# Sawdust Toilet Question



## Jan Sears (Jun 7, 2002)

Want to know if you can use wood ashes instead sawdust in composting toilets? We will be putting one in our off grid cabin. As we will be cooking & heating with wood just thought that I could kill 2 birds with 1 stone so as to speak.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I've tried it and it smelled bad. YOu will be MUCH happier using the sawdust.


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

Pity. I was wondering the same. We do put our ashes in the outhouse & they work fine there. I put dry coffee grounds in our composting toilet. Seems to help keep the odor down.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

It really needs to be organic material. What you are doing is balancing the 'green' (high nitrogen human waste) with 'brown' (high carbon sawdust, peat, straw, or shredded leaves). It's just like building a good compost pile, only you are starting it in a bucket. 

We tried dirt one time, and that didn't work at all. It's got to be something that will stay on top of the bucket contents, and the dirt sunk.

Kathleen


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

Anyone tried shredded paper? I have 10 large bankers boxes of paper to be shredded at the office which would probably be a six month supply!!


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

The ashes from the wood stove are great to put on a garden spot. Veggies grown in soil that has been amended with ashes keep better when they are put in a root cellar.


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## Freeholder (Jun 19, 2004)

Ann-NWIowa said:


> Anyone tried shredded paper? I have 10 large bankers boxes of paper to be shredded at the office which would probably be a six month supply!!


Shredded paper ought to work just fine -- it's organic, and in composting terms it's 'brown', i.e., carbon as opposed to nitrogen.

Kathleen


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## Jan Sears (Jun 7, 2002)

Thanks for everybodies helpful suggestions.


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## countribound (Jun 5, 2005)

I have heard of sawdust toilets, but I'm afraid I do not know anything about them. Is it literally a bucket with sawdust in it? Are you emptying it every time? Sorry for the silly question- learning one bit at a time. Thanks.


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## countribound (Jun 5, 2005)

Wow, that's nicer than my indoor bathroom! Thanks for the info. Good to know!


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## Traci Ann (Jun 27, 2005)

We are using one. We have been using peat and it seems to work well.


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## Jan Sears (Jun 7, 2002)

Thanks everyone! Rose that is one "beautiful" toilet pic. Is that yours? I showed the pic to hubby but he thought it was too fancy!? I will have keep after him. But we still have a ways to go before the toilet can go in. Floors to be laid. Interior walls to be put up, stairs for the loft to be built etc.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

rose2005 said:


> It's a bucket with a seat...or put in a container with a normal toilet seat. First you put sawdust in the bottom of the bucket. Then when someone 'goes' sawdust is used to cover everything. It also stops any smells. Once it is full....you then empty it and start again.
> Our family of 5 used one from July to March and it worked very well. Getting used to the idea is harder than it actually is in reality. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
> 
> Rose


Where can people empty them?
I always wondered because compose heaps from scrap veggies and such are not suppose to have any animal waist in them.

So is it tossed into a different kind of compost heap?


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## CountryCabin (Mar 8, 2007)

RiverPines said:


> Where can people empty them?
> I always wondered because compose heaps from scrap veggies and such are not suppose to have any animal waist in them.
> 
> So is it tossed into a different kind of compost heap?


This may answer your questions. 
They provide all the info. on line, from making one to composting.

http://www.humanurehandbook.com/photo_albums/toilet_album/pages/owner_built_13_jpg.htm

Happy reading.


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

Yes, you can use wood ashes instead of sawdust. However, it doesn't work nearly as well.

I grew up using that. However, it's not a composting toilet - more like a chemical toilet. More smelly, less pleasant. You will definitely need to bury the results, rather than simply tip it out to compost. You end up digging a lot of holes, and the bucket gets VERY heavy - I'd expect a plastic bucket to lose its handle - unexpectedly, messily, and catastrophically. We used a heavy-duty tarred metal container - the type that "Dan, Dan, the sanitary man" would collect on the night-soil cart in town. 

There's very little that works as well as and is as available as light, dry, fluffy sawdust.

River Pines, the "animal waste" a compost heap is supposed not to contain is meat or fat. Manure is fine in compost.


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## cnsilver (Feb 20, 2008)

can you build your composting toilet? they are quite pricey


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## AbbeyLehman (Jan 2, 2006)

Can the pine bedding that is sold in the pet section of stores be used in place of proper sawdust? I'd like to get one (toilet) started without searching down the cheapest sawdust in the beginning....Thanks.


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

AbbeyLehman said:


> Can the pine bedding that is sold in the pet section of stores be used in place of proper sawdust?


If you use the shavings, get them at the feed store. It will be much cheaper.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

cnsilver said:


> can you build your composting toilet? they are quite pricey


Just to be clear:

Sawdust toilets are not "composting toilets" per se, they just collect the "stuff" mixed/covered up buy sawdust. 
They are really just a plastic bucket with sawdust that you make deposits into, but prettier.

Then they are dumped into a compost bin, much like the garden verity compost bin.

I would guess that a true "Composting toilet" would be pricey to build.

Been using one at "The Place" for approx 5 years, even though I do have a completed water and septic system.
Moved it upstairs, in the loft as the "upstairs bathroom", saves a long walk in the wee hours.

P.S. Sawdust works the best, I do mix in a little peat moss, to help soak up liquids.
Ashes cake up and stick to the bucket, pine needles don't soak up urine very well, they float,(same with leaves), coffee grounds seem to smell rancid/sour.
Cedar chips work OK if fine enough.


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## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

we have been using one for 2 years, dont plan to use anything else, do plan to make a fancier one.


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## busybee870 (Mar 2, 2006)

we have been using one for 2 years, dont plan to use anything else, do plan to make a fancier one. we have a double compost been, we compost in one for a year then let it set for a year while using the second , by the time the second one is used for a year the first one has composted.


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## Aintlifegrand (Jun 3, 2005)

We have used one in our house that we are building for nearly two years. we buy the large bag of cedar shavings ( fine) from Tractor supply for 6.99 and that will last us (4 adults/1 child) for one month. We compost it and use it on trees. I have no issues with it at all... we actually added a second one downstairs recently.


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