What is a composting toilet?

A composting toilet is simply a system of separating liquid waste from solid waste and mixing the solid waste with a composting medium.

Why did we choose a composting toilet?

Our main reason for choosing a composting toilet was to conserve water. Traditional RV toilets use water to flush liquids and solids into a holding tank. Since we planned from the outset to dry camp (aka boondock) as often as possible it was important for us to conserve our fresh water resources.

1 Year Update: This reason still holds very true. We spent the majority of our first year without hookups, and not having to leave our campsite every few days to dump our holding tanks has been great.

How does the Nature’s Head composting toilet work?

The Nature’s Head composting toilet works by diverting liquids into a plastic jug in the front and has a separate compartment in the back of the toilet for the composting medium and waste. It has a built-in fan that connects to your existing electrical system, which helps the solid waste break down faster and vents odors to the outside.

When we installed our composting toilet we already had some modifications in mind, mainly diverting the urine to our existing black tank instead of using the plastic jug (which you see as that black hose in the picture above) and using a solar vent instead of a mushroom vent. Want to know more about our installation? Click here!

1 Year Update: Diverting the liquids to our existing black tank was a great decision. A word on that solar vent though: The fan is loud. When the wind isn’t blowing and it’s quiet inside, we can hear the fan from the living area and the master bedroom. It’s not bothersome though. It actually assures us that it’s working. Also, if it’s super windy outside (like it has been lately) there tends to be a back draft in the composting compartment. It’s kinda strange having a breeze in there when you’re using it, so we’ll sometimes disconnect the vent hose briefly during use.

Using the toilet

The use of this toilet is fairly self explanatory. For #1 actions, keep the hatch for the composting compartment closed. For #2, open the hatch before you go. I highly recommend disposing of toilet tissue into a separate bin. We have a small trash can with a step lid that we throw tissue into. You also don’t want to throw disposable wipes, diapers, or sanitary napkins into the composting bin.

Important: You will need to learn how to control your bladder and sphincter muscles separately. Empty your bladder first, then open the hatch and relax your sphincter. You want as minimal an amount of liquids to mix with the compost as possible.

1 Year Update: All persons in our rig have been throwing tissue into the trash bin we have for that purpose. Despite what you may think, this does not cause an odor. Also, it’s nearly impossible for us girls to not get liquids in the composting compartment, but we do our best.

For the guys…

Everybody sits when using this toilet. Unless you want to clean your toilet out every time you use it, you should sit too. Boys and young men may need to learn how to release their bladders more slowly so they don’t experience any splashing.

1 Year Update: Thankfully our guys haven’t had any issues with this.

For the girls…

Children and smaller women may notice that they’ll have to sit towards the front of the toilet for #1 and scoot back for #2. Also, we all know how messy periods can be. I highly recommend you keep a spray bottle next to your toilet filled with a water and vinegar solution, or a mixture of water, witch hazel, and a few drops of essential oils to spray down the toilet after every use.

1 Year Update: Another note on periods. I’ve found that those spray bottles they give you after child birth are super convenient to use after each use of the toilet. It not only helps you stay cleaner, but it also helps the toilet stay cleaner. I simply use water in mine, but you can add anything gentle enough for your nether regions if you wish.

Cleaning the toilet

The collection jug for liquids can be emptied into any septic system. When traveling that usually means hauling your jug into the public restroom and pouring the contents into the toilet. Or you can empty it at the dump station when you empty your grey tanks. The bottle can be cleaned out with water and vinegar if you choose.

The solids are a bit more tricky. You’ll need to remove the entire toilet and empty the contents into a plastic bag, or into your composting bin if you compost your own waste. The plastic bag (we use black trash bags) can be placed into any public dumpster or disposed of at any public landfill.

Do not use bleach or ammonia to clean out the solids compartment. You do not want to kill the bacteria that breaks down your waste. We use biodegradable dish soap and water to clean our toilet, and either hand dry with paper towels or allow it to air dry completely before placing it back inside.

For daily cleaning, I recommend having a spray bottle filled with a water/vinegar mixture or a water/witch hazel/essential oil mixture next to the toilet so you can spray the toilet every day or even after every use.

1 Year Update: Since we have our liquids diverted to our black tank, we don’t have to worry about emptying the liquids jug. Our black tank can last about a month before we have to empty it. The composting bin gets emptied about once a week and deep cleaned about once a month or so.

What do the adults think of it?

We love that we save water by using this toilet. It’s great that emptying the black tank in our rig is done way less often and we don’t have to deal with the sewage smells of a typical black tank. However, it’s not very easy to clean. The agitator inside the composting bin does not mix up the corners very well, so if your compost is damp you’ll have to clean those corners out by hand. The urine spout is not easily accessibly for cleaning, either. Overall, we don’t regret making the change.

1 Year Update: We still think that cleaning the composting bin, and the toilet as a whole, is not that easy. We haven’t figured out how to get things from sticking in the corners of the bin, but cleaning it out more often has made it less of an issue.

What do the kids think of it?

The kids like that they don’t have to flush the toilet after every use. They don’t like that the spider handle can be difficult to turn if the compost is too damp or the bin is getting full, nor do they particularly enjoy helping to clean it. It’s also a bit high for our younger kids, which is true for most toilets, so we have a small stool for them to use when needed.

1 Year Update: We are currently toilet training our youngest, who has her own training toilet to use. She loves using and flushing regular toilets (strangely they are one of the few things she isn’t afraid of, but that could change at any toddler moment). We’re not sure how we’ll teach her how to use the composting toilet, so I’ll update this again once we’ve figured that out.

Overall we are happy that switched out our RV toilet for the Nature’s Head Composting Toilet. Do you have a composting toilet? What do you think of it? Leave us a comment below! And feel free to email us if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from you!