World's first mushroom-powered waterless toilet appears in botanical garden

[DBoon]

No, not THOSE mushrooms!

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-09-world-mushroom-powered-waterless-toilet.html

UBC researchers have launched the world's first mushroom-powered waterless toilet, the MycoToilet, at the UBC Botanical Garden. The prototype turns human waste into nutrient-rich compost using mycelia—the root networks of mushrooms—and features a modern, sustainable design that can be dropped into parks, remote communities and areas without plumbing.

"We wanted to turn a daily routine everyone knows into a pleasant experience that reminds us of our connection to ecological cycles," said Joseph Dahmen, associate professor at UBC's school of architecture and landscape architecture (SALA) and project lead.

"Composting toilets often carry negative associations. We aimed to create a system that's clean, comfortable and easy to use."

The modular toilet requires just four maintenance visits a year and is wheelchair-accessible. "From an operations perspective, this is streamlined by design," said Prof. Dahmen.

UBC is University of British Columbia, in Canada