Monday, April 29, 2013

3/4/13 – Compost Privy

Compost toilet – dealing with human waste

Well today’s class was really interesting and brought forth an idea I haven’t ever really contemplated – the idea that we can turn composting systems into systems that incorporate human waste. It sounds a little gross to me. But the concept and the why behind it makes totally sense.

We are used to not dealing directly with waste. This type of system is a way of coming face to face with our waste. Just as I’ve reference in one of my earlier posts, the more people know the more they value… The same is true here because people will understand that their waste trail is an integral part of the community, local environment, and global ecosystem. It is important not to just flush the toilet and away goes the waste, “Outta sight, outta mind.”

Florence, our TA, was the one who led the lecture today. She presented an interest fact that every three months there is an average of 300 pounds of waste generated per person. That is a ton of waste! Also, this year the world will produce 2.6 trillion pounds of garbage which is equal to the weight of 7,000 Empire State Buildings.

That is so crazy to think about. There is no “out” for us to throw our garbage out, when you think about the planet as a whole.

So these composting systems, although they seem engineered to not be super gross, it is a little revolting to me. Hopefully later on I might be more okay with it, but I am just not sure right now.

No comments:

Post a Comment