Composting Toilets: A Super Cheap and Easy Way to Make and Use Your Own

Composting toilets have become increasingly popular in recent years, and while there are many commercially made ones available for sale, it is surprisingly cheap and to build your own composting toilet, that is just as effective as the large variety of far pricier and more complex ones that can be found for sale on the market.

I was first introduced to the use of composting toilets last winter during my stay at a small commune in California, and was surprised by how effective and relatively odorless such a simple system was as an easy and affordable alternative to modern plumbing.

Here, the composting toilets consisted of a giant rubber bucket underneath a toilet seat mounted on a surgical chair inside a small shed that acted as an outhouse,see top photo; building such a frame would also be easy to do with wood scraps for anyone with the most basic carpentry skills, and a smaller 5 gallon bucket can also be used with this surgical chair frame setup, as was done at a small farm I stayed at in Arkansas this spring.

Since my initial experience with them, I devised my own composting toilet system to use on my off-grid camping journey, and have been using it ever since. And for just about $10 or so, anyone wishing to experiment with or adopt a composting toilet into their life can have their own bucket-style, composting toilet system with no construction of any frames involved, just like I have done.

But why would anyone want to mess with a composting toilet in the first place, some people may ask.

Well, composting toilets are an especially attractive option for individuals, families and communities looking to transition to any type of off-grid lifestyle, those building sustainable tiny homes, and really anyone who is interested in sustainability and building their own home at the cheapest possible cost, as composting toilet systems - even the most expensive commercially built ones - are far cheaper than installing septic tanks or hooking up to expensive city wastewater systems, both of which must be accompanied by costly plumbing installation. Furthermore, in such a system, as the name implies, human waste is composted and can then be recycled and use to create new nutrient-rich soil; just as cow, sheep and chicken manure is commonly used as compost in gardening, so too can the end product of a composting toilet system - ‘humanure’ - be used as a compost in your garden. In such a way, traditional plumbing and all the associated costs are eliminated while at the same time helping to create new gardening soil for free, just as composting food scraps from food that is already being consumed does - just one more layer of sustainability that can be integrated into to any off-grid homestead or sustainable gardening operation, making it even more efficient, sustainable and independent.

So, for those interested in making the cheapest composting toilet possible, all you will need is a standard 5 gallon bucket that can be picked up for a few bucks at your local hardware store, Walmart, or maybe even a used one can be found or scavenged for free from a dumpster, construction operation or found for next to nothing at a local thrift store; this, and of course the toilet lid, and there are in fact toilet lids made specifically to fit onto 5 gallon buckets, that can be found in the camping section of Walmart and other large convenience or hardware stores or your local camping our outdoor supply store for under ten bucks. Such a lid will fit snugly onto the top of the bucket, and this is what I use, although one on the tightest budget or those looking for a higher seat height might be able to find a used standard toilet lid for free or super cheap, and then mount it to a simple frame made by scraps that could be found for free, such as wooden pallets, assuming one already had the tools. The easiest way to go, however, is definitely to find a lid designed to mount directly to the 5 gallon bucket, and then you are ready to put it to use as soon as you have some organic matter to throw in after each use.

And there’s mine, with a little pile of coffee grounds mixed with wood shavings, the most common mixture I use for this purpose.

There are many options, but I find used coffee grounds mixed with wood shavings from cutting up firewood with the chainsaw works the best for me, as I’m a coffee drinker, and living the camping lifestyle with a wood stove, there’s almost always an abundance of wood shavings available. Leaves and ash from wood stove or campfire use also work well, and any combination of coffee grounds, leaves, wood shavings, and ash can work great. In California, we got giant bags of used coffee grinds from local Starbucks’ as a part of some program they had adopted to recycle their coffee grounds by making them available for pickup by local farmers and gardeners before eventually throwing them away if never picked up. A big pile of these coffee grounds sitting right next to the toilet for use was always kept stocked, and we would often mix it with crushed leaves and sometimes ash whenever the wood stove was cleaned out. At my short stay at a small gardening operation in Arkansas, a pile of wood shavings was used, but whatever you opt to use (based upon whatever is available and best suited to your own situation in your particular location), you’ll want to make sure you have at least a small pile of organic matter ready to go before putting your new composting toilet to use, for this is the key in helping to keep the otherwise stinky smell in check.

Also before the first use, you’ll want to cover the bottom of your bucket with a layer of dry organic material, such as wood shavings, or even paper shavings would work, anything organic that will soak up moisture and also break down relatively quickly during the composting process. Go ahead and throw your toilet paper right into the bucket too, as it will help to soak up moisture and compost right along with everything else. Just make sure to be using a ‘septic safe’, biodegradable and non-bleached variety, basically something entirely natural that will both compost well and not add any toxins into your new soil. Thankfully, there are an ever increasing variety of fully biodegradable and totally natural (non-bleached) toilet papers, many of which are also sustainably sourced from bamboo, recycled materials, and the like, probably even hemp.

Then after each use, just liberally sprinkle a layer of whatever you’ve opted to use for this purpose on top of your poop until it is well covered, and then replace the lid. If the smell begins to get bad, you probably just need to be using a little more of your topping, or let it air out for a while each day if using a lid that seals to the bucket; otherwise the associated bad smells one might expect are surprisingly absent or minimal, at least until the bucket begins to get full, at which point it is time to empty it and begin the process over again.

This is the grossest part of all, but it’s really not all that bad, just empty the bucket of waste into a compost pile that is ideally in a place not accessible to any pets (or children) who may be tempted to get into it, or it can be simply buried in a hole for those not desiring to actual make compost; either way it will eventually be composted and turn back into the soil from which it originally came from. In a compost pile, the waste should dry out in a day or two, and then will simply compost with everything else in the compost pile, assuming you are also composting food, just mix the pile every so often and within several weeks to months you will have a pile of great new compost to use in your garden.

Since I do not have all that much experience on the actual composting side of the process, never personally being in one place long enough to actually compost my crap, one may wish to look further into methods and tips on how best to run this process from those who have overseen the entirety of the composting from toilet to garden - and there are many out there who have, I just wasn’t at the commune long enough to see the end product, only the basic process involved.

For more info, below is a short video I found of a guy who composts his poop using the traditional compost bin method, and he has more related as in-depth videos on his channel it looks like...

And here is an article about a couple who composts their waste, using a slightly different method that ‘seasons’ the poop for a whole year before composting it; I’m sure there are a number of additional methods one could use, just as there are different ways to compost food waste.

As far as a cheap and easy alternative to both modern plumbing and the more expensive composting toilets for sale on the market, I can attest that the bucket composting toilet is cheap, easy, and works great; and so long as your waste is properly composted, you are also guaranteed to have an additional source of nutrient-rich compost for building soil for your garden(s), as many who have integrated composting toilets into their homesteads can attest to.