Picking a composting toilet before you move

While the thought of a composting toilet probably sounds gross at first mention, you may be interested to know that the industry has come up with some advanced solutions to make it not so. Eco-friendly toilets are emerging as a great alternative both in public spaces and in private homes. If you’re moving in Vancouver, a composting toilet or eco-friendly toilet may be more accessible than you think.

If you’re moving into a new home, and especially if you’re in the process of making upgrades to your home before you move, you may want to consider a composting toilet or an otherwise eco-friendlier toilet. These come in multiple forms, which we’ll describe below.

We know what you’re thinking: why would I change my toilet before moving?

Well, there are a few reasons people are opting for the composting toilet systems, or eco-friendly toilets. They are, among other things:

A desire to care for the planet, and have an eco-friendly move

Believe it or not, some of our societies may run out of clean water before we realize it! While this may not happen anytime soon in Northern Canada, it can happen in other places, and is currently being seen with droughts around the world. Even NASA has studied the scary issue. Turning salt water into drinking water is not that cheap to do, as the experience of California has taught us.

Also, cesspools, which may seem like a natural way to get rid of waste, are actually causing harm to the environment in places like Hawaii. Pooping into the ground nowadays means distributing disease and other harmful things into the environment (like our drinking water!). Human waste needs to be treated before it goes anywhere. The liquids are disposed of by evaporation or by legal dumping (which you’d need to check rules for locally).

A composting toilet, or at least a toilet that uses less water, can help solve these issues. Doing your part can make a difference.

Composting toilets basically turn your waste into dirt for your garden, or a pack of easily disposable, non-smelly garbage.

Moving to a land away from traditional sewers or septic systems

This is a big one. We’ve written about tiny house living on our blog before. And that is one reason to need an alternative toilet. This is especially so if you want to move into tiny home or travel trailer that won’t be parked at an RV park.

But you may also be living in an area that:

• Doesn’t have direct access to connect to a sewage system.

• Is on land that can’t easily build a septic tank (like slab)

In those cases, a composting toilet may be the easiest, fastest and cheapest solution for your move to new land in Vancouver.

Plus, see our related articles on moving to a private island, which may bring up this toile tissue too!

• Pros of buying and moving to a private island in Canada
• Cons of buying and moving to a private island in Canada

You want to save money when you move into a new home!

If you’re going green with your move in Vancouver, you may have already sought out money-savers like solar panels or alternative heat sources. Composting toilets can also save on water bills (though some use electricity). They are also cheaper to use than building a septic system, if you were in that situation.

What are the best composting toilets or eco-friendly toilet options to install before moving?

You will definitely want to install your eco-friendly toilet before you move, especially if you have one bathroom in the home. This will give you time to get used to it, and not feel the pressure to install quickly, if you need the time.

Here are your options for a composting toilet to install before moving:

1) Bucket style toilet with saw dust

This type is very basic. Even if there are some nicely designed ones, it’s essentially a two-bucket system. One for poop, with sawdust, and one for pee, which gets bottled. Youcan dispose both when they get full.

Here are some videos to explain them a bit better:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcMKnjYUTUY&t=307s
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYR6GPmDzVM
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bznewz9iglc

The important thing is to not get your pee mixed with your poo with these types of toilets – that’s when the stink happens!

These can come in bigger versions, where the compost bin is built into your home (such as a container that leads outside). Here is a news story that explains one:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmZKxXG_U8k

This article also explains some central installation options for composting toilets:

• https://www.letsgogreen.com/residential-composting–toilets.html

And this video shows some bigger models:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_dBoDuNQts&t=43s

2) Dry flush toilets

We only found one like this, but there may be more. This model wraps up your waste so it doesn’t smell, and you simply toss it in the garbage, like you would a diaper:

• https://freerangequest.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/hoity-toilets-our-pick-for-best-compact-travel-commode/

3) Incinerating toilets, waterless toilets or electric and gas toilets

These are essentially the same thing. They use a waterless system with some sort of heating element to create the compost out of your poop and pee. Here is an article that delves into how they work:

• https://www.barnstablecountyhealth.org/resources/publications/compendium-of-information-on-alternative-onsite-septic-system-technology/incinerating-toilets

These types of toilets may require building codes to use! They are great for situations where you’ll be far from plumbing, as explained above. Wilderness locations, oremergency shelters can make use of these toilets well.

Sometimes, these types of toilets can be solar powered too!

5) Low water usage toilets

These toilets either use less water, or they find a way to use gray water, instead of fresh water, to flush.

This article has a list of various designs companies are making to solve the water-waste problem with toilets:

• https://www.ecofriend.com/world-sustainable-centre-afsluitdijk-sublime-fusion-naturalism-user-experience.html

Home Depot also explains their label for WaterSense® toilets (and the money savings they provide!):

• https://ecooptions.homedepot.com/water-conservation/toilets/

To conclude, a toilet is not just a toilet anymore! Pick a good one before you move in Vancouver

You can save both the environment, and money – not to mention be able to live anywhere – with these composting and eco-friendly toilets. If you have a move-in planned, check out your options for installing a new toilet. You could get both a new look, and an efficient way to do your business!

See our related articles:

• How to move a compost when doing a short distance move

• Tiny House in Metro Vancouver: Difficulties and Solutions

• Reasons why you should move into a tiny house in Vancouver

• Are solar panels a good idea before moving to a new Vancouver home?

Call Ferguson Moving & Storage in Vancouver BC

If you’re making a move in Vancouver and looking for a good moving & storage company that you can trust, give Ferguson Moving and Storage a call at 604-922-2212 or request a quote online.