Preparing on a Shoestring Part 5: Sanitation

If you have cruised the prep sites for long, you have certainly read about the chemical toilet.  They are great to have.  They also cost a fair amount of money.  It seems to me that the best price I have found on one is around $60.  That isn’t terrible unless you are struggling to make ends meet.  There is a work around that I use on occasion.  The infamous 5 gallon bucket when lined with a trash bag is adequate to hold human waste.  I carry one in my work van with a lid for this purpose.  In the bucket are a roll of trash bags and 2 rolls of toilet paper.  A can of Lysol rounds out the collection of items nicely.  It doesn’t smell too nice when in use and the thin rim of the bucket does not make for a good place to sit and read, but it serves the purpose you need served.

The next concern is what to do with the contents of either a chemical toilet or a bucket toilet when they get full.  In the case of the bucket, when use is only the occasional, single emergency pit stop like mine serves, you can tie up the bag and toss it in the trash.  The authorities and other people in general tend to frown on this so use caution.  For chemical toilets and higher use of the bucket toilet, you have three options.  You can burn it, bury it, or transport it to suitable dumping facilities.  Review local laws and use your best judgment on this one.  Have a plan in place before you need it.  In a real, long term emergency, a pit latrine or outhouse might be the better option.  To the best of my knowledge, new outhouses are not legal anywhere in the United States at this time.  Of course, I know of at least one that was built in the last 5 years.  He just hasn’t been caught and isn’t likely to be.  In a major emergency event, I suspect that those particular laws might be bent with near impunity.  Again, use your best judgment.

Disposal of human waste isn’t the only consideration.  There will be food waste. The safest way to do this in short order when trash service isn’t available is by burning.  Most jurisdictions allow contained burning for food preparation; those that don’t probably ban all burning of every kind.  Even there, indoor fireplaces and wood stoves are legal as well as barbeque grills.  Burn it if you can.  The other route is to compost it.  If you garden or even have ornamental plants, compost is useful.  This can be done in normal times just as easily as in an emergency.  Rotten food draws flies and other, larger critters that you don’t want to meet.  There is no sense in courting disease by tossing food waste out in the open.  The only exception I can think of would be a food scrap pile in a specific place to draw wildlife to harvest for food.

Washing, bathing, toilet, and food preparation areas must be kept clean.  Dirt, waste, and food scraps are not your friends.  They breed all kinds of organisms that are hard on the human body, some miserable, some fatal.

Cleaning isn’t that hard to do.  You just need the right tools for the job.  Stock dish soap, towels dedicated for cleaning, a few sponges, scrub pads, a sanitizing spray like Lysol, and some bleach.  Most people use these items as a matter of course so it is just a matter of stocking more of what you already buy.  An extra broom and mop, along with a good bucket and a pair of rubber gloves, will round out your cleaning supplies nicely.

Now we move on to clothing.  If you want your clothes to last, and you don’t want to experience skin irritation and infections, you will really want to wash your clothes.  There are such things as gasoline washing machines and you could modify a modern machine to gas engine powered, but why would you want to? A 2500 watt generator will run a modern washing machine, but will cost $400 dollars or more for the generator.  Besides, if you have a generator, you will have better uses for it and the fuel it takes to run it than a load of laundry.  Dish soap or laundry detergent, a bucket, and some manual labor will do the job just fine.  You don’t need a washboard.  Truth be told, they are hard on clothing and will wear them out.  Cold water will do just as well as warm to clean the clothes.  Washing in cold water in normal times will also save you money in that you will not have to use electricity or gas to heat the water.  Tie a rope between two points and drape your wash over it to dry.  This method of drying takes longer but will save you money in normal times too.  You can even dry clothes on the line indoors.  I have done it, both ways.

House cleaning is important too.  Living in a dirty house gets old quick, saps your morale, and makes respiratory problems like asthma and allergies worse.  You keep cleaning supplies now, just stock more of them.  If you run out, you can use a wet cloth.  Just make sure to dry behind you to keep wood from getting water stained or damaged.

Living clean isn’t that hard; it just takes a little work and attention.  The costs are not high and yield real benefits.

Good luck and stay clean!