5 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Build Your Own Composting Toilet

Among the eco-conscious crowd, composting toilets are a very commonplace product. Not only do they provide a natural form of waste disposal by recycling waste back to the earth, but they also save an enormous amount of water and money. There are many different types of composting toilets, but generally they fall into one of two categories: professionally manufactured systems and homemade units. In spite of the fact that doing it yourself has become a major movement in the United States and around the world, building a composting toilet is not something you should add to your DIY to-do list. In this article, we'll explain the top 5 important reasons why you shouldn't attempt to build your own composting toilet:

1. Homemade composting toilets may smell bad. Professionally manufactured units are designed with special venting systems and fans to make them 100% odorless. If you build your own toilet, it would be very difficult to replicate the same type of venting system that makes professional units odorless.

2. Homemade composting toilets are slow to produce finished compost. Many homemade composting toilets are nothing more than a toilet seat fitted over a 5 gallon bucket. In these instances, when the bucket gets full, it's transported to another location (usually outdoors, for obvious reasons), and then may take 2 to 3 years before the bucket can be opened and the material inside has turned into finished compost. A professional composting toilet is designed to hold all the material in one place, and it finishes the product much more quickly, usually within several months, depending on how often it's used.

3. Homemade compost toilets don't have a system for separating fresh waste from partially finished or completely finished compost. Most people have some feelings of hesitation about composting toilets in the first place. However, this is usually pretty easy to overcome, because modern, high tech systems are designed so that you never have to come into contact with the waste inside. Homemade systems aren't usually as sophisticated, meaning that you may end up having to manually check the contents yourself to see if your compost is finished yet.

4. Homemade units present a potential biohazard. Because professional systems are regulated and most of them meet certain standards, they are tested and certified to produce a clean and sanitary end compost (to be on the safe side, though, always check out a manufacturer's certifications before making a purchase). With a homemade toilet, you don't have any of those safeguards to guarantee that the finished compost is pathogen-free.

5. For all of the reasons mentioned above, homemade composting toilets probably won't pass muster with your local building department. Whenever you engage in a home remodeling project or install a new fixture like a toilet, it's important to check your local building code to see what permits or approvals are needed for the work. If composting toilets aren't an approved waste treatment method in your city yet, it's usually pretty easy to get a building department to approve a professionally manufactured system. Just print out the product specifications and certifications and take them to your local officials. With a homemade system, it's not quite that easy, and most home made toilets aren't going to pass code.

The bottom line is, a composting toilet system is a sophisticated piece of equipment, designed to operate in an odorless and sanitary manner. When you try to build your own composting toilet, you're really taking a roll of the dice, and who knows what you may come out with. In almost every case, it is always better to spend the money buying a professionally manufactured system. After all, composting toilets are just like many other things in life: you get what you pay for.

For more information on how to build a composting toilet using professional components, visit the Composting Toilets Store at http://www.composting-toilet-store.com/Waterless_Toilet_s/70.htm

How Long Can You Store Meals in Your Freezer? [Infographic]

freezerlabels.net

Camping Recipes: Fun, Delicious, and Unique Camping Recipes That Will Make Camping A Treat

Camping Recipes: Fun, Delicious, and Unique Camping Recipes That Will Make Camping A Treat (The Essential Kitchen Series Book 75) was a free kindle book at the time of this posting. Fun, Delicious, and Unique, Camping Recipes That Will Make Camping a Real Treat

You know how difficult it can be to prepare meals while camping. Well, that’s no longer the case with the introduction of Camping Recipes. The Essential Kitchen Series breaks the ceiling on old-school thinking with its latest cookbook. Enjoy a host of recipes that will turn camping into a whole new experience of culinary delights.

Cook delicious, mouthwatering campfire, camping meals with ease.

Camping Cooking At Its Best!

With a little thought and preparation take the stress out of mealtime while enjoying the great outdoors. Just take a look at a few of the well-thought-out meals that can be eaten while exploring nature’s beauty:
Campfire Chicken Stew Recipe
Hobo Burgers and Taters
Meatball Sub Recipe
Breakfast Burritos
Chili Lime Chicken Sandwiches With Mango Salsa
Spicy Taco Patties & Cheesy Potatoes Foil Packet

You’ll soon learn that any numbers of tasty combinations are possible. Once you’ve mastered the recipes contained in this easy-to-follow cookbook, you’ll astound your family and friends with your own concoctions. There is literally no way to go wrong with these wonderful recipes.

Fun and Easy While On The Go

Inside this unusually simple guide, you’ll learn how to make the most of your time while enjoying time with your loved ones. It's your holiday, why spend all your time fussing over meals? Simply follow the advice contained in this insightful cookbook and eat well while staying active.

How to Make Homemade Soap

Are you interested in learning about how to make homemade soap? There are a wide variety of ingredients available to make homemade soap. The list ranges from the basic ingredients of water, lye, and oil to optional ingredients such as oatmeal and even glitter. The type of soap you want to use determines the ingredients you will need when making your own soap. Some people who make homemade soap stick to the basics and simply add fragrant oils to put some scent into their soaps, while others add abrasive materials such as oatmeal for exfoliating purposes. Here is a list of some common supplies and ingredients used in making soap and what characteristic they can provide your soap:

Basic Ingredients to Make Homemade Soap

Carrier Oils

The type of soap you will make determines the base soap you need to use. Do you want your homemade soap to be hard? Soft? Sudsy? You can start finding out about the different base oils by reading the labels of commercial soaps you use regularly. You can also sign on to mailing lists and join soap making groups online; most of the people who know how to make homemade soap are very willing to share information with others.

Carrier oils impart the primary physical characteristics of the soaps. Hard and long lasting soaps can be made from palm oils; soaps that give a good lather can be made using coconut oil and castor oil; olive oil, canola oil or soybean oil may be used to make moisturizing and conditioning soaps; and luxury soaps can be made using cocoa butter, hemp oil, and almond oil among other things. Oils such as almond and avocado oil provide a skin softening characteristic to your soaps. Different oils mean different soaps. Once you become familiar with the properties each oil imparts, you will begin to recognize what kind of bar a particular recipe will produce.

Lye

Lye is the most important ingredient in making soap if you are using the cold or hot processes. Sodium hydroxide or lye is a very strong chemical and handling it requires serious caution. You also need to choose your utensils carefully when dealing with lye - use only wooden and plastic spoons for stirring and bowls made of enamel, plastic or glass for mixing. Only cold water should be used with lye, and always remember to pour the lye into the water.

You cannot make homemade soap bars from scratch without using lye. If, however, you do want to skip using lye, you can try using the melt and pour method with pre-made glycerin soap bases.

Water

Another main ingredient in soap making, water is essential to the process. For the best results, use distilled water for creating your lye solution. You can also use de-mineralized water in soap making.

Other Ingredients

Other ingredients you can include once you have learned how to make homemade soap are herbs, flower petals, glitter, colorants, essential oils, and fragrant oils.

Herbs and flower petals can add scent to your soap, but you should remember that these can be burned when added to hot processed soap. Some other herbs do not look at all appealing when used in soaps. If you want to use herbs in your homemade soap, do your research and find out what herbs can are good for use in making soap.

Colorants come in different forms - liquids, powders and glycerin based colorants are common. Use these to add color to your soap, however, you should also remember that all other ingredients can affect the final outcome of your soap color.

Glitter can be used to add a certain punch to your homemade soaps. Use cosmetic grade glitter; these come in ultrafine and fine sizes and in a wide variety of colors. Do not use glitter made for use in craft projects as they are not meant to be used on your skin.

Essential oils and fragrance oils can be added to your soaps to give it a therapeutic effect. Some essential oils such as chamomile can be rather expensive. It really is up to you if you want to add essential oils to your soap. If you want to simply add a scent without a therapeutic effect, you can opt to use fragrance oils instead.

Knowledge of ingredients as well as creativity and imagination is required once you know how to make homemade soap in order to create something that is truly unique. When making your own soap, do your research and do not be afraid to try out new things.

J. Martin is the webmaster of Soap Making Fun. For more information on the cold process, check out his video on how to make soap.

Food Storage Recipe ~ Homemade Jam

Making homemade jam is really not too hard. Here is my favorite recipe for making it.

YUMMY and everyone in the family loves it. It does not last very long in our house.

NEED :

3 pounds of fruit - I use 1 pound each of berries to make a mixed berry jam. Raspberries, Blackberries, and Strawberries.

3 1/3 cup of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of coarse salt

2 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice

Stir the ingredients together in a large heavy bottomed pot.

 Bring to a boil. Stir it until the sugar is dissolved and mash the fruit with a potato masher.

Add the lemon juice and continue to boil.

Stir it frequently until the bubbles slow, chunks of fruit show at the top , and the mixture clings to a spoon , but falls off in clumps. About 10 to 12 minutes.

Skim any foam from the top.

Ladle the jam into clean, glass jars . Leave a 3/4 inch of headroom from the top of the jam to the top of the jar.

Let them cool completely.

Cover with tight lid, label, and refrigerate for pu to a month. You can also freeze for up to a year.