You are at: Home » Category: Compost Toilets
I have to confess I had never really thought about this before. I strive to be mindful in daily life of not using more heated water than I need to, to keep energy bills and CO2 emissions down, and also of not wasting cold water, particularly for watering the garden, due to its being a precious resource. However, I had never really considered the carbon implications of the water that emerges from our taps.
The flyer for Transition Town Totnes is now done, is at the printers, and will be ready tomorrow. I thought those of you outside of the ‘pop into Totnes and pick one up’ radius would like to see it. It was done by the very creative, professional and patient Simon Blackler of Idealic in Ivybridge. Idealic is a South West Devon design agency specialising in corporate identity, concerned about the affects of climate change, wanting to work with companies who wish to work more sustainably, who I recommend wholeheartedly. You can download it here. Do feel free to print out and distribute or circulate in whatever way seems appropriate.
Access to manure is an important part of maintaining soil fertility in an organic system, the problem can often be tracking down where to get it from. Humanure composting is not an option for everyone (or rather is perceived as not being an option), so manure it is. Before I get howls of derision from vegan gardeners out there arguing that there are ways of coping without it, I am aware of that, but for me, you can’t beat a nice bit of muck. Anyway, the question then arises as to where to get it from.
Peter Harper has been at the Centre for Alternative Technology for over 15 years as a landscape designer, director of biological research and now as Head of Research and Innovation. He is author of many articles and of the classic “Natural Garden Book”, which I think is now tragically out of print. He lives in Machynlleth has done a great job of renovating his traditional cottage as ‘greenly’ as possible, as well as creating a beautiful and productive garden.
The time has come at TransitionCulture to address one of the less palatable but, I think, more fascinating aspects of this whole energy descent business. What happens when it becomes too costly, unfeasible or, due to sudden disruptions to our energy supplies, impossible, to run our mains sewage system? When the whole system stops working and we still need to go, where will we, as it were, go? As someone who until a few months ago had spent 6 years of my life using a compost toilet, I thought I might share my experience of a flush-free life.
Humanity can fly to the moon, build the Channel Tunnel and so on, but we still defecate in water and then try and work out what to do with it.
