The Compost Toilet Experience
Trip Start
Nov 13, 2006
1
66
80
Trip End
Oct 21, 2008
Nir Moshe,
Israel
Friday, May 23, 2008
I felt a strange mix of trepidation and curiosity as I approached the small wooden shack. The high fibre feasts had taken their toll and there was no getting away from it. It was time to use the compost toilet!
As I closed the door I took a peek inside. I was relieved to find that all I could really see or smell was the straw you put on top when you've finished. In fact the whole experience was suprsingly pleasant. In a western toilet you are sealed into a small area so that smells and sounds are all amplified. In the compost toilet - basically a pit with a toilet seat on top - there is good ventilation. It was all just so natural. No pollution, no water wastage, I was giving a special present back to the earth I had taken from. I left feeling quite proud of my work.
Compost toilets are just one of the eco features on Adamama farm. Other features include the eco shower, the grey water recycling, the mudhuts, free range hens, and of course the organic vegetables. Done properly organic gardening actually produces a higher yield per unit land and water than traditional farming (its the human labor that is more intensive). Complementary vegetables are planted in close proximity to each other producing a beautiful array of colours.
Unfortunately the organic vegetables are not yet enough to sustain the farm. It is difficult to make money from farming and volunteers have to make a small contribution towards buying food the conventional way.
compost toilet
I left the farm yesterday. At first it had seemed just too quiet, with too few people, and with no car I couldn't leave the farm easily. But the tranquility had grown on me, as had the people, and the eco lifestyle. Its somehow good for the soul. I may well return but even if I don't I take away some ideas for green living which anyone can apply to their everyday lives.Tips for Green Living
1. Collect shower water in a bucket as you wait for it to heat up. This can then be used to water the plants, flush the toilet, wake up the kids, or chuck at passers by (or neighbours).
2. Fill a small cup with water and (eco-friendly) detergent. Dip a sponge in the cup and use this to clean your dishes. Only turn on the water tap at the end to rinse all the dishes together.
3. If its brown flush it down, but if its yellow let it mellow.
4. Put a lid on your cooking when you are waiting for it to heat up. Use a kettle to boil water rather than a saucepan, and buy a pressure pot for things which take a long time.
5. Eat less meat and fish. It is way less efficient to consume animals which have consumed vegetation than to eat the vegetation directly. Overfishing is destroying our oceans as we speak.
6. Fly less
7. Remember that everything that you buy or consume has come from somewhere. Ask yourself if you need it.
........Theres lots more. If you have any tips for green living please post them in the comments section.
Comments
Permaculture
Hi,
Very interesting blog!
I'm a dutch guy living in Israel and greatly interested in permaculture, especially the kind that is applicable in the back garden.
However I don't seem to find connection to people doing this or communities that are doing this.
Do you have any idea who to contact to get things going? I'd like to know more about design and also practical about water recycling (we waste too much water indeed) and making and planting the garden itself.
Thanks for any pointers, keep travelling,
S.
composat toilets
well you could try contacting adamama farm. the guy in charge is called gadi if i remember right and he is like an encyclopedia of knowledge. if you cant find their contact details online let me know and ill see what i can do.