Alternatively, you could combine the piles if you’re ok with the resting period that’s required before use.
I think you’ll be ok with separating them a meter or two. The main thing is that you don’t want accidental spillover from the humanure getting into the regular compost. If you have the space and layout available, you could put the humanure bins closer to the toilet if you wanted to, in a separate area, but of course I don’t know how your property is laid out. If the humanure bins need to go by the regular compost, then try to leave a meter or two of space between the different compost piles.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 I have 2 acres so I have space to separate them, I have my compost on one side (left) of the house currently. The other side (right side closer to the toilet) is where my garden is. Guess I should have put the compost there huh? Haha.
It’s all what works for you with your process. I like to break it down from a permaculture perspective by taking a single element(in this case compost), then analyzing the frequency of the activities associated. With compost, we would have activities like adding to the pile, turning the pile, and distributing the pile. For me, the most frequent activity is adding to the pile, which happens every 4 days or so. Turning the pile happens one day out of three years. And distributing the pile happens only after 3 years, as needed, but the bulk of the distribution will occur prior to planting, all in one go. So the most frequent activity is adding to the pile, in which case I would ideally place the pile in a convenient location not too far from my kitchen and toilet, as I’m carrying messy, full buckets, so I want to minimize that labor. The garden can be further away since I’ll be aided by a wheelbarrow, and taking larger loads. So in your case, it probably makes sense to place the humanure piles closer to your toilet, so as to minimize the labor and time needed for additions to the pile. Hope all of that makes sense!
Thanks for this video because you presented the compost toilet so easy to use. I really love this idea a lot. My question is what material can one use in case there are no wood shavings in the area? Would Hay work or one must only use wood shavings?
Hi there - any dry, brown material will work. We actually used the toilet the entire duration of quarantine here(1 year) without wood shavings, because they simply weren’t available. Instead, we used grass clippings(dried and green), weeds, and dried fallen leaves. Some periodic loosening of the pile was necessary to keep it from going anaerobic, but it works just as well. I was thrilled to see it function so well as I’m aware that wood shavings aren’t available everywhere, plus they are an external input, which obviously doesn’t fit in most closed-loop systems, and isn’t a long term solution. For now though, I’m happy to use them because I obtain them locally for very cheap, and it’s less labor than continually rounding up cover material from the property.
Thanks for the vid! Can you drop step by step instructions on the cycle you use in the description. I'm inspired to try this. Was thinking of welding multiple rotating steel cylinders to mix 5 gallon waste deposits with the equivalent of wood cover chips for 1 year... I would think after 3 years of that beautiful sludge baking in that container it'll be ready to bring any soil to life :)
Collect Whey from the bottom of cheese production in a spray bottle and spray a few pumps on the sawdust you cover each deposit in with in the bathroom. Lactic acid Bacteria LAB in whey will help this whole process and should be breaking down mediation. Bokashi is the method. I'd add biochar with sawdust and have 3 buckets with lids trapping bokashi poo for 2 weeks in buckets before pile. Also, add LAB to water dumped outside it works anaerobic and aerobic.
You must pee somewhere other than the compost toilet... I mean, even if it were just me, without any family members, I would fill that entire bucket with pee over 5 days. What's the deal there?
Urine goes in the compost toilet as well, and the bucket fills up every 4-5 days, with 2 adults and 2 children using it. No need to separate urine as long as the pile is maintained with enough carbon material to keep it from going anaerobic.
Well, I’m no doctor ;-) maybe it’s worthwhile to measure how much you’re actually urinating, and compare with volume of daily fluid intake, keeping in mind that diuretics(alcohol, caffeine) contribute to more volume. According to a quick google search, average urine output is 800-2000ml, based on a 2L avg intake of water
video is clear, informative,& transparent.
Most videos say it needs 1 year . Thanks for educating us.
Awesome video. We've been using this system for 5 years now and we wouldn't do it any other way. We purchased my Grandparents homestead deep in a WV hollar and they only had an outhouse. There is no septic tank or room for one. Grandpa said "a man shouldn't poop inside his house". I highly recommend reading the book "The Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins and follow it to the letter. It is the "Bible" for Humanure.
You made this so easy to follow and understand. Thank you!
Great, clear instructions - thank you! I have a rain collection system, which would help eliminate the use of clean well water.
Have you considered using raw charcoal at the bottom to further capture and filter the leachings?
”I really don’t need my dogs digging around in my own shit” 😂😂 Nice timing with the voice over. Great video. 👍
Thank you for the video. I’m inspired to try this🌳☀️🍓
Please read the book The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins first.
Well done. Great explanation.
When I say that God with His grace can heal through nature and act through infinite number of things, even believers in God often knock on the head and telk me that I am mentally ill or something. And I've just been in bad condition but it keeps getting all the way better. Certainly there are many graces of God in action for matters which are missing in the world and about which people think that they are not working but work wonderfully. I hope that it will gradually change and people will be able to take advantage of the good that is contained in this matter and also be able to discover many other wonders so far hidden for humanity or old and forgotten or considered not working but works great.
Cordial greetings and blessing for You everyone ❤
Good stuff. I will start putting down a layer of shavings before depositing into my receptacle which is a chunk of culvert vertically situated. I also have it covered with a large (3') round piece of 3/4" plywood as I didn't want the rain to wash away any good nutrients. Also, I use a plastic garbage can instead of 5 gallon bucket, plus my o/h is outside.
thank you for this helpful video. does it need to have air coming in or could you just fill up a larger plastic container/bucket and stop using it once it fills, cover it and wait two years. My thinking is I wouldn't even have to empty out a 5 gallon bucket every week. Would that work?
Great video, I got a lot of great info from this!
Just what I needed! Thank you!
I got to say that's not only humanure for me Since I started doing it, my physical, mental and spiritual health inproved a lot. I recovered from a very hard and difficult to cure disease. Because of this, I could start doing in my life and invent many new things that I could not before due to poor health and poor general condition. Beacause of this, I was able to start working a lot physically and intellectually. I also feel better spritually- happier and freer to do good and generally as me and I can also give this happiness to others. The very sad thing is that people do not want to see that the changes that have taken place are the results of working towards humanure.
Well put, I’m happy to hear you were able to recover! We talk a lot here about how humanure acts as a kind of foundational building block that ultimately leads to a mor holistic lifestyle. For me, it has to do with taking full responsibility for our own shit, both literally and figuratively. Through doing this, I’ve found a deeper understanding of the interconnectivity of all aspects of life, not only limited to the physical plane of reality. Perhaps the biggest roadblock to widespread adoption is the societal stigma surrounding our perception of our own waste. Once we move past that, the benefits are innumerable. So happy to encounter others doing this, Cheers!
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Using our own manure in the soil that produces the food we eat also gives the soil information of the nutrients it has to provide the plant. It's all an intricate system that is interactive whereas our orthodox systems pay no attention to that as it grabs everything to centralize and control. I'd love to see compost toilets rather than PortaPotties those things are so ugly and nasty. Love this video, very well done - thank you!
could you explain more why humanure did all that for you?
@@SolsticeOnAnOdyssey po prostu no
Really good informative video. Thankyou
Much appreciated!
Hey there fella, good to see you.
I have a question about this tutorial.
Should one worry about any kind of combustion with this or similar methods?
I’ve seen leaf piles go up in smoke after sitting.
Thank you for making this and the other vids. Much appreciated.
Hey! I would say no, in my experience, and we’re in a location where that happens pretty frequently - I’ve had to put out spontaneous fires several times, from piled field waste left by other farmers. The pile should stay pretty moist for optimal composting, which isn’t a problem given the amount of urine, and the water used in washing out the buckets that goes back on the pile, plus retained moisture in the food scraps. My pile is usually between 140-150F in the core where the material is fresh, but I’ve never had it get hotter than that.
@@ericoberholtzer1949and it gets wet every time it rains 😊 Microbes swim 😊
Great video! I really appreciate the details you went into to guide other people through this system. One question; after you rinse the buckets one time, do you rinse them a 2nd or 3rd time to get them really clean? If so, where do you dump the water from the 2nd or 3rd rinse?
Thanks so much. I generally rinse only once, and then periodically scrub out the bucket really well to get rid of build up that occurs. Soap and a stiff brush for this are more than adequate, and that rinse water could go onto the pile if you are using a natural soap, though large amounts of soap might cause issues. If you would feel better sanitizing the bucket with bleach, that’s also an option. That could go into your drain system, though high amounts of bleach can cause problems with decomposition in a septic system. I’ve gotten into the habit of keeping a separate compost pile that handles all the waste from the dogs, and that’s what I use to process chemicals I need to dispose of(from the wood/metal shop, etc), as it’s a long term pile that I don’t use for applying to plants because the dog waste on its own can take a long time to break down. There was a study I found awhile ago on stormwater compost systems for processing road water runoff that showed a slow composting system would break down fuels like diesel and kerosene to virtually undetectable levels.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Great, thanks Eric! That's impressive that a seperate slow composting system can break down fossil fuels!
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Happy Farming!
Thanks for this great video. I am building a completely off-grid house made of recycled plastic roof tiles, bricks, and pavers. I will have a composting system. One concern I have is sourcing the wood for the sawdust. I worry about inadvertently using treated wood. If I cannot find untreated wood, I guess I will have to go the long-term composting route to give the wood enough time to lose its toxicity. Sound like a plan?
Sounds great! I wonder how you need to contain it so it doesn't seep into groundwater.
That sounds like an amazing project! If you are able to source wood shavings(not sawdust) from a local mill, or even material from an arborist who shreds their waste, pressure treated lumber shouldn’t be an issue. I would ask just to make sure however, as you don’t really want the chemicals in your compost.
@paavo Hirn - a properly prepared pile with the dry sponge layer as shown will not present a leaching problem, unless you live in a high rainfall area. In that case, a roof would be in order to more effectively control moisture content. Joe Jenkins talks about this concern at length in the Humanure Handbook.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 I'm more worried about trace amounts of chemicals from treated wood than anything seeping out of a humanure pile. You're probably right. I'll try to get my hands on that book. Thanks!
That’s a fair concern. To my knowledge, the odds of getting a large enough quantity of pressure treated wood shavings suitable for composting is extremely low since the wood is milled to final dimensions prior to being sent for treatment. Sourcing your shavings from a local mill that handles only untreated wood is probably the safest option.
Very practical
Hi!! thanks for the tutorial:) was wondering, do you put any barrier layer down under the bins to prevent liquids from seeping directly down into the ground?
You’re welcome! The only layer that goes between the pile and the ground is the wood shavings(or other dry carbon material). That layer acts as a sponge to prevent runoff. If you’re experience runoff, the issue is likely from too much rain, rather than the water you’re adding to the pile, in which case you would want to build a roof over the pile, and ideally collect the rainwater from there to use for washing buckets or for irrigation. If the pile starts drying out too much during our dry winters, I will sometimes just stick the hose in the middle of the pile for an hour or so, and I’ve never had water run out the bottom of the pile. Joe Jenkins discusses this at length in The Humanure Handbook(available as a free download), and I would highly recommend his book.
Thank you for the perfectly presented video. Straight forward and easy to grasp. I will be setting up a homestead near Algonquin Park, in Ontario Canada. I want to set up this kind of system there, even though I will have a flush toilet for my guests. Do you live in an area of the US where it is very cold in the winter? Would the pile stay warm in the winter? Would this slow down the process?
Please read the book The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins first.
Hi, thank you for simplifying this! Can hay be used instead of wood chips or a combination of?
Where do you get so many wood shavings? And what about dog poop, can you put that in there too? If you feed your dogs a raw diet, organic, no kibble, that is. Thanks for video! Very interesting!
Thank you for a super guide for human waste. would excessive rain is something to be concerned??
Thank you! If you live in a high rainfall area, then a roof over the bins would be best so you can control moisture level in the pile. Best if you can do rainwater collection from the roof to supply water for washing the buckets. Ours isn’t covered, but we get only about 20” rain annually, and only during half the year. I compensate by using less wash water during the rainy season, and more during the dry season. The pile will absorb a shocking amount of water though, once it gets up to a cubic meter or more, I can let the hose run directly into it for an hour if I like, and there will be no runoff. I do this periodically during the dry season if the pile looks like it’s drying out too much. You’ll have to experiment to figure out what works best in your own region, as every situation will be a little different.
@@ericoberholtzer1949yep, microbes swim 😊
Thanks so much, Eric! I intend to start a system for a community with several households. Maybe 100. Yikes, just saying is feels both exciting and intimidating at the same time.
When do you start seeing the thermophilic process start? After the first deposit? Is that what you are saying?
World changing work. Thank you.
ua-cam.com/video/tKdZOeTaPo4/v-deo.html
@@per6644 Thanks, Eric. I had watched this link earlier and love the reminder and refresher. A friend is going into Peace Corp and is very interested in this work.
We are just getting started with 30 acres of wooded undeveloped land and need to build a compost outhouse. Where do you get your wood shavings?
Look for the closest sawmill. They will most likely give you all that you want. It's a byproduct to them. 😊
Thanks. Much the same as I do.
in our soil food web class, we call the wood shavings fungal food. They really give the beneficial fungi some goodies to eat up...
Definitely. I’ve found the wood shavings work best, because of the high C:N ratio. You can do it with grass and weed clippings, or leaves, but the ratio is less with those and the pile tends to go anaerobic which requires more maintenance
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Hi thanks for your video's very informative. I have access to grass clippings but not sawdust or wood shavings. Will the grass clippings in "damp" form be enough to seal odour in the toilet bucket during use? I have access to eucalyptus leaves. Are these ok to use ? Thanks .
@outbacgive it a try :) kenduro7418
Hi Eric! Thanks for the video! Your homestead is lovely! Should one not use wood shavings from pressure treated lumber?
Thanks! Sorry for the delay, haven’t checked this in awhile. Definitely no pressure treated lumber, and you’ll want to avoid anything allelopathic(walnut, eucalyptus, pine, etc)
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Good to know! Peace and love!! :)
Is it a big deal if your sawdust get soaked in a big rain? Do you cover anything?
The last 2 buckets what waste are they, are they gray water waste??
Do you need to put a barrier between it and the earth, or can you put it direct on the earth?
How do you keep the shavings stack dry...and what happens if its raining or snowing?
Where did you get those suspenders bro?
If the pile goes up would you add straw to the sides to prevent the shavings from falling off???
Hi, Eric! Thank you for this great video! I am a tad puzzled, though, that you said you have 3 active compost piles - is there one off camera? Also, I believe you mentioned turning each pile - is that after bin is full? THANK YOU!
You’re welcome! When the video was taken, I had one pile complete and was starting the second. To the right of the bin of wood shavings, there’s another bin visible, which is currently filled with bags of chicken manure and scrap wood. So, 3 bins for composting, and one for storing cover material. Yes, I turn the pile once, after 1 year of building it. That pile then rests for two years before use.
@@ericoberholtzer1949I thought that you were using 3 compost bins which would make sense. The first bin would sit for 2 full years by starting a new bin every year. In the 4th year you would have compost that has sat for 2 full years.
I have a TMI question. What if your stomach is sick and your #1 & #2 mix with an upset stomach, do you still it?
Great video! Just wondering, you dig a small cone hole in the ground, how deep should that be? and after covering the pile with wood material, do you open up the pile pushing aside the wood material like the cone hole you dug, when you empty the buckets next time? Then cover with material again?
Thanks! I don’t dig anything to start the pile. Just put a thick layer of wood chips/other dry material on the ground to start. It’s not even necessary to remove grass or other vegetation before starting. To make additions to the pile, open a small hole by pushing material to the side, add your waste, and cover with fresh material. Hope that clarifies things!
@@ericoberholtzer1949 yes it did, thank you!
Question what size are your compost bins?
Are you in a 4 season area? Does winter/snow affect it differently at all?
Rainy and dry seasons here only. It gets down a little below freezing for a few weeks during the dry season, but not enough to affect my pile in any way. I think the generalized rule is that a compost pile needs to be minimum 1 cubic meter to hold and maintain heat. Snow will help with insulation to a degree, as well as providing some additional moisture, and if it’s extremely cold you may see a decrease in microbial activity during the coldest months. It won’t hurt anything, the pile may just go dormant for a bit, and as soon as it warms up activity will restart. If it were me, I’d probably turn it after the spring thaw to aerate and get things moving again, with a few fresh additions right in the core of the pile.
We all need to do this instead of the enormous waste of good water…excellent video thank you for sharing…I’m assuming no worms to help out with the composting process since it starts off as a three year plan and plenty of time to bring the process to fruition without additional help…
It's all about the microbes, not worms. 😊
Can I use a layer of vetiver roots as my base in the pile before I start to empty out the buckets?? And what if I don t choose to use scraps from the kitchen??
You can use whatever aint no real science to it. Pile it up turn it everynow an then. Sift out good soil leave the rest to break down add more stuff on top of what didnt break down keep the cycle going
Which food waste shouldn’t you use?
Very good tutorial....thank you for sharing. Quick question. Thinking about doing this at our little cabin we just bought in the woods of PA (Alleghany Forest). Being that it is bear country around there should we skip adding the food waste to the compost pile as to not attract bears? And is it okay just to add only human waste to the pile?
Greetings, thank you! I’m from Lancaster(Lititz) originally :-) yes, if you’re worried about bears, skip the food waste unless you want to build a bear-tight enclosure. The pile will still function the same as long as the carbon/nitrogen ratios are good. The number one sign that it’s off is smell. If it smells like ammonia, add more carbon material. If it smells dead animal or manure, it’s fermenting anaerobically, you need more air. If it smells like poop, you may need a different ratio of air/water/carbon because that means it’s just not breaking down. When you open the top of the pile to make another addition, get in the habit of smelling the pile, that’s your feedback for how it’s going. At 4-5 days between additions, most of the poop in my pile from the previous addition is unrecognizable, and it no longer smells.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Great Thank you for the tips!!
Anytime, good luck!
🤔🤔🤔
We do this and live with bears. We have set up a solar generator electric fence around it 😅
Hey there! I tried going through the comments but so far I haven’t found this question. If I’m repeating another person’s question..my apologies!
Is there any reason in particular as to why you don’t use a urine diverter?
Urine goes in the bucket and helps heat up the compost. 😊
@@timgiles9413So why do you think that so many people do use a urine diverter? It seems like manufacturers of composting toilets include a urine diverter in their designs
@@bradbiesecker162 to keep the smell down and people dilute the urine to use on plants.
Hello Eric! Great video, thank you very much! I understand you use 20L buckets for the toilet right? How many people use it daily? Thank you so much! Have a great day!
Thank you! Yes 20L buckets. We have 4 people using it daily, and I need to empty the bucket about every 4 days.
Great video brother appreciate your input! So would it be as safe to just keep stacking and storing your full toilet buckets until you’ve got a full piles worth, and dumping them all into the designated area at once, instead of taking them out individually every time? I plan to build an outhouse with storage next to it which I could use to store the full buckets.
Thanks! If you wanted to do it batch-style instead of the continuous method it might work, but I’ve never done it. There are a few reasons why I wouldn’t take this route - 1. Simply storing a load of full buckets presents a situation where you have a less than ideal anaerobic fermentation happening. This produces a lot of methane gas buildup, and could potentially lead to lids blowing off the buckets and creating a bit of a biohazard. 2. The continuous method allows for easy layering of waste(high nitrogen) and carbon (wood chips, etc). In a batch system, you’d have to do that layering as you add each bucket to he pile, otherwise you’ll end up with hard to contain liquid mess in the middle, which will decompose anaerobically, and smell absolutely awful. 3. You’d still have to wait the 2 years for the resting period, and possibly longer because you’re attempting to break down a lot of material all at once, and the process may not be as efficient. Not to mention the smell from decomposing anaerobically fermenting shit. Imagine the classic manure pit on a farm, only with human waste.
The reason I like the continuous method is that the labor is relatively minimal, and the pile is able to stay in largely thermophilic state in the core between additions, which kills off most of the pathogens. If it’s possible, I would recommend placing the pile in a convenient location nearby the outhouse to make the trip less of a hassle. Properly managed, the pile has no smell, and the labor with this method is as minimal as it gets with making compost.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 thank you for your advice! You’ve made an excellent point thus changing the route I’ll go down 😄
Happy to help, best of fortune to you!
@@Breazeh Not to mention the added expense of having so many buckets.
Would straw be a good substitute for the wood shavings?
Absolutely, with the caveat that you may have remnant seed germination. I don’t care about that, and use whatever dry material happens to be available. Others may have different priorities.
Great video! Any problems with rats? Thanks.
Thanks! Prior to this year no, but this season leading up to the corn harvest the rats were exceptionally bad. It seems they came out in force during the extended quarantine here. I would recommend using heavy gauge coated hardware cloth, as the rats chewed through the standard stuff I had used, and it also started rusting out much faster than I anticipated. Lessons learned! Also definitely recommend a framed hardware cloth lid on top of the bins. That said, it’s been easy enough to put out rat traps to keep them in check, and the dead rats go directly in the compost and are fully broken down in about a month.
@7:43 minutes, my stomach turned a little, i wasnt expecting it to be so liquidy! does it smell when you pour it out?
It smells a bit, yes, though the smell disappears as soon as it’s covered. The urine in the bucket makes it much easier to pour out as well. That said, I’ve changed baby diapers that were far worse than the bucket is, and the same goes for cleaning up dog poop. There’s a bit of ammonia in there, especially if the bucket has sat for more than a few days, and between the urine and the wood chips, it doesn’t smell nearly as bad as you might think. Taking a dump in the woods directly on the ground, say on a camping trip, smells much stronger than this does. Course, maybe I’m just used to it and not grossed out by poop, and I totally understand that people have different thresholds of tolerance with this.
How come the bucket from the toilet is also liquid, I thought the saw dust absorb all sorts of liquid in the receptacle???
I leave mine for one year. I compost all my humanure n a gutted top load washing machine. Only compost pile I use it as a heat mat to germinate seeds.
Thanks for being the one today that God put in my path
What happens to all the liquid that comes out underneath ? Does it soak in the ground.
Properly built and maintained, the pile does not produce runoff or leak anywhere. This is the reason for the dry ‘sponge’ base layer. If you have large amounts of rain you may need to consider a roof, ideally that also serves to collect rainwater.
Brilliant. Thanks. I do however think you may have gone nose blind. Even my worm composter stinks, and that is only veg peelings. 🤢
Lol. My nose is decent, but my wife is the one with the super sensitive sense of smell, and even she’s amazed that pile doesn’t smell. I’ve opened it up for plenty of curious people to verify for themselves, and it’s always the same response, wow, no smell. The key is managing the carbon/nitrogen ratios
@@andrewhudson2860 Is your worm compost tray resting on the ground or up on that legged tray system? My bottom tray is on the ground and there is no odor even when all trays are full.
Does my humanure compost need to be a distance away from my regular compost? Or can it be next to the bin?
I would recommend keeping them separate to reduce the possibility of cross-contamination. Alternatively, you could combine the piles if you’re ok with the resting period that’s required before use.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 So as long as they aren't connected you think I should be ok? How far apart would you go? Thanks
I think you’ll be ok with separating them a meter or two. The main thing is that you don’t want accidental spillover from the humanure getting into the regular compost. If you have the space and layout available, you could put the humanure bins closer to the toilet if you wanted to, in a separate area, but of course I don’t know how your property is laid out. If the humanure bins need to go by the regular compost, then try to leave a meter or two of space between the different compost piles.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 I have 2 acres so I have space to separate them, I have my compost on one side (left) of the house currently. The other side (right side closer to the toilet) is where my garden is. Guess I should have put the compost there huh? Haha.
It’s all what works for you with your process. I like to break it down from a permaculture perspective by taking a single element(in this case compost), then analyzing the frequency of the activities associated. With compost, we would have activities like adding to the pile, turning the pile, and distributing the pile. For me, the most frequent activity is adding to the pile, which happens every 4 days or so. Turning the pile happens one day out of three years. And distributing the pile happens only after 3 years, as needed, but the bulk of the distribution will occur prior to planting, all in one go. So the most frequent activity is adding to the pile, in which case I would ideally place the pile in a convenient location not too far from my kitchen and toilet, as I’m carrying messy, full buckets, so I want to minimize that labor. The garden can be further away since I’ll be aided by a wheelbarrow, and taking larger loads. So in your case, it probably makes sense to place the humanure piles closer to your toilet, so as to minimize the labor and time needed for additions to the pile. Hope all of that makes sense!
Thanks for this video because you presented the compost toilet so easy to use. I really love this idea a lot. My question is what material can one use in case there are no wood shavings in the area? Would Hay work or one must only use wood shavings?
Hi there - any dry, brown material will work. We actually used the toilet the entire duration of quarantine here(1 year) without wood shavings, because they simply weren’t available. Instead, we used grass clippings(dried and green), weeds, and dried fallen leaves. Some periodic loosening of the pile was necessary to keep it from going anaerobic, but it works just as well. I was thrilled to see it function so well as I’m aware that wood shavings aren’t available everywhere, plus they are an external input, which obviously doesn’t fit in most closed-loop systems, and isn’t a long term solution. For now though, I’m happy to use them because I obtain them locally for very cheap, and it’s less labor than continually rounding up cover material from the property.
Thanks for the vid! Can you drop step by step instructions on the cycle you use in the description. I'm inspired to try this. Was thinking of welding multiple rotating steel cylinders to mix 5 gallon waste deposits with the equivalent of wood cover chips for 1 year... I would think after 3 years of that beautiful sludge baking in that container it'll be ready to bring any soil to life :)
Please don't do that. Read the book The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins first!!!
from the back you kinda look like si from duck dynasty with that ponytail and hat
The pile is so high in the bin, how do you “turn” all of it? I would think you’d need a front end loader to lift all of that.
god tier waste disposal
Are you vegan or do you eat meat? What if you take certain medications such as blood pressure meds or insulin, etc?
Collect Whey from the bottom of cheese production in a spray bottle and spray a few pumps on the sawdust you cover each deposit in with in the bathroom. Lactic acid Bacteria LAB in whey will help this whole process and should be breaking down mediation.
Bokashi is the method.
I'd add biochar with sawdust and have 3 buckets with lids trapping bokashi poo for 2 weeks in buckets before pile. Also, add LAB to water dumped outside it works anaerobic and aerobic.
You must pee somewhere other than the compost toilet... I mean, even if it were just me, without any family members, I would fill that entire bucket with pee over 5 days. What's the deal there?
Urine goes in the compost toilet as well, and the bucket fills up every 4-5 days, with 2 adults and 2 children using it. No need to separate urine as long as the pile is maintained with enough carbon material to keep it from going anaerobic.
@@ericoberholtzer1949 Wow... I must pee a lot more than you guys or something.
maybe I'm diabetic!!!?
Well, I’m no doctor ;-) maybe it’s worthwhile to measure how much you’re actually urinating, and compare with volume of daily fluid intake, keeping in mind that diuretics(alcohol, caffeine) contribute to more volume. According to a quick google search, average urine output is 800-2000ml, based on a 2L avg intake of water