World’s First Mushroom-Powered Toilet
- Editor OGN Daily
- Oct 3
- 2 min read
They don't smell or use any water and convert human waste into compost.
Ever needed to use the restroom, only to discover that the only available one was a portable toilet? Suddenly, you decide you can probably wait. Hardly surprising as they tend to look bad, smell awful, and produce toxic waste. The good news, therefore, is that researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Canada have a solution: the MycoToilet. It's the world’s first mushroom-powered waterless toilet.
It uses mycelia (fungi’s root network) to convert human waste into compost, is wheelchair-accessible, and requires just four maintenance visits a year. “We wanted to turn a daily routine everyone knows into a pleasant experience that reminds us of our connection to ecological cycles,” says Prof. Joseph Dahmen, leader of the project at UBC. “Composting toilets often carry negative associations. We aimed to create a system that’s clean, comfortable and easy to use.”
The structure consists of wooden panels equipped with a rot-resistant and antimicrobial cedar exterior, a green roof, and a low-power fan for air circulation. A system separates solid waste from liquid waste, and the solids are directed into a compartment lined with mycelium. Inside, microbes turn the solid waste into compost and the fungi absorb the bad smells. No added water, electricity or chemicals are required.
Researchers estimate that the MycoToilet could produce roughly 600 litres of soil and 2,000 litres of liquid fertilizer annually. This would be a win-win, by turning waste into a solution that can reduce the use of potentially harmful chemical fertilizers.
"The MycoToilet could provide a self-contained, cost-effective solution for managing waste in parks, municipalities, remote communities and developing regions,” says Prof. Dahmen.