Sanitation for Your Home and Family

In the aftermath of an emergency, trash pickup and garbage disposal may not be available. It is very important that each individual takes the responsibility of proper sanitation and hygiene. It may not be exciting but next to food and water there is no more important thing to worry about for your safety, happiness, and comfort

TRASH

TRASH is: Burnable [paper, wood, cardboard] or Non Burnable [metal cans, foil, Styrofoam, plastic]

1.       Burn what you can

2.       Save the ashes to cover layers of buried or stored garbage and waste

3.       Crush cans to as small volume as possible

4.       Store non burnable(s) in sealed garbage bags, in an out of the way place away from living areas, until normal services are resumed

GARBAGE AND HUMAN WASTE

GARBAGE is: Human and Biological Waste, Disposable Diapers, Food Waste, and Liquids 

Depending on the emergency, but especially after an earthquake, the water lines may be damaged or the water contaminated.  Shut off your Water Main to isolate your house from any contamination.

Outgoing sewer pipes could also be damaged.

DO NOT flush the toilet or put anything down the drains until you know the sewer pipes are safe.

So---What do you do when you gotta go?

DRY TOILET- Empty water from the tank and the bowl- DO NOT flush it. Plug the hole in toilet bowl with a foam-filled rubber ball.  This will prevent sewer gases, insects and rodents from coming up the drain into your house.  If no ball is available, saturate a cloth with shortening and plug the hole.  Line the bowl with double garbage bags. Separate liquid waste from solid.  Use the toilet for solids only, (Urinate into a container diluted with water so it will not burn plants.  Urine is an excellent fertilizer.  Put it on the soil, but not onto areas where root crops are currently growing).  Keep a bucket filled with sawdust, wood chips, kitty litter, dry dirt, etc. and cover contents after each use.  Cover bowl by placing a piece of cardboard between the bowl and the seat.  When bag is full, place in something sturdy, like a cardboard box, and carry it outside.  Empty contents in a 3-4’ hole; place garbage bag on top and cover with 2” dirt.  Cover hole with cardboard box and bricks to keep animals out. 

COMMERCIAL “DOODIE’ BAGS can be purchased for a one time use, then disposed of in that hole in your yard. 

RV CHEMICAL TOILETS can be purchased at most RV or Outdoor Supply Stores.  It must also be dumped in that hole in your yard. 

SANITATION PORTA POTTIES can be made from a bucket with a toilet seat.  Line the bucket with double garbage bags.   

IN THE YARD is a temporary solution for dumping and safely taking care of human waste and garbage.  Local laws and sanitation safety need to be considered when deciding where or if you will have an outside “latrine”.  Use a shovel and dig a hole deep enough to be able to dump your waste and garbage in it.  After each deposit cover the garbage with dirt, to keep insects and animals out of it, and to help with the odor.  Sprinkle cold ashes from your campfire, or charcoal cooking over your latrine to help keep the odor controlled.  Food scraps and any other garbage can also be dumped in this hole.  The hole is full when it is within 1 foot of the ground surface.  Fill with dirt and an ash layer, and move to a new hole.