When All Hell Breaks Loose (59 page)

Making the Most of Your Meals: Composting Your Family's Poop and Pee

One of the blasphemies of modern society is the primitive way in which we deal with our waste products by using one of the most sacred elements of survival, water. The fact that your survival scenario can leave you high and dry, with no way to replenish your family's potable water supply, is not only possible, it's probable. If given a choice, using one of your most critical survival resources to stem the effects of one of your most critical sanitary needs begs the question whether you should remain in the gene pool. In the drought-stricken southwestern United States, towns and cities continue to flush millions of gallons of precious water down the toilet to whisk a turd to a place of residence where it can begin its redemption process, using yet more water, energy resources, and dangerous chemicals. There has to be a better way, and there is.

HOW to COMPOST your POOP

There are several no-water or, at least, low-water ways in which we as a society can deal with our waste and, frankly, they are not being promoted with any fervor or regularity. Sadly, America's aversion to simple and common-sense sanitation strategies dates back more than a century. Back in the late 1800s, New York City was having a problem getting rid of all the poo from its residents. After chucking it into the surrounding water proved to be a stinky situation, New York City for a time hauled its dung to New Jersey. After the Garden State proved unable to accommodate the needs of the Big Apple, New York looked to France for a solution. The French had been successfully composting human manure for a long time in a process called
poudrette
. Unfortunately, the composting process was voted down by an unimaginative city council, due to its inability to view composted human poop as plant fertilizer, and the ignorance largely continues. On the hopeful side, in many areas major home-building and hardware stores now carry very low- or no-water use commercial toilet systems that have all of the comforting statistics needed to convince and reassure skeptical city planners as to their efficiency and safety.

The art of composting has been around for as long as people have. Back in the days of common sense, people actively used composted waste products from themselves, animals, food scraps, and other items to enrich the earth with nutrients. The thermophylic composting process brought the various items in the compost pile up to a certain temperature for a sustained period of time in which all of the harmful pathogens were killed. The end result was a safe, rich humus material that was then added to the garden, orchard, or field. The enriched earth would in turn give back to the people in the form of greater and more nutritious yields of fruits and vegetables—a closed-loop system in which everyone benefited. While composting might seem unrelated to an urban emergency situation, if more people would consider composting, we could deal with the cause of some of our problems instead of paying later to clean up their effect.

Just in case you're inspired to reap the harvest from your family, so to speak, see the previous illustration for how to compost your waste. For further reading and entertainment, I highly recommend
The Humanure Handbook
by J. C. Jenkins. J. C. lays out the facts regarding composting human waste in a scientific yet humorous way that won't bore you silly. He also addresses how to deal with the legalities of composting human waste in an urban environment full of fear and closed minds.

After a major disaster, due to destroyed infrastructure and swamped emergency response personnel, improvising proper sanitation methods will rank high on the list of your survival priorities.

Improper sanitation directly or indirectly kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.

Flies, other pests, and the family dog love poop and will transfer dangerous fecalborne pathogens to family members if given a chance.
All fecal matter should be thoroughly covered!

Use the PPDD method (privacy, proximity, drainage, and depth) when planning the location for your outdoor potty place.
All outdoor pit toilets should be located at least 200 feet from all water sources!

Slit trenches and cat holes, two basic styles of alternative pit toilets, can be created with a pick or shovel in suitable ground. These styles of toilets will require you to squat to go to the bathroom unless a seat is improvised. Privacy barriers can be created from an extra blanket or tarp. Discontinue using slit trenches and cat holes when they fill up to within ten to twelve inches from the top of the ground. Fill them in with earth and pack it down.

Existing toilets in the home can be used by pouring water into the bowl itself to flush.
Warning!
If using this method, make certain that your area's sewer lines are intact! The existing toilet can also be used as a "seat" by suspending and anchoring doubled-up plastic bags into the empty bowl itself. Partially filled bags with added disinfectant are then tied up securely and disposed of in a safe location.

Important! Adequate hand washing is the single most important procedure for preventing the spread of infections
. Thoroughly wash hands after going to the bathroom. Chlorine bleach-dip solutions, antibacterial soaps, and alcohol-based waterless hand sanitizers can be used in conjunction with the mechanics of proper hand washing.

If burying waste products is not an option, use containers with tight-fitting lids such as five-gallon buckets or garbage cans to safely store waste products temporarily. Garbage cans should be thoroughly staked down to prevent them from being knocked over.

Toilet paper can be improvised from newspaper, magazines, and rags, as well as an assortment of outdoor options such as grass, leaves, sticks, and rocks.

Have sanitation supplies on hand to improvise emergency sanitation needs such as digging tools, five-gallon buckets, chlorine bleach, toilet paper, hand sanitizers, plastic trash bags with ties, old newspapers, plastic sheeting, and antibacterial soap.