Technical blog: composting & composting toilet

Mama Roja uses a humanure system. That means everything from tree clippings, grass, weeds, human waste, animal waste, meat, kitchen scraps, etc. can go in the bin. It’s on a year cooking system. So when you fill the bin, you cover it and let it sit for 6 months to a year. City humanure systems go as far as cooking it for 2 years.
To start the bin, you fill it 1/3 to ½ full of dry composting materials. We used dry leaves, broken small branches, torn paper bags from the cement mix, and old grass. The main components of compost are heat, oxygen, nitrogen, and SOMETHING.
Dig a hole in the middle and put brown and green waste. We used our humanure buckets and a bucket of kitchen scraps. As you fill it, it should never stink. If it does, there’s an imbalance somewhere. The compost should stay moist but not wet and out of direct sunlight. Fill it and then cover for a year
Stage 1. In this stage, mezophilic bacteria start to do their thing.
Stage 2. In this stage, thermophilic bacteria do their thing. This is the hottest stage and these are the same bacteria that live at the center of the earth. I don’t remember if the worms come in this stage or the next stage or in the stage before. But California redworms are the way to go, apparently. They stay closer to the surface rather than burrowing deep into the ground where you don’t really need them.
Stage 3. Cooling
Stage 4. Curing
Additional note: The composting toilet here is pretty simple. It’s a 5 gallon bucket housed in a square frame with a toilet seat on top. Every time you make a deposit you cover it with sawdust and close the lid. If it stinks, you’re not putting enough sawdust in. When it’s full, you dump it in the compost and add a layer of dry compost material (we collected bags of leaves). Voilá.