Most toilet systems mix the pee and poo together creating a dangerous sewage gloop. Bacteria that thrive in an airless environment (anaerobic bacteria) feed on this gloop and generate gasses that smell very bad. Cassette and pump-out toilets suffer badly from this problem and need strongly scented chemicals to cover it up, which is not great for anyone.

When you keep the pee and poo apart you have two simpler ‘products’. Urine can start to smell after 4-5 days but can easily be disposed of down toilets, drain, grass etc. Poo can be covered in sawdust which helps to dry it and also neutralises the smell. Poo can be easily composted or ‘bagged & binned’.

In our experience, the best ‘cover’ materials to use are wooden cat litter pellets and small pet bedding or sawdust. 

Start by putting a compostable bag in your bucket…you don’t have to use one, you can just pour the contents straight into your secondary composting container (which is the place where the real magic will happen), but using bags just keeps it all cleaner, and means that you can lift it out when full, double bag and then transport it to your secondary container if it isn’t nearby to where the loo is being used.

Then at the bottom of the bag put an inch or so of the wooden cat litter pellets…this acts as a biological sponge and will soak up extra moisture, and any urine that may get in there.

Then with every ‘deposit’, throw on a handful of the pet bedding or sawdust…it is best if you put dirty loo paper in a separate little bin lined with a paper bag to then bin or burn afterwards. Its not completely necessary as the toilet roll will break down too but your solids tank will fill up much faster, and the sawdust may not be able to do its job as well if the paper is blocking it.