Installing a composting toilet in the Airstream 

Thanks for your encouragement, Boni! Papa worked so hard filming this video - the project took him three times as long as it would have without having to also film.

Yep, that’s exactly the reason why we did it. No regrets so far.

That’s a brilliant life hack! I love it. Our cabinet door actually still opens with the new toilet, it’s just the “Squatty Potty” (gloried step stool) that blocks the door, so that can just move out of the way to open the cabinet. Thanks for reaching out Janet! Glad you’re here!

Hi Julie! Always nice to see you here. Amazing how intimidating it can be to bore a hole in something expensive. :)

Thank you so much Donna! We are well and safe and wishing the same to you! 💙❤️💚

Thanks so much for being here nickmusings! Always so nice to read your thoughtful comments. It’s really funny I didn’t notice that Olive ran off with her “purse” until it was pointed out in the comments. I had to go back and watch it closely! 🤣

Thanks so much for sharing your experience dcordero1! So far we love ours. In addition to having the extra gray tank, we also use a lot less water, not having to flush the sewage anymore.

Glad you enjoy the videos Laurel! Thank you for connecting with us. We are hoping that confidence and competence can be learned early by doing lots of hands on experiences.

Thank you Caroline! Yes they grow so fast! Where is the slow-down button? 💙❤️💚

@@ThreeLittleTrees I couldn't find it with my kids and now I have a 15 yr old granddaughter, followed by a 12, two 10 yr olds then an, 8 and a 6. that's just the girls. I also have one grandson who is 4. That one boy has 3 big sisters. Now I just say no to them when the I wants get to expensive. Careful when you blink of they're be all grown up. Stay safe and well. I hope you and your family have a great day.

Thanks Harold! So far only Linden is potty trained, but I imagine Maple will probably be ready to join in soon.

Good to see you Mary! Thanks for being here with us!

It’s true, we used to max our on gray tank first, until we got so many helpful tips from all y’all that enabled us to conserve water much more. Then the black tank became the issue. But you’re right fresh water is always in need, but we’re able to use far less water without needing to manage the sewage anymore. Also it’s easier for us to fetch extra fresh, or carry extra water in the white van.

We are considering doing that part too. Would be nicer not to have to dump the liquids tank every other day. Still looking for more specifics about how to make a cap like the one they made. Thank you for reaching out Carrie! Let us know how it goes with yours!

So kind of you to reach out Daralen! Thank you!

🤣 Thanks! So far, so good.

Thanks for watching, Pat!

Thanks Mark! Yes Linden is turning out to be a great helper! 😀

Thanks for watching, Janice! So far we are super happy with the toilet and the installation.

Thanks JC!

Haha! She always wants to be first! Doesn’t matter if she’s in the middle of a parking lot. 😀

Hahaha I hadn’t even noticed that! Thanks for pointing that out! 🤣

Haha! Thanks for being here Briggs on the Road!

You are so right. There’s something empowering about crossing that line and finally finally taking action on a decision. We get to stop worrying about whether we should try it. Now we’ll know and move on with life either way. Thank you for being here short grub - always enjoy reading your comments!

Thank you Kathryn! We are trying hard to cherish these times when they are young. It’s funny you were nervous for the drilling as well. There’s just something so permanent about drilling holes.

Nope I didn’t miss it. 🤓 They actually did that urine-diverter mod two years after their initial install. So in a similar fashion, we are starting with part 1 for now and will see how it goes before we do that 2nd part. If you look closely at the platform that we jigsawed, you’ll see we even planned for it by cutting a notch that will eventually provide the space for the pex tubing that drains the urine down into the black tank. Did you do the urine diverter mod? How did you do it? We could use advice on what kind of cap to use. They removed the red Oatey cap but didn’t specify the new parts they used.

Thanks Our Tiny Cabin! We make it a point to try to challenge ourselves. 😀

Haha and I thought it was my special style to go so often. I’ve found the closer I am to the store the more likely I am to complete the project. Thanks for being here, J J

Hi Kelly! I think it was confusing that I showed bags in this video. I was actually just practicing for when we eventually empty it. The bags are just for emptying. No bags ever go inside the composting toilet. I just wanted to practice emptying while it was still clean, to make sure I had the right size of bags. Thanks for being here!

Haha yes she just always wants to be first! Didn’t care if she’s in the middle of a parking lot. 🤣

Right now we have three users (two are still in diapers). After two weeks we changed out the compost, replaced with fresh coconut coir material. Took only five minutes to change, super easy, didn’t smell bad at all, just exactly like soil. The liquids bottle filled every two days, but that was easily just dumped down the shower drain. Urine smells very strong for a minute, but after it’s rinsed down, that’s it. So far we see no reason to ever go back to a flush toilet.

Thank yuh Randall! Glad you’re here!

The compost toilet allowed us to combine the old black tank with the grey tank using a $20 valve cap. This doubled gray capacity and gray was usually the limiting factor. Yes it was somewhat awkward to carry outside and empty. With 5 people we were only getting 1 week before having to change it. After a couple of years we went back to flush toilet since we weren’t boondocking enough to make it worth the extra hassle of emptying the compost. Now I would not recommend a compost toilet unless boondocking is main priority, or maybe a solo camper who could get 5-6 weeks between changes.

@@ThreeLittleTreesgreat advice! thanks. we're considering a new airstream Caravel right now....and i was pondering all this. i think we'll just keep the tanks how they are (it has a 23 gal fresh and 30 gal combined black/gray).

Awesome. So far we have zero regrets! Let us know how your experience goes.

Thanks for your kind encouragement, Howard! We’ve managed to watch a fair amount of videos about composting toilets ourselves. They can be strangely addicting. I think it’s the type of investment that you don’t want to leave anything up to surprise.

Thank you franielee38! Great to see you as always! 💙❤️💚

Michael is very much wanting to try that. He even cut a notch into the wooden platform he made for the toilet, in anticipation of leaving a path for some pex tubing someday. Still not sure what kind of cap to use for the black tank that would allow tubing in.

Good advice! Thanks for reaching out Rogue Gypsy!

Thank you for sharing your kindness Tina! Glad you’re here at our channel!

@@ThreeLittleTrees Awe You are very welcome! Oh yeah! I love your channel! 💕

Hi Ringelsocke! So nice that you are sewing masks. We’re going to have to learn how to sew so that we can make some also. Might be a nice activity to get the kids involved with.

@@ThreeLittleTrees The internet is full of patterns, youtube has tons of videos. I'm sure you will find something very easy to involve the kids. 👌🏻

Thanks for your kindness!!

Thanks for reaching out, Warrior Woman!

Yep, now it is a second gray tank. It gets us from 40 almost double, up to 77 gallons.

Hi Katie T! I can tell you that we are now about a month into having the new toilet, and we are loving it. I can’t imagine ever wanting to deal with sewage again, even if we only did short trips.

It is the Nature’s Head composting toilet. As far as I know they only have one model. Love it so far.

We sure will 😂

Thank you Angela B! Glad to see you here as always!!

Thanks Bob! Yes, it is my understanding as well that you can use those materials as long as they don’t contain chemical treatments that could interfere with the composting process. We decided to start with the coconut coir mainly because of the convenience factor. (It’s available in those small, pre-cut bricks which are easy and clean to store in our white van.) If we had sticks and bricks house, we might try something cheaper, in bulk.

@@ThreeLittleTrees Your welcome & Thank You for your reply .

Honey do this! Honey do that! :)

Thanks Harold!

Thanks you for your kindness, Dawn!

Thanks for sharing the love Poohbaby44! 💙❤️💚

I suspect you are right. She’s going to want to be like big sister. 😀