We are explorers at heart. But all the camping toilets out there were 💩. So we decided to do something about it.  

​After working a corporate job for 15 years, CompoCloset founder Richard Peter knew it was time for a change. Despite having recently finished renovating their house, Richard and his partner Angela decided to quit their jobs, drop everything, and go traveling. 

They rented out their newly renovated house and their travels took them to… Richard’s parents’ driveway. The two lived in a caravan while working on their self-converted van, Morrison, for a glorious year on the road. 

Richard had never heard of composting toilets before he put one in his van. He quickly saw the practical benefits over a chemical toilet, since portable chemical toilets need to be emptied every few days, and you literally had to flush drinking water down the toilet after every use. Drinking water is too valuable just to be wasted, and it is especially scarce in a camper van. Not to mention, composting toilets are way more environmentally friendly, as no chemicals are needed to treat the wastewater whatsoever.  

Despite seeing the advantages of composting toilets, Richard couldn’t help notice the problems with current designs:  

🤏 The poop compartment door was too small!
🎯 Aiming for the pee portion was also a creative task…
🤖 And honestly, camping toilets looked like the love child of R2D2 and a 1970s vacuum cleaner. 

These niggles soon became an obsession as the two traveled around Europe. Richard would sketch toilets and research other amazing composting endeavors around the world. He would talk to anyone they met about them (because, well, everybody poops!) and how great composting toilets are, but he knew improvements were needed for the modern day traveler.

Then the pandemic ratcheted up a gear…

Before borders closed for a second time, Richard and Angela made a break across Europe. They headed to southern Spain to enjoy the warmer weather (and tapas) during the winter. Since they couldn’t really travel, they rented a small apartment and Richard threw his efforts into realizing his vision of the best composting toilets in the world!

Enter Erica – Angela’s twin sister. No, this will not get weird.

Erica and Angela grew up on Orcas Island, Washington State, but both moved to Europe for studies. Erica returned to Washington State to finish her degree in Economics at the University of Washington. She returned to Vienna, settled down, and completed a Masters in Marketing. 

Before the second lockdown, Richard and Angela visited Erica and her husband Gordan in Vienna, and Erica was not spared Richard’s ramblings on how amazing composting toilets were.  

Erica and Gordan had a T5 VW van that was a workhorse for hauling lighting & rigging during the week but doubled as a camper van on the weekend. Suffice to say that Erica knew about the difficulties of having a stinky bathroom in a small space. 

In a moment of schnaps-induced weakness, Erica agreed to come on board and sort out Richard’s half-baked marketing. Finally, there was someone qualified for their role on the team who wasn’t turned off by talking poop 24/7! 

The CompoCloset Crew was formed, Cuddy was created, and environmentally-friendly exploration could continue once more!

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