My problem will be kitty litter - 6 boxes with 3 large cats. No clue yet on how I am going to deal with any of it. My grandparents had an outhouse and they would burn their garbage. I guess you can't do that in the city.

Kitty Litter... I had not given that much thought but I should as we have four indoor cats. Food is not a problem with well over 1 years supply stored. They share all four litter trays very nicely but try as we may it is very hard to get them to stop usiung the big pots that our indoor plants are in. They seem to love the soil. So if the SHTF and litter is no longer available I think that a little soil which is easily available should do. Personally I would prefer to use sand as it is much cleaner than soil in the house. I do not know if that would work so may be it is time for an experiment. I'll set one up this weekend and let you know how I make out if you are interested.

Toilets will not flush. The water would be cut off. I would think, digging a hole in the backyard and going in a bucket, pouring in the hole and turning over the dirt might be your only bet! (When I think of these things I ENVY those on well and septic)
Garbage, well, I recommend a small burn barrel if you can manage it, just don't make it HUGE! (even one of those backyard fireplace things could work... you would be burning piece by piece). We have been able to have small bonfires in our yard without anyone calling the cops... so far! Neighbours are usually wanting in on it so, maybe they will be in on burning some trash too.

Lime helps with the outside "John". At least I think that's what the grandparents used. Plus you will end up with one of the chemicals required to make gun powder 🙂

Hobo,

You raise yet, another reason not to live in a city in the SHTF scenario. Garbage. Feces. Flies. Rats. Disease. Death.

Before I make a suggestion for apartment dwellers, consider first that in the first 100 days of a true SHTF scenario at least 50% of every city will be dead. So, on top of trash and crap collecting in the streets, you will have hundreds of thousands of decaying bodies..........the smell alone will keep you indoors. If the mass die off happens in the winter, the mess will not fully blossum until spring or summer - hopefully it will be a cold dry winter and the bodies will dehydrate in the cold dry air. In Toronto, not likely.

Now, waste management, how much double bagged fecal matter can you store in your 2 bedroom condo on the 15th floor?? How much garbage?? Possible solutions depend on the threats you face. If you have roving gangs of looters and rapists, you will NOT want to give your location away. In such cases you may want to cut a hole through an interior wall and dispose of your waste in a neighbours condo unit, odds are they are already died. When you run out of room cut a hole in another wall in the other direction. Yes, lime, sawdust, kitty litter, and crushed up gyproc would be good to absorb the fecal material. You will need to stay quiet, without being detected for at least 90 days before venturing out. And then night patrols would be a better first start. No lights. But it depends on the threats.

If you are under no direct threat of any type, the most hygenic method of waste disposal in the big city would be to have burn barrels on the roof of your building. Using diesel or kerosene and a heavy 45 gallon drum cut in half, so you get 2 half barrels, then you put these under your outhouse on the roof? Once every other day you mix in some diesel and burn the waste. If you want to have the outhouse closer to your living quarters you will have to carry the fecal material to the burn barrels.

Garbage can be burned in barrels on the roof, just make sure you have a heavy screen on top and air holes punched through the bottom of your burn barrel. The screen will prevent large embers from flying off. In a post-SHTF scenario there will not be a fire department and no sprinkler systems = no fire control systems. If it catches on fire it will only stop when it runs out of fuel or oxygen. Think the great fires from the 1800's. The suburbs are probably more dangerous that the city core because houses 6 feet between eaves will burn quicker than concrete monolithic buildings.

Just my thoughts. You either have to get out before the event or survive in place for 3 to 6 months.

Mountainman.

Thanks Mountainman
I appreciated your frankness with this post, I think you said things verrry clear and pulled no punches
I think sometimes people get complacent and this post could save a life !!!!!!
Hobo

Hey Hobo,

You are welcome. Did I miss any points?? Itried to cover most of the bases.

Mountainman.

Hey there gc I believe the topic of when to bug out will be a good one at the meeting.........Had to do a little of the burning the potty barrels detail did ya there gc....that'll learn ya for screwing up on patrol......lol.......we have a portable for training the rule is" those that use it have to dispose of it".....I have a personal shovel we let the new guys figure that one out....then they know what my little shovel on my pack is for...lol.....

Traveller,

Nope, I have never been on top of a remote hill, at an OP for days on end, burning our waste every night. Never been there, never done that. 😉

Personal survival kit: TP, Wet Wipes and an E-tool. No complaints from me.

Mountainman.

PS - Yes, a little session on when to bugout would be a good topic at the June Meeting.

At the June meeting, are you guys going to have 'picnic table' stations for specific topics?

I read something about fires..

WTSHTF - you don't want to have fires, or cooking fires. People can smell it or see it for miles. Until you know you don't have hungry hoards nearby, you don't want to be taking that chance. Solar cookers... jars of soup in the sunshine...
or cold food.

It is better scent wise to reheat food rather than cook it. If you have a clean burn fuel souce such as naptha there is no smell. Boil water cook pasta, rice, anything dried.... reheat pasta sauce etc, but don't let it simmer for long... as soon as it is warm enough to eat do so. Save fuel.. save yourself. Instant coffee is much better than brewed as far as keeping down odours goes. I think what it comes down to is that most people are completely unaware of the "signature" they make and leave behind them. That is... the disturbance they make in the world. It is a good exercise to take into account every result of your actions for a specific time. Say an hour even.. or a day. Carry a notepad and write your thoughts every time you do something. Bodily waste, cooking, cleaning, a trip to the store... place yourself into a post SHTF mindset... and discover how different it will REALLY be.

Lets go back in this thread before the end of the world.
Toilets will flush fine if you just manually fill the tank with any water. As far as I know, sewers are gravity drained.

Lets go back in this thread before the end of the world.
Toilets will flush fine if you just manually fill the tank with any water. As far as I know, sewers are gravity drained.

Completely agree. That said... if you are in the city... in an apartment.. that is a LOT of water to have to store or transport... for sanitation. Just sayin...