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Introducing the Thunderbox
mobile compost toilet - the first of it’s kind!
The Thunderbox Collective are now making Thunderboxes
to order, or you can hire them. Thunderboxes are ideal
for a wide variety of situations as they are easy to
assemble and take down.
Thunderboxes give total flexibility
whilst maintaining sanitation standards and user comfort,
and are the environmental alternative to the standard
chemical loo, which have high-embedded costs, minimal
capacity, strong chemical usage and highly consumptive
water requirements.
Existing port-a-loo provision represents
a very unsustainable and often unpleasant experience,
and requires specialist smelly disposal, employing large
vehicles generating high “Poo-miles.”
There
are clear social, environmental and cultural benefits
for using a viable alternative. We, the Thunderbox Collective
are on that mission!
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Thunderboxes
are made using sustainable timber provided by ‘wood4trees’,
sourced from Devon woodlands classified as PAWS (Plantation on Ancient
Woodland Site). These are managed using continuous cover techniques,
and the timber extracted is assisting the conversion of the plantations
back to native broadleaved woodland.
A number of other components
used in the construction of the Thunderboxes (including the bulk
containers) are of recycled origin. |
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By definition,
a compost toilet produces compost, not waste. Thunderboxes have demonstrated
easy production of friable compost.
How does it work?
To create safe
and useful compost,the material needs to either spend considerable
time composting away from human contact, thereby breaking the pathogens
cycle, or by rapid “Hot composting.” Oxygen loving bacteria
are present almost anywhere there is both organic matter to break
down and oxygen supply - they just turn up!
They do have specific
requirements though. Just like a fire they need oxygen and fuel in
the right condition. The “fuel” in this case is our “deposits”
plus “soak”, usually sawdust or straw. This produces a
mix of carbon to nitrogen around 30:1. The oxygen loving or Aerobic
bacteria will attack this with fervour given good oxygen supply.
The
unique bulk turn-ability of the Thunderbox containers enables tumbling
of the compost at our convenience, with the more turns the greater
the speed of composting.
A cubic metre of fresh compost will reduce
by one third in a month and reduce to one third its original bulk
in three months with turning once a week. With careful monitoring
it can get to 55-60 degrees Centigrade!
This will kill all known pathogens
to humans in hours!
However, has every molecule reached this temperature?
We like this sort of heat level, but also compost for months and generally
don’t use our compost inside two years. By then it is virtually
soil and full of nutrients and high humic content.
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Purchase
your Thunderbox either as a DIY kit or we'll come and build one
for your annual event, allotment, campsite, low impact dwelling,
small-holding, stable yard etc.
We have a number of units available for event
Hire. We generally only operate in South-West England
due to the generation of ‘poo-miles!’
Run your own Thunderbox Business
and get paid to go to festivals! We are looking for like-minded
people to take Thunderboxes to places we don't reach, and
are therefore offering Franchise deals -
talk to us!
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There are a number
of regulations and laws concerning composting and dealing with human
waste. We take these issues very seriously…its our business
too! They become particularly important for larger events and more
Authorites get involved.
We have considerable experience in all scales
of event and the likely fall out- although that’s one thing that
doesn’t happen with a Thunderbox! - their self-contained nature
means they pass the most stringent Authorities requirements with ease.
We hold generic risk assessments and safety records as well as special
exception licences for some of our clients.
It is important to talk
to us early in proceedings to allow time for the paper trail to catch
up with our bacteria!
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We
like to think we can offer custom prices to meet your needs:
A single Thunderbox
can work out as cheap as £1200 although if you want
wheels and whistles the price goes up!
A double Thunderbox costs around £1500
depending on your particular wishes. We can offer discounts
for larger orders, festival toilets and franchises - talk
to us!
Those
of you with larger events will usually need site specific
discussions beforehand but will have the advantage of economy
of scale.
Generally, the hire of a double unit works out around
£250 (or £125/loo) without servicing, but
includes delivery (within 30 miles), collection and subsequent
disposal. All our loos come with lighting, sawdust, loo
roll, magazines, a pot of flowers and LOVE! (by the way,
there’s no VAT on love or any of the rest either!)
We know we are a tad more expensive per unit than the
conventional porta-loo on the shorter hires….sorry,
but there is simply more work in composting and no price
tag (as yet) on the hidden costs of chemical usage. We
do work out a lot cheaper, depending on length of hire,
for larger events where the costs of emptying chemical
loos really start to stack up. With 500 litres capacity
under your seat there’s no fear of getting full!
We do take “poo miles” seriously - so sorry,
but hire outside of Devon will incur additional transport
and carbon sinking costs.
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