Talking About Green

With the modern push to green technology, it is becoming more and more important to make green improvements around the home. One of the most effective ways to do this is through investing in a composting toilet. The average toilet flushes over 6000 gallons of water each year, and that is just one single toilet. If you consider older toilets that are not low flow, you can be wasting thousands more gallons of water a year.  For new installations and houses that are not highly trafficked (such as a cabin, pool house or garage), a compositing toilet can save you a lot of money on your water bill while also saving the environment.

How does a compositing toilet work?

The fear of installing a composting toilet has been passed down by consumers that have had bad experiences using wilderness toilets and port a potties. They believe these toilets would remind them of that experience; however, that cannot be further from the truth. Compositing toilets have harmless bacteria that mixes with mulch at the bottom of the toilet and allows the waste to be degraded into a substance that is much like normal fertilizer used in a garden.  Kept at the right temperature and with a good flow of oxygen the toilet is able to degrade the waste quickly. Most composting toilets have built in fans and temperature controls to keep the toilet at the needed temperature as well as having automatic liquid controls and a mixer to dispose of the waste with relatively no problems for the user. Once a month, or once a year for some toilets, you do have to dispose of the waste, but since the waste is deemed to be germ free you can dispose of it near plants around the house. All of this makes for an extremely green product that has many different uses.

Cost of a composting toilet

Composting toilets can be very expensive initially. Most run from $700 all the way to $3000, but after the initial cost there is relatively no upkeep fee. The only additional product you have to purchase is the mulch that is at the bottom of the toilet and is changed once a month depending on the toilet. Considering just the amount of water you save when switching to one of these toilets, the price quickly pays for itself.  So what are you waiting for? Switch to a compositing toilet today, your wallet and the environment will thank you.

Bio: Josh McNair is an expert on making your home more environmentally friendly. He works for the online home improvement retailer Plumbersurplus.com which specializes in “plumbing supplies “.