Composting toilets everywhere!
Seattle needs more public toilets and composting toilets are an affordable, eco-friendly, simple, odorless and low-maintenance solution.
According to Wikipedia, "composting toilets are often used as an alternative to central wastewater treatment plants (sewers) or septic systems. Typically ... more
Seattle needs more public toilets and composting toilets are an affordable, eco-friendly, simple, odorless and low-maintenance solution.
According to Wikipedia, "composting toilets are often used as an alternative to central wastewater treatment plants (sewers) or septic systems. Typically they are chosen (1) to alleviate the need for water to flush toilets, (2) to avoid discharging nutrients and/or potential pathogens into environmentally sensitive areas, or (3) to capture nutrients in human excreta."
Advantages of compost toilets:
(#1) LOW COST = MORE TOILETS POSSIBLE. Compost toilets are affordable and therefore we can afford to have many more locations across the City. At a $25,000/unit estimate for low end systems, the City could afford to install 200 composting toilets with its 2004-level $5 million public toilet budget, instead of only five units.
Granted, some areas may require more expensive composting toilet systems. For starters, the lower-cost units could go in Seattle's more remote park areas where the sewer paradigm is less likely to reach and also in community gardens where people spend longer amounts of time.
In 2004, Seattle bought five self-cleaning, automatic-door toilets for $5 million with the aim of giving tourists and transients a clean public restroom. They ended up being a convenient spot for inappropriate sex and drug activity. Because of all of the problems, they ended up being placed on sale on eBay. (Seattle P-I)
MORE TOILETS MEAN MORE ACCESSIBILITY WHEN AND WHERE YOU NEED IT MOST
Some of you may have heard about the lobbying efforts of Mike McCready, the Pearl Jam guitarist, to lobby for greater restroom access in Washington state. The Seattle musician asked state lawmakers to mandate emergency access to businesses' private restrooms for sufferers of gastrointestinal disorders that make the need for finding a toilet more urgent than most.
All of us have had the experience of being out and about and having a panic about where to find a restroom or place to discretely pee near a bush or tree. Evidence of this can often be found in our parks and alleys. Many choose to steer clear of Seattle's notoriously stinky, creepy, dark and often closed public restrooms. Businesses often only share their bathrooms with paying customers. Seattleites deserve better options!
(#2) PROVEN TECHNOLOGY Companies like Clivus Multrum http://ClivusMultrum.com and Phoenix http://CompostingToilet.com sell popular public units. The Bronx Zoo has one and so does Queens Botanical Garden in New York City.
In December 2009, Picardo Farm P-Patch in Seattle installed the first Seattle Municipal composting toilet system with the help of a Neighborhood Matching Grant to serve the City's second largest community garden.
(#3) YEAR ROUND, ALL WEATHER OPERATIONS. Many public restrooms are closed due to risk of freezing weather on pipes, especially those in our Parks system. Properly designed composting toilet systems can be open 24/7.
(#4) CHEAP + EASY TO INSTALL + MAINTAIN. No expensive plumber is needed and maintenance is simple.
(#5) HUMANURE IS A COMMODITY NOT A "WASTE". Composting toilets generate a valuable humanure compost end product that can go back into the ecosystem. According to Wikipedia:
"By disposing of feces and urine through composting, the nutrients contained in them are returned to the soil. This aids in preventing soil degradation. Human fecal matter and urine have high percentages of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, carbon, and calcium. It is equal to many fertilizers and manures purchased in garden stores. Humanure aids in the conservation of fresh water by avoiding the usage of potable water required by the typical flush toilet. It further prevents the pollution of ground water by controlling the fecal matter decomposition before entering the system. When properly managed, there should be no ground contamination from leachate."
Stop contributing your hard-earned tax dollars towards a bloated system that views humanure as "waste". Do you know how much you have to pay to be connected to the region's bloated and wasteful sewer system and how many years the new billion-dollar "wastewater treatment" centers will cost to pay off? Wouldn't you rather see your money going to technology and principles that support your values? Think about it.
(#6) ECO-FRIENDLY. Systems are low or no-water, buildings typically have a lower environmental footprint and can run off the grid.
(#7) ODOR-FREE. They don't stink. The odorless toilet room and aerobic decomposition are more aesthetic than a vault toilet's penetratingly offensive odor. The end products smells like soil. (Info from Phoenix)
For more information on composting toilets visit
* http://youtube.com/watch?v=wNMs9oiPuvo National Geographic video
* http://HumanureHandbook.com Joseph Jenkin's Humanure Handbook, which you can read online for free.
* http://bit.ly/Fi175 How green is a self-contained composting toilet?
For more information on how to get involved in this initiative as well as how to get involved in the many exciting collaborative permaculture projects in Seattle and special events contact Daniel Johnson (Seattle Permaculture Guild http://SeattlePermacultureGuild.org + City Repair http://cityrepair.info) at (206) 369 - 2661 (mobile) or by e-mailing him at urbangardens@comcast.net
Linda
It's time to be enlightened about composting toilets. Water conservation is important and properly managed compost from these toilets can be recycled into the soil system that needs revitalizing.