Good Gardeners - research

One of the many interesting issues to come out of our questionnaire is that people are finding it difficult to produce enough compost. If you refer back to Guest’s book ‘Gardening Without Digging’ he says that ‘Apart from one or two exceptions, anything which has had life or has been discarded by a living thing, whether it be plant or animal, may be used on the compost heap…. when building a heap … the organic wastes should be as wide and varied as possible. For every three or four parts, by bulk, of this organic mixture there should be added one part of animal manure. This is nature’s ratio and must be copied to the best of our ability. Any type of manure will do – from horses, pigs, sheep, rabbit, dog, or sewage from the local disposal works.’

A recent meeting with Richard Higgins from Compost Technologies Ltd., regarding The MegaLOO was extremely interesting and may well be a solution to this problem of compost production. I asked him to write an article introducing himself and explaining the thinking behind MegaLOO.

My previous agricultural life and study at the Royal Berkshire College left me prime to discover the works of the late Sir Albert Howard, now referred to as the Grandfather of Organic Farming and whose works are looked upon as visionary.

Sir Albert’s life work culminated in the correct method of building and utilization of compost. One of his main studies, which later became mine, was the study of Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan. So fascinating was the subject, compared to conventional farming practice, that I am still pursuing the subject with great zest with the idea of introducing some of these age old principles into western agriculture.

In China, Korea and Japan in the early part of the last century the heaviest densities of populations on this planet were to be found, some as much as 2,432 persons per square mile. These peoples didn’t import any fertilizers or food from outside, they were self-sufficient in every way and this type of culture had been found to have existed for 4,700 years. (Dr. F. H. King, Farmers of Forty Centuries)

This so struck me that I was compelled to look further into this phenomenon.

What was needed was to discover the method by which they recycled all their waste products so this could be applied to western civilization; with all its problems.

Howard spent what would have been in today’s terms £4 million of government money researching the methods of the Orientals to find out how they fertilized their fields and gardens with continued cropping capacity with no dropping off in fertility.

A development that has come from my research into these matters resulted in what is now known as the ‘MegaLOO compost toilet system.’

There are many approaches to compost toilets going around, but none that have addressed the issue of comprehensive waste management and sanitation on a scale that would be applicable to towns and villages as well as to more temporary campsites, festival sites etc., with a very reasonable budget. And of course the one off householder or allotment user that may wish to use a decent lavatory, with a decent budget, without trudging for miles to find the nearest water borne connection.

I came across the works of Bill Mollison; who quotes Howard in his preface to his book on Permanent Agriculture that is abbreviated to ‘Permaculture.’ I enrolled on a course to find out more. It was indeed very interesting and I realized that it is a collection of the practices of many cultures rolled into one. However as much as I read, I could not find anything that dealt with sanitation in any kind of an advanced manner, except of course ‘the reed bed system’ – but that is still a water borne system.

At the end of my permaculture course we visited a Camphill community in Gloucestershire where we were to see the three different reed bed systems installed by Mark Moody who wrote ‘Sewage Solutions’ with Nick Grant. (available from The Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales)

At the last reed bed Mark turned to me and said he knew who I was and that he had seen me at the ‘Green Gathering’ a year before where I was exhibiting different tubs from 1 month, 2 month and 3 month old compost derived from my compost toilet system. He then turned to the entire class and said that DRY composting of human effluent was far superior to any REED BED system.

On that course we also watched ‘The Ladhak Video’ which was centred around a village in northern India that has become the fastest turnaround from primitive village to industrialized suburbia in the shortest time ever.

An old lady was pictured beside a stream saying that in the past it was always considered a sin to put any waste product into water.

This is indeed the foundation of the toilet system that I have developed ready for use in appropriate situations in all countries from 3rd to 1st world.

We have letters from architects in this country that are begging to find a way of sanitizing new communities without involving the use of water for disposal. Such are the problems even in this climate – with plenty of water!

The growing trials we have carried out on the subsequent material have been amazing. Everyone knows that in compost making you need a starter and where you don’t have access to any animals or the coast for seaweed, human effluent is the perfect answer. Oooh! Wait a minute, I hear you say, what about the human pathogens?? - Absolutely correct! They have to be addressed in the most efficient way. Human pathogens are killed at 55 degrees Centigrade in 3 days, the Foot and Mouth Disease virus is killed at 65 degrees in 5 minutes. The MegaLOO system hot composts at 70 degrees Centigrade for four days.

The MegaLOO system operates on the prolific generation of specific micro-organisms which assist in the breaking down of organic matter. This science is at the forefront of modern technology in agricultural development. The initial application of these micro-organisms, through the dry flush system, eliminates the odorous smell of human waste as they are applied aerobically. The unique (patented) liquid /solid separator then renders both components containerised for further treatment; and there is no unsightliness or odour at any stage of the operation. No chemicals are added and by following a simple management technique a certain group of organisms are enabled to operate at full capacity. There is no ground water pollution or run off at any stage of the operation irrespective of bulk.

The end product is a finely dividable highly nitrogenous fertilizer attained in 60 – 90 days depending on climatic conditions. It is completely safe to handle and grow crops of any description on this material as the results have been tested and are in compliance with the UK Environment Agency. The running of the apparatus also falls within the stipulations of UK Environmental Health regulations.

It was said many years ago by the great nutritionist Major General Sir Robert McCarrison who worked with Sir Albert Howard "Out of the Earth are we and the plants and the animals that feed us created and made, and to the earth we must again return the things whereof we are made if it is to yield again foods of a quality suited to our needs".

Richard Higgins
Head Consultant and Technical Advisor, Compost Technologies Ltd.


	back to articles

	ARTICLE - COMPOST TOILETS - PART OF THE SOLUTION

	One of the many interesting issues to come out of our questionnaire is that people are finding it difficult to produce enough compost. If you refer back to Guest’s book ‘Gardening Without Digging’ he says that ‘Apart from one or two exceptions, anything which has had life or has been discarded by a living thing, whether it be plant or animal, may be used on the compost heap…. when building a heap … the organic wastes should be as wide and varied as possible. For every three or four parts, by bulk, of this organic mixture there should be added one part of animal manure. This is nature’s ratio and must be copied to the best of our ability. Any type of manure will do – from horses, pigs, sheep, rabbit, dog, or sewage from the local disposal works.’ A recent meeting with Richard Higgins from Compost Technologies Ltd., regarding The MegaLOO was extremely interesting and may well be a solution to this problem of compost production. I asked him to write an article introducing himself and explaining the thinking behind MegaLOO. My previous agricultural life and study at the Royal Berkshire College left me prime to discover the works of the late Sir Albert Howard, now referred to as the Grandfather of Organic Farming and whose works are looked upon as visionary. Sir Albert’s life work culminated in the correct method of building and utilization of compost. One of his main studies, which later became mine, was the study of Permanent Agriculture in China, Korea and Japan. So fascinating was the subject, compared to conventional farming practice, that I am still pursuing the subject with great zest with the idea of introducing some of these age old principles into western agriculture. In China, Korea and Japan in the early part of the last century the heaviest densities of populations on this planet were to be found, some as much as 2,432 persons per square mile. These peoples didn’t import any fertilizers or food from outside, they were self-sufficient in every way and this type of culture had been found to have existed for 4,700 years. (Dr. F. H. King, Farmers of Forty Centuries) This so struck me that I was compelled to look further into this phenomenon. What was needed was to discover the method by which they recycled all their waste products so this could be applied to western civilization; with all its problems. Howard spent what would have been in today’s terms £4 million of government money researching the methods of the Orientals to find out how they fertilized their fields and gardens with continued cropping capacity with no dropping off in fertility. A development that has come from my research into these matters resulted in what is now known as the ‘MegaLOO compost toilet system.’ There are many approaches to compost toilets going around, but none that have addressed the issue of comprehensive waste management and sanitation on a scale that would be applicable to towns and villages as well as to more temporary campsites, festival sites etc., with a very reasonable budget. And of course the one off householder or allotment user that may wish to use a decent lavatory, with a decent budget, without trudging for miles to find the nearest water borne connection. I came across the works of Bill Mollison; who quotes Howard in his preface to his book on Permanent Agriculture that is abbreviated to ‘Permaculture.’ I enrolled on a course to find out more. It was indeed very interesting and I realized that it is a collection of the practices of many cultures rolled into one. However as much as I read, I could not find anything that dealt with sanitation in any kind of an advanced manner, except of course ‘the reed bed system’ – but that is still a water borne system. At the end of my permaculture course we visited a Camphill community in Gloucestershire where we were to see the three different reed bed systems installed by Mark Moody who wrote ‘Sewage Solutions’ with Nick Grant. (available from The Centre for Alternative Technology, Wales) At the last reed bed Mark turned to me and said he knew who I was and that he had seen me at the ‘Green Gathering’ a year before where I was exhibiting different tubs from 1 month, 2 month and 3 month old compost derived from my compost toilet system. He then turned to the entire class and said that DRY composting of human effluent was far superior to any REED BED system. On that course we also watched ‘The Ladhak Video’ which was centred around a village in northern India that has become the fastest turnaround from primitive village to industrialized suburbia in the shortest time ever. An old lady was pictured beside a stream saying that in the past it was always considered a sin to put any waste product into water. This is indeed the foundation of the toilet system that I have developed ready for use in appropriate situations in all countries from 3rd to 1st world. We have letters from architects in this country that are begging to find a way of sanitizing new communities without involving the use of water for disposal. Such are the problems even in this climate – with plenty of water! The growing trials we have carried out on the subsequent material have been amazing. Everyone knows that in compost making you need a starter and where you don’t have access to any animals or the coast for seaweed, human effluent is the perfect answer. Oooh! Wait a minute, I hear you say, what about the human pathogens?? - Absolutely correct! They have to be addressed in the most efficient way. Human pathogens are killed at 55 degrees Centigrade in 3 days, the Foot and Mouth Disease virus is killed at 65 degrees in 5 minutes. The MegaLOO system hot composts at 70 degrees Centigrade for four days. The MegaLOO system operates on the prolific generation of specific micro-organisms which assist in the breaking down of organic matter. This science is at the forefront of modern technology in agricultural development. The initial application of these micro-organisms, through the dry flush system, eliminates the odorous smell of human waste as they are applied aerobically. The unique (patented) liquid /solid separator then renders both components containerised for further treatment; and there is no unsightliness or odour at any stage of the operation. No chemicals are added and by following a simple management technique a certain group of organisms are enabled to operate at full capacity. There is no ground water pollution or run off at any stage of the operation irrespective of bulk. The end product is a finely dividable highly nitrogenous fertilizer attained in 60 – 90 days depending on climatic conditions. It is completely safe to handle and grow crops of any description on this material as the results have been tested and are in compliance with the UK Environment Agency. The running of the apparatus also falls within the stipulations of UK Environmental Health regulations. It was said many years ago by the great nutritionist Major General Sir Robert McCarrison who worked with Sir Albert Howard "Out of the Earth are we and the plants and the animals that feed us created and made, and to the earth we must again return the things whereof we are made if it is to yield again foods of a quality suited to our needs". Richard Higgins Head Consultant and Technical Advisor, Compost Technologies Ltd.

	back