How to Make a Homemade Camping Toilet

Bringing a toilet along on a back country camping trip makes bathroom time more comfortable. A homemade camping toilet is cheap to make. Using the toilet is environmentally friendly because you carry your waste out with you instead of polluting the environment. This homemade toilet works like a compost toilet. Non-toxic environmentally friendly substrate is used to control odor. No water is needed, which makes this portable camping toilet a lightweight toilet that is perfect for carrying on long hikes through back country trails.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

5 gallon plastic bucket with handle Snap-on toilet seat lid with lid 2 to 5 gallon plastic bags (biodegradable plastic bags are preferred) Laundry scoop Sawdust or wood chips Two zip ties
5 gallon plastic bucket with handle
Snap-on toilet seat lid with lid
2 to 5 gallon plastic bags (biodegradable plastic bags are preferred)
Laundry scoop
Sawdust or wood chips
Two zip ties

Step 1

Find or buy a 5 gallon plastic bucket with a handle. If it is a used bucket, clean it out with warm soapy water and dry it with a towel.

Step 2

Put one 5 gallon plastic bag inside the plastic bucket. This will serve as the excrement bag to catch and hold waste and keep the bucket clean.

Step 3

Snap the snap-on toilet seat with lid on to the top of the plastic bucket. To snap on the lid, place the lid on top of the bucket, push down on the lid with your hands and apply pressure until you hear the lid snap into place.

Step 4

Fill one 5 gallon plastic bag half way with sawdust or wood chips. The sawdust or wood chips will be used as a substrate to control odor. Throw the laundry scoop inside the bag, on top of the sawdust or wood chips. Close the bag with a zip tie. Place the bag inside the bucket.

Step 5

Prepare the portable camp toilet for use by removing the bag of substrate (sawdust or wood chips) from the bucket. Remove the laundry scoop from the bag of substrate and use it to scoop enough substrate into the bucket to cover the bottom by about an inch. To use the toilet, lift the lid and sit on the seat. Every time the camp toilet is used, pour another laundry scoop full of substrate over the excrement and toilet paper. Close the toilet lid whenever the toilet is not in use.

Step 6

Pack up the portable camp toilet by placing one zip tie around the excrement bag and one zip tie around the substrate bag. Put both bags and the laundry scoop inside the portable camp toilet and close the toilet lid. Carry the toilet by the handle with the contents inside, out of the camp with you and dispose of the excrement bag properly in a trash receptacle.

Resources

Source for a snap-on toilet seat with lid

Article Written By Rose Kivi

Rose Kivi has been a writer for more than 10 years. She has a background in the nursing field, wildlife rehabilitation and habitat conservation. Kivi has authored educational textbooks, patient health care pamphlets, animal husbandry guides, outdoor survival manuals and was a contributing writer for two books in the Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Series.

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