Sawdust should be from fresh trees rather than kiln dried (although it can be used). Old phone books that are shredded and newspaper work. Shoot for anything carbon rich. I am thinking about trying paper and our sandy soil as a cover material. I collect the urine from the boys in a container and use as fertilizer (diluted 10-1 at least). I really hammer on the idea of humanure and hope others join the club as it does not involve any waste material or pollute ground water like and outhouse does.

thankyou Gravlore,

I have finally become a humanure convert! It makes sense. (But only if you have a healthy lifestyle)

We should stop pooping in our water!! How stupid is that?? And we think we're so sophisticated & civilized! I was driving around town today and thinking about how each house is emptying their toilets into the river, and the people downstream are getting it...

I'm not crazy about using phone books/newspapers because of the chemicals in the ink. So I might just try dirt...

Some inks used are not toxic anymore. Find out by calling the manufacurer (printer) what kind they use. Glossy pages are a no go.

😳

thankyou Gravlore,

I have finally become a humanure convert! It makes sense. (But only if you have a healthy lifestyle)

We should stop pooping in our water!! How stupid is that?? And we think we're so sophisticated & civilized! I was driving around town today and thinking about how each house is emptying their toilets into the river, and the people downstream are getting it...

I'm not crazy about using phone books/newspapers because of the chemicals in the ink. So I might just try dirt...

Could go the Asian :ugeek: - 'Night-Soil' Method. 😳

I'd be more concerned with those rabid rampant flushers 'UP 😳 STREAM' - from you - that's the worry I would have. 😀

Night soil is completely different and carries a massive amount of disease with it. Humanure like compost heats up enough to kill pathogens. Time in the compost bin also kills. Night soil is used in Asia but it is not the same.

It seems that even composted human waste is not good fertilizer for vegies or even things like apple trees where the apples fall on the ground beneath. I think one would have to compost it very carefully and away from the other compost so that you could compost it for even longer just to be sure. Maybe to be even more careful one could use it for grass that animals would be eating, then it would be going through the animals systems to and by then should be okay. Of course many places where human waste is used for fertilizer they also have a lot of parisites and things that just don't live here because of our winters.

FNQ, I agree totally! Yuk, who ever came up with this stupid idea of fowling our drinking water source with sewage!!

I was of the exact same thinking as you Joy, until I watched some of the videos and read some of the research work on the humanure website.

You are correct to be concerned about being very careful it's composted properly. The compost heap must be monitored to ensure it reaches proper temperatures to kill pathogens & parasites.

I also had a strong "ick" reaction to the idea of using it. But, in an emergency situation which may extend for years with the power down etc, you have to come up with a plan on how to deal with all that poo. Now, I live in a house in town with a lot and a half. I could grow a lot of food and have a lot of people living here... possibly. I guess we could dig an outhouse, but that can pollute ground water. I was leaning toward redworm composting of poo, as it seems poo is the ideal food for them. But the research shows that even though redworms are very good at processing the stuff, not every harmful organism is destroyed. The author of a very good worm site suggests that after poo composting by redworms, possibly the material could be then composted on a hot heap as an additional precaution. Even then he says some may opt not to put it on food crops. So there's no absolute certainty that it wouldn't pass something undesireable, but it seems the risks could be managed fairly well.

After all, the food we currently eat is polluted with all sorts of stuff. And by the way, sewage sludge is being used widely in Sask and Ont to fertilize food crops. Check it out online. Now, sewage sludge is way more revolting than the byproducts of a group of people living off the land.

(Regarding my idea of "bugging in" town, I know it is fraught with all sorts of problems, but so is every other plan. There may come a time to get out of Dodge, and I'm keepin' an eye out for that too)

thanks for that Gravlor

Holy Cow! Can't believe it, processed "sewage sludge" is sold as bagged soil in the US (and probably Canada too) Gross! As I mentioned, I think using humanure is alright if people are living a healthy lifestyle.

I was trying to find the chart on the breakdown of pathogens in the heat of a compost pile, it's included in this Sanitation paper linked to here. I tried to copy & insert just the chart here, but couldn't swing it, not as technically competent as Gravlore. If you scroll through this very interesting paper, you'll find the chart easily. http://humanurehandbook.com/downloads/Compost_Sanitation_Paper_9_2011.pdf

Yes, cities do sell sewage. I remember dad bought some once about 22 years ago. Never bought it again since it reeked. Humanure should smell like hummus once done.

Why is it that cow/sheep/horse shit is ok, but our own crap makes us nervous and queasy? Talking about eating dogs and bugs seems like a viable thing but as soon as one talks about poo we get lazy and say the septic tank will take care of it. Or even worse an outhouse. Those are nasty and they eventually fill up.... then what? Pollute another area?

I think for me that the concern is that we eat meat and animals that we use the dung from don't. And a lot of diseases and parasites don't transfer between us and animals or back again. I have a little rabbit that eats his own poo if needed because there is so much undigested useful food there still. Our poop doesn't have the undigested stuff (except corn-lol). Plus unless you compost it properly (any poop) it is not nice smelling to work with.

The problem with sewage sludge from multiple sources is the residuals like anti-biotics and heavy metals. Companies and people dump stuff that isn't human waste down the drain as well. I would never use it on my farm even if they offered to pay me vast amounts of money. The junk builds up in the soil and creates all kinds of problems over time.

I would have no problems using humanure from my own household as we know where it came from and what went into it. Anyone taking meds. can simply use a different bucket until the meds have cleared the system and then it can be composted and burned at the base of the burn pile or used on ornamental plants. An out/in house with a bucket system is easier to build then an outhouse with a deep hole underneath.

I have a fancy composting toilet that was given to me sitting in the garage. Problem with it, is that pee and poop are combined and a fan is always running. Its kind of like a dehydrator. The bucket system comes with seats that automatically separate pee and poop which is better for composting and it doesn't require electricity.