This summer marks one year of one of the most talked about aspects of our sustainable bus project – The Composting Toilet.

We are not the first to DIY a no-flush toilet into a roughly 200 square foot micro home, but we think we’ve done a pretty good job.

1 year later: Our Bus-Board Separating – Composting Toilet. Here’s to a year of no toilet flushing in our home!
Grateful for the knowledge of sustainability and conservation.

We used a urine diverter designed by Separette, a european company.  Only thing we may change is the somewhat cheap seat and cover that could seal better, but it has worked fine for now.  Sean build a dual wall box from redwood and cedar fence boards.  We choose this wood to deter insects, and absorb moisture and smell.

An excerpt from the official Seismic Awakening tour of Glorya Marie: “Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About Our Composting Toilet (But Were Too Afraid to Ask)”

This month we are finishing up the watering trough shower/tub, on demand hot water heater, and new xantrex xanbus inverter system.  In the process, we also gave the toilet a little one year face lift with the palm sander just yesterday.  This completely refreshened the box to near new condition.

Refreshed by the sander, the compost toilet is ready for more service

When Sean originally built it we left the redwood and cedar raw, but as we use natural oils to seal the rest of the cabinetry, we have decided to seal the toilet as well.  The dual walls of the box have been a very effective form of smell and climate control for the compost bucket and burying the full liner bags have been no problem, breaking down great 1-2 feet below the soil surface.  In other news, we have found over the last year that composting toilets are not that great for absorbing the scent of vomit, and essential oil sprays containing lavender or lemon are clutch for anti-bacterial surface and air-cleansing in the bathroom area.

Sean inspects his work and blows away sawdust on the redwood and cedar enclosure he designed and built for our “Separette” urine diverter and 5-gallon compost bucket