November 19^th is observed internationally through the United Nations as World Toilet Day. Perhaps you won’t be saying “Happy Toilet Day” as often as “Happy Thanksgiving,” but then again, who knows. You may be inspired to be thankful for small blessings you normally take for granted.

I’ll explain the reason for the sanctioned observation shortly, but first let’s address how the toilet might be a significant problem during times of disaster. As we face more and more risks of fire, flood, massive snowstorms, earthquake and more, we may find ourselves having to deal with what may seem like a trifling consideration but can turn to a more urgent need.

Preparedness for Seniors

In 2020, I shared my own personal Disaster Ready plans on Aging with Pizzazz (Sharing Evacuation List. Ready for Disaster? Think AGAIN). This, after a fire spread quickly throughout our area, raging over 3,000 acres and destroying more than 2600 family units and small businesses in the two nearby towns. The areas were left in shambles as this was one of Oregon’s worse recorded wildfires. Yet, there were untouched near-by cities and communities ready to help. The same might not be said for a different type of wide-spread disaster.

More often than not, preparedness concentrates on ‘Ready-Set-Go’ – the elements of evacuation. But what about when that’s not possible. Readiness includes ‘sheltering-in-place’ AND not just food and water but sanitation too. No one reading this is totally immune from facing this possibility.

Whether we are in a single home, multi-unit, shared housing or senior apartments, we could find ourselves having to fend a bit for ourselves. The people we expect to come to our rescue or help may not be able to get to work, confront transportation failures or may be encountering their own adversities. It is conceivable that we might need to live without running water or working toilets for days or possibly weeks. No matter our personal living situation, managing waste is central to our safety.

Toilet’s Role in Disaster

Toilet provisions are crucial not just for comfort but for maintaining hygiene and preventing disease. Deadly illnesses can spread easily when human feces are not handled and stored safety. That’s obviously vital, but don’t miss the part about “comfort.” Regardless of just experiencing a disaster or accident, you may still have to pee or poo. It’s one of those stubborn facts in the “life goes on” category.

Perhaps we assume that we would simply use the facilities of a neighbor or friend’s house, a local business or nearby park. Yet again that might not be possible. They may be in the same state of affairs, or you may not be able to travel that far (even on foot).

If your toilet won’t flush (not unusual in a major disaster, as we have seen in wars throughout the world), or if you don’t have water to waste by using it to flush, or the entire sewage system is compromised, you need an alternative option.

I’ll stop here to offer this reminder – most of us think this can’t happen to us. I’d say, it’s comforting to be prepared to feel comfortable in such difficult times.

Emergency or Make-Shift Toilet

It’s pretty easy to have an alternative toilet during an emergency. It simply depends on our living situation and for how long we calculate preparations will need to last. Do we want to assume someone will come to our rescue within a matter of days, or do we want to prepare for longer?

There are multiple options, something for everyone. Consider your personal circumstances, configuration of your home and physical ability.

The Easy Make-Shift Modification

This option works well if your toilet is still in one piece and is in a room you are able to access. Neither of those can be a guarantee. If this is available to you, follow these steps to modify your own toilet.

Turn off the water valve to the toilet. (Make sure you have a wrench ready in your house to help with possible sticky values; remember that maintenance help may not be coming soon).
Flush out any water still in the toilet bowl (it should NOT refill, and water may not be running).
Note: for expected emergencies and where it is possible, filling a bathtub with water is a true luxury for later necessities.
Line your toilet bowl (under the seat) with a plastic kitchen garbage bag inside another kitchen garbage bag. I will suggest this later as well, but having a roll of heavy-duty 0.9 mil or thicker bags on hand is perfect.
Fill the inner bag with a substance to absorb liquid and reduce odor.
While the common recommendations are kitty litter, peat moss, lime, or something similar I have an even better solution. See the ‘Luggable Loo’ section below.
Relieve yourself in the inner bag. You may be able to use the same bag more than once before replacing, depending on the heft of your bags.
Remove the inner bag when it is no more than half-full or when you think it needs to be replaced. Tie it up securely. Insert a new inner bag and add more absorbent/odor reducing material for the next use.
Store the used bags in a secure place. Disposal can be tricky. Keep it away from kids, pets, and wildlife. Many communities ask that you not dispose these bags in garbage cans picked up by haulers. If you do so anyway, take additional precaution to double bag and place them temporarily in the garage or other inside storage area until pick-up.
Some guides have more detailed directions for disposal and you can reference them in the resources I’ve listed at the end.
Wash your hands with soap and water. If you actually have ‘running’ water, do not waste it for short trips to the new loo; wet wipes and sanitizer can be a substitute.

Cat Holes Perhaps Best for Cats

Holes in the ground, referred to as “Cat Holes” isn’t the best option in my view, but it is an option if necessary and accessible. Still, there is little opportunity for an apartment dweller or poorly mobile senior to take advantage of this idea. These personal-use holes are dug in the ground and used by squatting over them. Each hole is for one-time use and can be difficult to use in harsh weather or to dig in caliche or other hard soil.

To make a cat hole, or personal use hole, dig in the ground about 6” deep and wide. They are never to be dug less than 100 feet from a home, well or open water source. After squatting to do one’s business they are to be filled with dirt and packed down to avoid attracting animals. Each hole is one-time use, and while TP can be disposed of, no other materials that tend to be less biodegradable should be used. That’s where the plastic bags come in again, for nonbiodegradable materials.

Wash hands same as above, but only after ‘marking your spot’ to make sure you don’t accidentally dig up a used hole (or yuck, someone else’s hole).

The Compost or Camping Toilet

Before I write more in this section, I want to disclose my favorite (and unusual) absorbable material for alternative toilets. Not only is it odor controlling, dust-free and easy to handle, it’s also inexpensive. I hope it doesn’t become more popular and drive the price up. The secret ingredient is horse bedding pellets. I’ll describe the use below.

Compost toilets are available for the home, generally expensive and no smaller than normal toilets. They also come in models for small/medium RVs (the recreation vehicle type is made to fit several types of vehicles). RV compost toilets (or even ‘porta potties’) often use fluids and are a bit finicky (and perhaps messy) getting the steps right, especially for those who simply want an extra emergency-type toilet available.

Despite size and cost, the one definite advantage to the compost toilets above compared to my recommendation coming below is that they are stable. No balancing is involved. Most people would recognize these models as their typical toilet. I’m not convinced that would be benefit enough to take up room in our homes, garages, shed or patio closet for emergency use only. Conversely, the simple 5-gallon bucket variety is a handy and convenient option.

The Bucket Brigade

The Luggable Loo and other unpretentious 5-gallon bucket toilets are well-known to campers. For non-campers, they can be hidden away and perfect for natural disasters if they strike.

I have one major personal tip. Don’t use the liquids that are suggested with all these bucket toilets. Instead use it with the same plastic bag system mentioned in the first option described above and fill it with the horse bedding pellets.

You prepare some of the pellets in a plastic container with a small amount of water (shaken) until you have a slightly moist (not wet) mixture. Put a handful of dry pellets in the bottom of the inside bag. After each use of the toilet, spread a bit more of the moist mixture over what you have produced. Depending on how many people are using the bucket, it can go a couple days before changing.

[Another tip is to provide a portable men’s urinal as you might see at a hospital bed for any boy or man in the house. Later the urine can be added to the absorbent material before discarding, but this helps keep odor checked.]

Finally, especially if there is more than one person in the home, consider the Two-Bucket system (one for pee, one for poo). Pee takes up volume, but Poo contains pathogens that cause disease. Mixing them together causes a larger volume of pathogens (not to mention odor) than separating them.

You can see guidelines for this from a Washington State brochure in the resource section at the end. Oregon and other states recommend the same.

To repeat, one great thing about the bucket system is that you can prepare for this no matter where you live. Find some room in a garden shed, patio closet, or even bedroom closet and you are set. Two buckets can stack together for compact storage. Bedding pellets and plastic bags can be stored within the buckets.

The cost? In my area, I recently confirmed that you could buy 2 Luggable Loos, a big bag of pellets, 2 cheap plastic containers and a roll of heavy-duty bags all for well under $75. Not a hefty price for significant peace of mind.

Way to Go Short Doc

Before keeping my promise to briefly explain World Toilet Day, I want to share a short documentary video filmed on Mt. Shasta in California. The filmmaker is someone I know and did a great job of bringing the idea of composting toilets to life in support of the environment. Enjoy “Way To Go” and perhaps share it with someone on World Toilet Day.

Click here to watch: https://watch.thirteen.org/video/way-to-go-ziobim/

World Toilet Day

In a great deal of the world, toilet complications are not just in times of emergency. There is a lack of them every day. That is why each year there is shared recognition of World Toilet Day. The United Nations takes this opportunity to highlight the sanitation crisis that affects billions of people (again, billions, with a ‘b’).

These folks live without clean, safe and managed toilets. There is no assured safe transport (or treatment) of human waste. We can image that this is not simply a situation in which an American teen would scrunch her nose and say “ewww.” Due to the sad necessity and being no other choice than ‘open defecation,’ these conditions are devastating. It contaminates communities’ food and water sources, which in turn increases the transmission of diseases and increases the chances of people getting serious, life-threatening illnesses.

The United Nations estimates that due to these poor sanitation situations and contaminated water supplies that almost 1,000 children around the world die EACH day. They state the reason for their promotion of this tragedy as “safe sanitation, the practice of good hygiene, and a safe water supply can save the lives of more than 300,000 children a year.”