The Long Line of our Compost Loos
We’re off to install another disabled access compost toilet this week on an allotment site in South Wales. We’ve installed dozens of compost loos around the country and have come a long way from our very first toilet designs. Here is ‘How Free Range Loos came to be . . . ‘
Let’s face it, nobody feels much love for the ubiquitous portaloo. As functional as they are, they are also cramped, use lots of chemicals and are made of bright blue plastic – about as far away from a natural pooing experience as you could imagine.
We held our wedding on a farm with little running water and needed a toilet to cater for our wedding guests. An alternative to the portaloo was required, so we built our very first compost toilet, and were pleased with the result.
We then helped to build a Tree Bog composting toilet in situ for a campsite overlooking the beautiful Mawddach estuary, and realised the potential for providing low cost, natural loos in public places.
Our mission became to create an attractive wooden composting toilet, to suit any location or budget.
First design off the floor was a flat pack toilet using the wheelie bin system that could be put on a pallet and transported to customers anywhere. But it looked a bit like a blue tardis…
So when we were commissioned to build a compost toilet for a campsite in Hay-on-Wye, we came up with the Gypsy Caravan design, so called because of its bow top and attractive shape.
We then decided to make a lighter version of the Gypsy Caravan loo, which is now called the Bog Standard compost toilet and, we hope, will rival the portaloo in its universal application.
Responding to a number of requests, the next development was a version of the Gypsy Caravan toilet made accessible to wheelchair users – the Compost Toilet with Disabled Access – which has been the most popular model with allotments, schools, and public institutions, as it offers equal access to all.
And we’re installing one of these now, so watch this space for pics when we get back!
