Wondering what to do with your composting toilet waste once you’ve filled the chamber and let it cure? We run through how to handle & what to do with Humanure.
Below are good general rules about how to handle the byproducts of your composting toilet safely and what you can and can’t use it on.
What do I do with composting toilet waste?
When dealing with composting toilet waste, you will need to consider a few things, the main one being your personal safety when it comes to the safe handling of humanure.
Below are good general rules about how to handle the byproducts of your composting toilet safely and what you can and can’t use it on
Handling composting toilet waste
The first thing we need to talk about is safe handling practices. There are some simple rules you will want to follow when handling the compost from a composting toilet:-
- Wear a long-sleeved shirt
- Wear rubber or latex gloves
- Wear closed in shoes or gumboots (not thongs)
- Wear a mask (everyone should now have several of these thanks to COVID!)
- Wash your hands after handling
- Wash your clothes after handling
If you’re after some more in-depth info about handling humanure, take a look at our article Safety when handling humanure | 'How to' hints and tips.
What to do with the waste from a composting toilet
Once you’ve used your composting toilet for some time, you’re going to have a byproduct that’s very much like topsoil. This can be used in a variety of different ways:-
- Add it to an existing compost pile
- Spread it around fruit or nut trees
- Spread it over lawns
- Spread it around non-edible gardens
It’s essential to note there are some plant types you should not use humanure on. These include:-
- Do not use on edible plants
- Do not use on Herbs
- Do not use on Vegetables
- Do not use on edible flowers or plants used for seeds (sunflower, pumpkins, sesame, chia, etc.)
As you can see, there are a few things to think about when installing a composting toilet in your tiny home, but at the end of the day, it’s like anything in life. Once you’ve done it a few times, you get used to different ways of doing things.
One of the most significant changes in many of our customers’ experience is the mindset of being responsible for your own waste and the impact on the environment around you. When you start living a little closer to nature, you realise just how important it is to be kind to our planet, and one of the easiest ways to do this is to install a composting toilet!!
