Freeholder
This too shall pass.
There's been discussion of expedient toilets in the BS; I posted this there, then thought it would be a good idea to put it here, too, though I know the topic has been discussed before.
Get, and read, the Humanure Handbook. Older editions are available online for free (or used to be -- I'll have to check. ETA I did check and you can find PDF copies of earlier editions online). It will add bulk, but a bale of peat kept on hand will solve the odor problem. Dump in enough peat to cover the deposits after each use, and you should have very little smell. For home use, you can use other things, such as sawdust or shredded dry leaves (NOT dirt, it won't work -- it sinks, instead of covering the deposits), but a compacted bale of peat will take up less room in your shelter (and be less likely to get infested with bugs).
For emergency use, if you have several buckets, with tight lids, you can use one until it's full, then put the tight lid on and set it outside of the shelter. Rotate to an unused bucket. I think one bucket per person in the shelter ought to be enough to get you through the duration of your stay, but if you stack the buckets, you could make room for some extras just in case. (We've gone through several prolonged periods, up to a year at a time, of using a 'sawdust' bucket toilet as our only toilet, so have quite a bit of experience with them. With five people in the house, we generally had to empty the bucket about every other day, so one bucket should work for one person for ten days. Figure a week per person per bucket to be on the safe side.) Right now, buckets are still pretty cheap, so there's no reason not to have several of them on hand.
We used to dump the bucket into a compost pile, or, in one location, into the outdoor cleanout of a septic tank, using a large funnel. If things have gotten really weird, fertilizer for gardens is going to be at a premium, so don't waste nutrients (you won't be putting diseases in your soil unless someone in your group is sick, and even then, composting for a year or two will cure that problem). A closed compost container to keep pests out is a good idea, though.
Once a bucket has been used for a toilet, setting it out in the sun for a few days (after rinsing well) will reduce the odor, but it will never be good for any other use again unless you are really desperate. So if you think you will need buckets for other uses -- and buckets are handy things to have around -- make sure you have some that you can keep separate from your toilet supply.
Kathleen
Get, and read, the Humanure Handbook. Older editions are available online for free (or used to be -- I'll have to check. ETA I did check and you can find PDF copies of earlier editions online). It will add bulk, but a bale of peat kept on hand will solve the odor problem. Dump in enough peat to cover the deposits after each use, and you should have very little smell. For home use, you can use other things, such as sawdust or shredded dry leaves (NOT dirt, it won't work -- it sinks, instead of covering the deposits), but a compacted bale of peat will take up less room in your shelter (and be less likely to get infested with bugs).
For emergency use, if you have several buckets, with tight lids, you can use one until it's full, then put the tight lid on and set it outside of the shelter. Rotate to an unused bucket. I think one bucket per person in the shelter ought to be enough to get you through the duration of your stay, but if you stack the buckets, you could make room for some extras just in case. (We've gone through several prolonged periods, up to a year at a time, of using a 'sawdust' bucket toilet as our only toilet, so have quite a bit of experience with them. With five people in the house, we generally had to empty the bucket about every other day, so one bucket should work for one person for ten days. Figure a week per person per bucket to be on the safe side.) Right now, buckets are still pretty cheap, so there's no reason not to have several of them on hand.
We used to dump the bucket into a compost pile, or, in one location, into the outdoor cleanout of a septic tank, using a large funnel. If things have gotten really weird, fertilizer for gardens is going to be at a premium, so don't waste nutrients (you won't be putting diseases in your soil unless someone in your group is sick, and even then, composting for a year or two will cure that problem). A closed compost container to keep pests out is a good idea, though.
Once a bucket has been used for a toilet, setting it out in the sun for a few days (after rinsing well) will reduce the odor, but it will never be good for any other use again unless you are really desperate. So if you think you will need buckets for other uses -- and buckets are handy things to have around -- make sure you have some that you can keep separate from your toilet supply.
Kathleen
