Yesterday, as they were packing up their things and preparing to move on, one of the students mentioned something that stuck with me overnight. He was talking about the simplicity of our humanure composting system, and exclaimed,
“I can’t believe that we didn’t flush anything for the past ten weeks. This system is so simple it’s amazing!”
He’s right. A ten week bushcraft and Earth skills course and our small group didn’t create any sewage. We didn’t throw away anything that will rot. Instead, we composted all of it. And our inputs were only rainwater, sawdust and hay. Now the compost sits for two years, then goes back into our organic gardens that help to feed our students. Our dishwater was cooled, them scattered around the landscape onto plants where it helped minimize insect impact. And our glass, aluminum, metal, cardboard, paper, and plastic containers were all recycled.
Low-tech, low cost, and low stress – A great model.
Lots of companies are making a big deal out of their green initiatives lately. We’re setting the bar high because that’s where it needs to be. You can too. Just start doing it today. Because in the end it doesn’t matter what you’ve read, it matters what you’ve done.
