Two young American women helping the poorest of the poor in Haiti turn human waste into fertilizer? Very cool, even inspiring. Their project is called SOIL (for Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods – a mouthful). And here's a video about it (apparently not embeddable).
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { When I look at the healthiest people on the planet vs. their local cuisine, it appears that the ones that live the longest to the... } – May 20, 4:18 PM
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { I'm a fan of the NYTimes food critic Mark Bittman, and he's just put out a part-vegan diet/cookbook (advocating eating vegan before 6pm for health... } – May 20, 11:32 AM
Commented on Kale-a-Rama makes me Wonder: Is Veganism the Next Big Thing? { Kevin, Well said. Also read The Vegetarian Myths by Lierre Keith, whose health was permanently damaged by her determination to stick to a vegan diet... } – May 20, 1:40 AM
Commented on Roses redux { Susan - Years ago, I read somewhere (maybe Organic Gardening magazine; can't remember) to plant peonies near your roses to curb Japanese beetles. I tried... } – May 19, 11:11 PM
Commented on OG Mag on Wildlife-Friendly Gardens: What's Wrong with this Picture? { It is unfortunate that a very good article is being overshadowed by the "cat" issue. Sometimes we have to save our criticism for another time... } – May 19, 10:00 PMWe are:
perfect
magazine
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Gardening
our
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off.
Having a
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Great! This is fantastic! I know this sounds stupid, but I didn’t realize that compostable toilets actually make compost! DUH! When those little Haitian school girls said they had to go to the bathroom right in the open in the river before the compostable toilet it was so shocking. It seems to be a perfect solution for Haiti’s needs. I remember one time in high school a alumni came to speak to us about a development project in Costa Rico were they had methane collection system on their septic tank to run gas cooking stoves and it was an open-air type building. This is so inspiring! That journalist should stop calling them crazy!
What are the particulars about the toilet? Sawdust was mentioned. But what really is going on here? Of what value is a documentary without documents? They say it doesn’t smell bad, but after what?
I’ve traveled to Haiti. It’s loving and artistic people have all but been forgotten by the rest of the world, yet they somehow manage to share a smile. I have the greatest admiration for the resourceful, smart and generous women of SOIL and their entire organization.
I’ve often wondered – if pure drinking water is such a rare and precious resource, why do we crap in it?
I’ve lived with composting toilets before and the grandad of them all – an outhouse. If you design it well and site it like you’re supposed to it doesn’t cause any problems.
I had a friend that traveled to Haiti probably 30 years ago. He commented that the strangest thing he experienced was being followed by villagers while hiking through the forest. When he asked someone what was up with the “stalking” he was told that they were waiting for him to go to the bathroom in the bushes because they dried feces and used it as a fuel. They had already stripped the forest of the best species for firewood.