Why a Composting Toilet
*This post contains an affiliate link
We don’t have a deadline for full-time RVing, there is no end date on our travel plans.
Essentially, our plan is to keep traveling until we are over it.
To help us save money while traveling, we knew we needed to boondock more. But to boondock more - we needed to make some changes to our RV. With the goal of a fully self-contained rig - our first dream was solar panels… but we quickly got outpriced.
We opted for an easier solution to start - switching to a composting toilet.
Why a Composting Toilet?
The main reasons we chose a composting toilet for our rig:
Eliminating a black tank meant we could double the size of our grey tank.
A waterless toilet means more water for faucets and showers - less water wasted getting flushed away.
For these two reasons - we could effectively boondock for twice as long because the grey tank has more capacity and our fresh water tank isn’t getting emptied for the toilet.
And here’s an added (and super important bonus) - even when we’re NOT boondocking, we’re still saving green… the Earth that is! A waterless composting toilet saves SO MANY gallons of water a day! So in essence, we’re conserving water by going to the bathroom.
The Most Common Questions We Get Asked
Does it smell?
No. Seriously - it doesn’t! Nature’s Head comes with a fan that we tied into our vents. Truthfully? No. Smell. I know - it shocked us too!
How do you use it?
Just like a regular toilet - mostly. When you go #1 - you’re done (no flush!). When you go #2 - open the trap door, do your business, close it, then rotate the agitator handle, and boom - all done!
How do you empty it?
To empty the pee, you detach the lid slightly and take the bottle outside. When we’re at an RV park - we empty it down the sewer hook-up drain and when we’re in nature - we empty it on a tree. For the solids, we take the entire toilet outside and flip it upside down into a contractor garbage bag. Because you’re not mixing the liquids and the solids, it’s not sewage waste and can be thrown out in a dumpster. We do choose to double bag it, but it’s not required.
Where do you empty it?
Wherever we are! In the beginning, we were self-conscious and only emptied in the cover of darkness (headlamps required!). But now, we don’t really care and empty when we need to.
How often do you empty it?
For the two of us, we empty the pee every other day (Molly pees A LOT!) and we empty the solids about once a month.
Do you really LOVE your toilet?
Yes. (LOVE - seriously!!)
