Let’s talk toilets.
You might agree that camping and glamping chemical loos are the pits.
Even those that use water, account for 22% of a household’s waste water consumption.
Away from normal sewage connections, composting toilets offer a more eco-friendly way of dealing with waste.
What is a composting toilet?
A composting toilet is one that isn’t connected to mains sewage and uses the composting process to separate out and deal with waste.
Composting – or urine diverting – toilets don’t need water and can also be used without electricity which makes them perfect for van-lifers, off-grid homes and anyone who wants to reduce their use of resources.
How does a composting toilet work?
A composting toilet works by separating out urine from solid waste which preventing and reducing odours.
All of this happens in the toilet unit itself, so there’s no difference using a composting toilet from a normal one when you need to go.
The urine is diverted to the front of the unit and collects in a plastic container, while the solid waste goes to a different container. Sprinkle in litter after you’ve been to reduce the smell and empty every few days.
TROBOLO’s separation system enables you to dispose of solid waste with inlays and the liquids part of the tank you can empty like waste water.
You don’t need to use any water to ‘flush’ it, and a composting toilet doesn’t use chemicals like many portable toilets.
Where can you use a compost toilet?
A composting toilet can be used in a variety of locations such as:
- Off grid home
- Tiny house
- Camper van or camping trip
- Garden or allotment
- Houseboat
- Remote community space
Trying A Trobolo: Composting Toilet Review
TROBOLO’s toilet unit comes ready assembled in tactile alderwood that only comes from sustainable forests.
Each ready-to-use unit feels smooth, well finished and has been well made – these compost toilet units aren’t flimsy or short term, they feel like they’ve been made to last.
The TeraBloem unit is perfect for indoor use, comes readily assembled and you can add a natural or electric exhaust system to it.
These exhaust systems are necessary if you want to use this loo all the time, rather than when away in a campervan for instance, but the choice of electric or non-electric means they are a fabulous option for those who want to live off-grid, or who are installing the compost toilet somewhere like an allotment.
The IndiBloem is more suitable for campervan and mobile home use. It has carry handles for mobile use and relies on litter rather than an exhaust system.
The compost toilets from TROBOLO come ready to be used immediately and can be installed indoors and connected to grey water tanks or can be transported in a camper van or on a camping trip. They’re spill-proof and don’t need an exhaust to be used.
While swapping to a compost toilet can feel a bit daunting, the set up process and TROBOLO’s confidence in their system make it feel a lot easier.
Composting toilet for a camper
What I like about these options is that you don’t need to be a hardened off-gridder to make use of them.
I took the TROBOLO LuweBloem loo out with us on a weekend campervan trip.
When on the road in campervan, the TROBOLO composting toilet uses inlays (like diapers) and litter to separate out and lock away solid waste (so there’s no smell), meaning you can be on the road, away from everyone, in the wild for days on end with no problem.
It also feels like this is a solution we’ve now got forever.
While the wooden composting toilet is a bit bigger than the chemical porter potty we’ve had previously, it feels a lot better knowing we’re not using any chemicals and don’t have to deal with the chemical waste. We don’t need to use camp sites in order to deal with that problem at all in fact.
Wild camping becomes a lot easier, if you know you’ve got somewhere nice to go, and you haven’t got to head off into the woods with a shovel ever again!
My best advice would be to also invest in a pop up toilet tent or small tent to pitch beside your van, you’ve got privacy, a proper toilet and you’re not harming the environment.
What about the toilet paper?
Like a normal toilet you can use any toilet paper with a TROBOLO. Just put the used paper into the back of the toilet, into the solid waste container where it will also break down.
Emptying the compost toilet
I can’t leave the review without talking about emptying the compost toilet.
It’s actually really easy and not icky at all.
Each part of the waste (solid and liquid) is kept in separate lockable, plastic containers. These come out of the solid wooden frame and you dispose of them responsibly depending on where you are.
Because you haven’t added any chemicals to the mix, you’re not going to harm waterways or the soil when you dispose of them. After that it’s just about rinsing out the containers and resetting the sections.
The containers are air tight and liquid tight so they can’t spill or pong you out, so transporting the compost loo already used is possible too.
The TROBOLO loos can hold 2-3 days worth of loo-going – that’s a lot of water you’re saving apart from anything else.
Pros
- Having a decent loo makes everything better when wild camping
- It’s solid, dependable and well made
- Light-weight and spill proof
- There are lots of helpful tutorials online for TROBOLO
- It’s a zero waste option that feels like a normal toilet
- There’s free shipping
Cons
- Composting toilets aren’t cheap but it is hopefully a one time investment
- For British consumers, there is an import duty as these come from Europe
TROBOLO’s compost toilets start at €429.
For more information on the range and installation, head to TROBOLO.
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