Watching the news at work and seeing all those cars headed north out of Houston prompted me to comment to a coworker that a guy parked on the roadside with a row of portable toilets on a flatbed could have made some money. I'll bet there were some full bladders out there! <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

But there's really no need to panic if you find yourself without that item so near and dear to every American's heart: the flush toilet. Or if you have the flush toilet, you don't have the water to flush it. All it takes is a few cheap and simple preparations ahead of time. You can use it in your apartment bathroom, your off-grid cabin, the tent in your backyard, or your car (although maybe a smaller version here!). There's no foul odor. You don't need water except to wash your hands.

You need two new 5-gallon plastic buckets, a clip-on toilet seat, sawdust (keep it handy in the second bucket), and some toilet paper. A smallish scoop is handy.

Add about 2" of sawdust to the bottom of the first bucket, then clip the toilet seat on the rim. When nature calls, make your deposit, cover with a scoop of sawdust from bucket #2. You don't have to separate solids from liquids. You don't need chemicals. When the bucket gets three-quarters full or so, you would preferably dispose of it in an active compost pile. If you don't have a compost pile, you could dump it into plastic garbage cans for disposal at the local landfill when things are back to normal. (If you think that's uncool, remember how many full Pampers end their lives in landfill.)

Sound too simple? It's not. Go to http://www.joseph-jenkins.com/online_pubs.html and read The Humanure Book by Joseph Jenkins. The entire contents of the book is right there online, FREE. He tells you everything you need to know about safety & disease-bearing pathogens and all the other questions you might have. I couldn't think of anything that he doesn't cover.

Guns and knives and EDCs are great, but you have to be prepared for the REAL basics. <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

(p.s. It makes okay emergency cat litter, too.)

Sue

Susan -- good point. Always have a few 5 gal buckets handy.

Tro

I bought a "luggable loo" and put it on a 5 gal. bucket. In the bucket I put a couple of boxes of 30 gal "kitchen" trash bags and about 6 "big rolls" (from walgreeens, single ply but long) of TP. I figure it'll last awhile if I need it. If it gets that bad, I'll dig a latrine in the yard. lol

"If it gets that bad, I'll dig a latrine in the yard."

I hope you don't have a well.

Sue

My wife 'invented" the best emergency toilet 6 or so years ago. She was in Atlanta with the kids, dropping off a friend at the airport. She had to pee in the worst way! She pulled off at a McDonalds that didn't seem to be the safest place to be. So she took one of the kid's diapers, and "used" it as a toilet while remaining in the minivan. She laughed all the way home about how well it worked, and keeps one under the seat to this day.

Diapers are very, very handy in a the car. In fact, long-haul military pilots have what they call "piddle pads" - just pee where you are.