You do realize that these fancy carbon filters they sell aren't much different from charcoal. They all are made of the same substances for the most part. There are alot of diy filtters out there and they use charcoal. Once the charcoal quits absorbing the smell set outsid in sun for a day and it's recharged. Some people just believe if you spend $100 that its better and they may be right but cheap works fine to.
Sure, as long as you make it go through a filter of some kind, one thing I do know is that even a few plants indoors 24/7 do stink a lot
And sure I love DIY, Im a black smithy, well more do it in stainless steal now a days, but IMO not worth the work when you can buy a filter for around 50$ (unless your on a REALLY low budget)
The carbon in the 5kg buckets cost more then a new filter and then you also have to make some kind of filter to hold it, well up to you, just make sure you have some kind of filter
a few pics of some DIY projects I did
a cool hood for my old 600W
and some active carbon from a cooking ventilation filter
so I have been there, also been with out any, and even tho my neighbors don't mind I couldn't sleep in the stink in the end, after driving around all over town getting a filter/ventilation and running it for a hour or two I finally got a odor free apartment and could sleep
so my advice, get a filter one way or the other, its well worth it