We take a look at the six best cover materials composting toilets. FWIW, I don’t use anywhere near the amount of water that you do. Instead of adding vinegar to the liquids tank we’ve been using bio-enzymatic urine digester by nilodor. . The Natures Head is smell-free when used with peat, sawdust or I'm Carolyn Shearlock. Also, as it’s so light we can stock up if we thought supply would be an issue. (We hope to give it, us, and the homemade boat a proper workout later this year!) We left some solid waste in our tank over the winter and it still is not completely composted. What’s the best medium for using in an RV Compost Toilet? Still, with two of us aboard for 3 weeks in late August we didn’t’t come close to overloading our Airhead. We’ve been using it for 2 years now, 2 of us on board, and very happy. It’s made from the decomposed remains of living organisms found in bogs. Thank you, fairy god boaters! If you want something specially formulated for composting toilets, then this peat and hemp mix from Sun-Mar is a good option. Thanks! When I e-mail them they send 2 fans no questions asked, no charge. If you’ve managed to source fresh wood shavings (not kiln dried), then don’t worry about leaving it as it’ll already be biologically active. Grass mixed with urine can also cause a pretty bad smell. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. A quick squirt in the bowl after each use and an occasional spritz of the trash bin solved our urine odor problem. Furthermore, it can be grown in a variety of climates. Departments. But each of them also has other unique advantages and disadvantages to consider. You might have to try a few options on our list before you find a formula that works for you – but don’t give up! Of course that means you can’t use the crank to stir it, but we’ve had this amount of coir in there for a month with a potential of 50-60 users a week and still haven’t added any extra. You can see all of our composting toilet info and videos here: Composting Toilets. About half full, adding a bit more as needed, seems to work for our episodic three-day voyages. They’ll work just like regular wood chips, but with the added benefit of composting faster at the end because microorganisms are already present. I cannot see a negative to this, heeling would not reach to the vent short of a broach. The COIR / peat moss should be damp and crumbly, never wet or soupy. Fortunately, we’ve been bugfree except for the time we had a guest who didn’t always close the lid. The rock is continually regenerating, making it a very sustainable material. Coconut fiber is fully biodegradable, made from renewable raw materials and contributes to sustainability. We considered that idea . Dryness. You want all the air flow you can get. However, you may need to chop this straw up before using it. One of our “experiments” was to try using just a tiny bit of water. I’ve even heard of people using sawdust from a lumber yard with no special preparation . Coconut coir bricks are composed of 3 different Coconut coir bricks are composed of 3 different types of compressed coconut coir. Interested in how to use the compost from your toilet? Please see the video below on how to prep and dump your Nature’s Head for complete instructions on how to use coco coir. But you do have to rehydrate it and crumble it up. If you plan to use the product for multiple things, it’s best to get the, Sun Mar uses in its cover material product, wood shavings in the form of animal bedding, naturally start to break down and compost, sucking oils and fats out of a bugs exoskeleton, Zero Waste Cat Litter: How To Dispose Of Your Cat’s Poop Responsibly, needs to be left before use (for best results), 60% organic bulking material (wood shavings, coir, chopped straw, or hemp), Information on how to safely and constructively use and dispose of composting toilet waste. Appreciated the honesty and candor (and humor). It’s very good at preventing odors, and it’s easy to get a consistent supply. Some always makes it there, but occasionally we get a puddle hovering at the back of the bowl. A couple more thoughts: Def like the coir better. Natures Head Composting Toilet using compressed coconut coir That took care of them.) To get hold of some for free, try asking a local tree surgeon if they have any to give away. It comes in compressed blocks that can be stored anywhere, and are perfect for anyone with limited space, such as in an RV. I cut each chunk in half, and put each half-chunk (about a pound or so) in a 1 gallon zip lock bag. Diatomaceous earth also has a lot of uses outside pest control. Folks have been dumping in plastic 5 gal containers lined with plastic since plastic material was invented in 1967 as characterized in the famous Mike Nichols’ movie, “The Graduate.”, You convinced me. Our storage bucket (out in the garbage hold, not in the cabin!) As an Amazon Associate we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Or try Chip Drop, a website that matches arborists with people who want free wood chips. Coco bliss rinses their untreated organic coco coir in freshwater to ensure a low EC/salt level. We now use 18 cups of water for one 2.75-pound brick. By not using peat, we’ve cut down on the bugs considerably. I’ve read too many forum posts about how (ridiculously) long the high dollar heads can go between medium changes. After solid waste addition, the sphagnum peat moss or Nature’s Footprint Coconut Coir must be agitated 2-3 revolutions slowly in order to mix the waste into the compost and promote the composting process. We use coconut coir because it’s more sustainable than peat moss and it comes in these compact dehydrated blocks. The friendly manufacturers of the C-Head and Boondock Jonny have a great video on various composting mediums at YouTube. Hope it helps flatten out your learning curve! The ideal ratio would be around 40% peat to 60% bulking material. Includes 10 bricks of 250 grams. If you want to skip all of the guesswork and potentially unwanted sticky situations, we recommend signing up for a completely free trial of Amazon Kindle Unlimited where the book is available without charge. Here is what we wish someone had told us when we first began using the Nature’s Head. If you’re serious about making your composting toilet the best it can be, we highly recommend reading Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins. Periodically clean out the vent intake and fan on the seat and on the deck fitting if it’s screened. I don’t use a fan, but I did screen the vent hose. • Totally FREE – one email a week, I’M THINKING ABOUT LIVING ON A BOAT AND DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START. We’ve never had customs search our boat, but I have the toilet information copied and stored with the bricks, and bricks clearly labeled in two common languages just in case. Coconut Coir. Enjoy your time in the Bahamas. Since it wasn’t composting or even breaking down well (we figure due to the chlorine messing up the environment) we just purchased a second tank to swap in and now keep the full one in a sunny spot to finish composting. By mixing the waste with sawdust, peat moss or coconut coir and venting the flow of air outward, the toilet eliminates odor through an anaerobic processing system. Buy them online or from local pet or garden stores. . Deliver To Home . You should be able to source straw from any local farmer. Gallon size “ ZIPLOC ” type bags are an inexpensive manner for storing the medium. Finally, dumping urine or changing coconut are relatively quick jobs compared to many of those on a traditional head and, if something else is going on, changing the compost can be put off a day or two. The best peat moss for composting toilets is either Premier peat moss, Hoffman peat moss, or Perfect Plants organic peat moss. How much is Coconut COIR? Win win. My 2 cents, but this method works for us. Bottom line is to use as little water as possible to get the job done, so the coir can do it’s job and absorb the moisture in the waste, not start out saturated to begin with. I’d greatly appreciate thoughts. Weekly maintenance – scoop out 20%-30% of the compost and replace with hydrated Coco COIR or Peat Moss, this will keep the toilet from filling and give your waste additional time to compost allowing you to dump the toilet less often. Coconut is easily renewable (it’s coconut husks) while it takes millions of years for peat to form. . Also good info to know regarding the fan. Keep reading to discover how to go zero waste on your cat's poop. Others chemically treat their coco coir. Hi again! The benefits of the composting head are tremendous and will pay off for years. Transitioning to a composting toilet is definitely an adventure and one that calls for experimentation. The Poopoo Pucks coconut coir come as compressed light-weight disks and … We keep a spray bottle of vinegar handy. What Is Coco Pith. Were you able to find a vent to screw in or did you remove the entire deck plate? Not to move the conversation into uncomfortable territory, but I think that without the coir or peat, the desiccated remains would become a more concrete-like, hard to remove substance. So, we got some (pricey) 1/2 starboard and made a little deck under the head with just enough width to set you heels on. The remaining dust and … . However, if the chips are too large, then they’re less available to any bacteria and won’t be compact enough to keep smells from escaping. If the powder gets wet, it’s not as effective, so it works best in a separating toilet. $50 - $100. We do use peat moss and just mist the tank with a little spray bottle once a day or so to keep dust from clogging the screen on the vent hose, which is a bit of a pain to remove, disassemble and clean. Bulking material helps dry out the contents of the solid waste reservoir, creates airflow, facilitates decomposition, and nutralizes odors. They also use smaller blocks than most sellers. Coconut coir is much more compressed than … It doesn’t completely kill the odor in the tank but seems to make it more tolerable when emptying and we think more pleasant than vinegar. This is the cheapest option and a great way to utilize local resources. Zero waste cat litter is super easy. The best type of wood chips to use is semi-composted wood chips. but given no size or weight info on the “brick.” That was way too little. When we purchased it we got a bag of coco husks if I remember rightly. Second, we have a stash of coir bricks we’ve vacuum packed with our food-saver machine so that, if we had water reach the storage area, the bricks wouldn’t “inflate” and get ruined. The book is an absolute goldmine of useful information about everything imaginable to do with composting toilets. Haven’t had bugs again, and it’s just easier to work with, Amelia, if you are the same, thanks for your advice (on feminine positioning lol) when first got the CH. In our experience, local farms can’t always guarantee a consistent supply or consistent quality. When these materials are wet, they won’t absorb moisture and don’t control odors. Coconut Coir. We take a long (3 months or so) live aboard cruise each summer. Another option is to prepare the coconut coir in a bucket or gallon-sized bag. * If you click a link on this page and make a purchase, we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Many of the resources we suggest using are waste products from an already established industry. Crumble coconut coir disks into the composting toilet’s solid waste reservoir. $ 19.31. A composting medium is used as the base of the solid compartment. So we and our cat are using the same litter, ha ha. This is a great post, Carolyn! Time will tell. Learn more. You start each cycle by filling the drum with 1 gallon of damp and loose compost material, coconut coir is popular. One of them is enough to “preload” your toilet. 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