Ecological sanitation is a new, and still emerging, paradigm for dealing with human and household waste in a manner that is beneficial for the environment. Sometimes referred to as EcoSan or Eco-San, one of the primary tenants of this paradigm is that human and household “waste” is actually a valuable resource instead of a waste product to be thrown away.
Ecological sanitation systems seek to to create “closed-loop” sanitation systems by working to make the nutrients from the output of human feces and urine available to input into agricultural uses (which then, by providing food for humans becomes “output” again). Ecological sanitation methods also promote soil fertility without using chemical fertilizers and work to assure food security for future generations.
According to biointensive agricultural expert John Jeavons, “Each person’s urine and manure contain approximately enough nutrients to produce enough food to feed that person,” and ecological sanitation methods aim to capitalize on this value of human “waste.” Ecological sanitation methods also aim to reduce the amount of soil, surface and groundwater contamination due to septic or sewage based waste disposal systems.
Composting toilets play an important role in many ecological sanitation based systems, as they are able to turn human and household organic waste into humus which can then be recycled into the environment in very beneficial ways. The composting toilets used in ecological santiation systems can be either high-tech and low-tech, and both homemade composting toilets and manufactured ones have a role to play in this system.
The homemade composting toilet system developed by Joseph Jenkins is one example of a low-tech (and nearly free) composting toilet that is integrated into an ecological sanitation paradigm. Joseph Jenkins has also long been an advocate for using the compost produced by these toilets (which he calls “humanure”) for agricultural purposes. (For more information about humanure, read Jenkin’s book (available online) “The Humanure Handbook.” You can also read a short article from this website entitled “What is Humanure and What Can I Do with It?“)
As long as the waste disposal system is a closed-loop system and beneficial to the environment, there are many different ways in which ecological sanitation systems can be organized. Other possible elements that ecological sanitation systems can include are vermicomposting (worm composting), solar toilets, and in some cases, leach fields and planter cells (such as with an earthship design).
For more information, you can read Christine Werner’s excellent article on the topic, “Closing the Loop through Ecological Sanitation” (PDF file). There are several EcoSan centers globally, including the EcoSan Center at the Norwegian University fo Life Science UMB and EcoWaters in the USA.
For more information on toilet composting systems and for answers about frequently asked questions about composting toilets, please return to the Toilet Composting Home Page.
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