Composting toilets work by speeding up the decomposition of human waste by the use of heat, air, and movement. Human waste mostly consist of liquid, which ends up simply evaporating through a ventilation pipe.  The Left over solid waste will then end up being removed and further composted, and can be recycled as a source of fertilizer.  

Benefits of a Composting Toilet

• There are many reasons why someone would prefer a composting toilet over a flushing toilet.  Most people purchase them for their off grid cabins and tiny homes, but they work perfectly well in regular households, RV’s, boats, and anywhere a toilet is desired.  Below, are a couple reasons why you would consider using a composting toilet.  
• Composting toilets are simple to use, easy to maintain, and some models are even portable.   A portable composting toilet will work great for a camping trip where you do not have access to readily available restrooms.  
• Composting toilets are a green solution and help the environment by reducing your carbon footprint.  By choosing to compost instead of flush, your waste will not be flushed down into the sewage systems, but recycled and composted into your own fresh fertilizer.  Save both money and water by going the composting route and give back to mother nature. 

Water Consumption: 

• Pro - The average family will save approximately 8,000 gallons of water a year. You’re saving about a swimming pools worth of perfectly good water every 12 months.  
• Con - Because waste isn’t flushed away, some manual handling of the remaining compost (similar to top soil) will be required to dispose or recycle.

Energy Consumption:

• Pro - Very minimal energy requirements, if any.  Composting toilets can be hooked up to 12V DC solar power to run the exhaust fan(if equipped) help evaporate liquid waste.
• Con - The Majority of composting toilets require a small amount of power to run exhaust fans whereas traditional flush toilets use no electricity.

Price:

• Pro - Once you’ve installed your composting toilet, there’s minimal ongoing cost to operate it. The occasional bottle of enzyme and you’re set good to go! 
• Con - Composting toilets are pricier than traditional toilets in their initial cost, however this doesn’t take into account the cost of installing and connecting, to your local sewage system or septic tank.  This will often cost more than the initial price of the composting toilet itself.

Environmental Impact:

• Pro - Composting toilets have virtually no environmental impact.  In fact, they help in reducing your dependence on sewage plants that use chemicals to treat raw sewage.
• Con - There really isn’t a con for the environmental impact with composting toilets other than the fact you shouldn’t use the compost on edible plants.  

It’s a Talking Point:

• Pro - You will have people curious about it, and conversations will spark about your toilet. This is a good opportunity to inform them about the benefits of composting toilets. If they’re open to the idea it won’t be an issue at all.
• Con - We’re not going to lie to you.  Some people honestly get a little freaked out at the idea of using a composting toilet. Just assure them its almost the same thing as using a toilet in a local park or campground.

Installation Cost:

• Pro - The installation cost of a composting toilet is far less than the cost of installing a traditional flush toilet.
• Con - Depending on the space you have available, a composting toilet may not be a viable option if you have your heart set on a split system composting toilet.

Maintenance:

• Pro - Most composting toilets have very few moving parts, there’s very little maintenance involved.
• Con - Part of the maintenance includes handling the compost, which turns into a topsoil-like product when broken down properly. So some users with a weak stomach could have issues changing the bins.

Space:

• Pro - If you have a split system toilet the bulk of the space taken up will be under your home so dead space can easily be used effectively.
• Con - If you don’t have space under your home a split system may not be for you and you might need to look at a self-contained toilet (which isn’t an issue, just a different type of toilet).

The Smell:

• Pro - If you maintain a composting toilet properly, there will be virtually no smell.
• Con - If your composting toilet isn’t maintained properly it can get pretty smelly.