If you are living rough due to any circumstances, what do you do if you need to use a toilet at night and everything is closed? How do you keep your outdoor living space clean?
Here’s a tip for making a quick and easy toilet with some things you might find along you way. If you are fortunate to have some cash these items are inexpensive.
A few simple easy steps on how to make a portable toilet out of a bucket. It’s cheap, portable, and easy to use, not to mention it’s sanitary, as well. This is better used for solid waste not liquid, separate the urine.
Items Needed:
a five-gallon bucket
a pool noodle
small plastic bag garbage bags
a roll of toilet paper
a utility knife or pocket knife to cut the pool noodles.
Start with a sturdy, five-gallon bucket with a tight-fitting lid. These are available at most hardware, lumber, or home stores. Look for the sturdiest that you can find. It needs to be able to easily support your weight. You may be able to find one near dumpsters in trash areas or even alongside a road. Make sure to clean it. Letting it dry in direct sunlight will disinfect it with sunlight UV rays that kills many pathogens.
To hang the toilet paper on the handle, remove one end of the handle from the bucket. The bucket handle wire has a bent end that fits through a small hole on the plastic edge of the bucket. With a little bit of effort, the wire will pull out. Try not to straighten the end of the wire because the bend allows it to hold the weight of the bucket and swing from side to side.
Slide the roll of toilet paper through the wire and over the plastic handle. Then, put the end of the wire back into place.
Next, you’ll need a regular pool noodle. It can be any color you want. This will become the padded seat. Decide what you want the seat to look like. Do you want it to cover the entire rim or leave a small opening in the front to make it easier to wipe? Once you’ve decided, take the pool noodle and line it up around the top of the rim. Mark where you want to cut it.
Remove it from the bucket rim and cut the end of the noodle off.
To make the pool noodle fit securely on the bucket rim, you’ll cut a slit halfway through the noodle for the entire length of the noodle. The center of the noodle is hollow, so just cut down to the center.
Place the pool noodle over the edge of the rim. You may need to press it down a bit to make sure it’s seated properly. You don’t want it moving around during use. It should fit snugly and securely.
The plastic bag can be placed under or over the pool noodle seat. If you’re placing it over the pool noodle seat, a drawstring bag will help to hold it into place. Simply place the bag down into the bucket.
Pull the top edge up and over the pool noodle seat. Tighten the drawstring to hold it securely in place. If you plan on composting or burying your waste, look into biodegradable and compostable waste bags and toilet paper.
Preventing Odors in Your Bucket Toilet
Simply toss a handful of kitty litter, grass clippings, leaves, or other organic materials in after use. To cover the bucket toilet between uses, you can close the top of the bag or place the lid on top of the seat as a quick cover. Another alternative is to cover it with another bag. If you’re moving it from place to place, you can close the bag and either tie it with a twisty, piece of string or a simple knot. Then remove the pool noodle seat, place it in the bucket and seal with the bucket lid. When full you can either bury it or put it in a trash container.