Compost toilets

Dealing responsibly with human waste is a great chance to turn a problem into an solution. Conventional sewage systems take three valuable resources, ie potable water, faeces and urine, mix them together and create a problem. High quality water is used solely as a means to carry away our poo and wee to a place of treatment. Alternative approaches such as compost loos, tree bogs, reedbed systems, and separators work to conserve water and utilize organic resources on site. These technologies are of particular relevance in rural locations where the cost of infrastructure linking to the mains can be prohibitively expensive.

Above are three images of a tree bog constructed by Edible Landscape for a Forest School near Bath. The image on the right shows fast growing willow that surrounds the structure only a few months after completion. An added benefit of this technology is a yield of willow. The willow is multifunctional: it screens the structure, helps to keep the soil beneath the pile of poo aerobic, thus speeding up composting and preventing odour, and has wildlife value as well. This toilet was also fitted with a separator so that urine can be collected and ultilized too.  

Yet again the permaculture principle of 'the problem becoming the solution' is evident in these working examples of sustainability.