Day 2: clean water & dirty hands

I was somehow able to wake up on time for the 6 am “morning celebration,” an everyday ritual before the eco-volunteers begin their work. It was led by Mike Kaplin, co-creator, director, and head permaculture teacher for the Center for Creative Ecology. We did a series of stretches to wake up the body, then got our day rolling.

We focused mostly on making the straw-bale mixture that serves as the binding agent for all of the domes in the Bustan neighborhood. It's very simple to make – you fill up a tub with water, then dissolve wet clay in it. It's ready when you take your hand out of the mixture and it is covered like a glove, not too thick but not too thin. From there, you submerge bundles of straw, then take handfuls and squeeze the excess clay-water out and throw the clump into another tub. We did this all morning till breakfast time, where I think I consumed a little too much yogurt and israeli cheese...my stomach wasn't too happy with me today...

Anyways, instead of returning to work after breakfast, I attended a class about grey water systems. Great stuff. Here's a little summary: grey water is the wastewater from kitchen and bathroom sinks, washing machines, bathtubs and showers. It hasn't been contaminated with sewage, AKA human excrement. Greywater can be recycled for irrigation purposes for gardens, wetlands, and in some extreme cases, for hydration. There's 2 different kinds of greywater recycle systems:

1. low tech – homemade recycle systems (DIY style)
2. high tech – store bought, industrial water recycling systems

We covered a ton of low tech constructions, some very clever and some a little questionable. There are 2 main grey water safety principles, which should always be followed to achieve sufficient greywater.

1. The greywater must pass SLOWLY through healthy top soil OR ready made compost (topsoil=natural mulch basin, compost=man-made). This naturally purifies the greywater.
2. It is most ideal to design the system so that NO greywater is exposed to the outside/air or human contact before the purification process happens. This way, the possibility of contamination is eliminated.

You should NOT employ greywater systems when there are insufficient pipes, inaccessible drain pipes, unsuitable soil, unsuitable climate, and/or legality issues. Furthermore, the type of things going through the drains dictates what can be recycled – hand/dish soaps and shampoos are okay in low concentrations, whereas laundry detergents and other chemically ridden substances are bad. In order to recycle these bad items, you have to get specific soaps engineered especially for reuse.

The class concluded with information about high tech greywater solutions, which you can order instead of trying to make your own. High-tech solutions would be most applicable to camp, due to the volume of water we use as well as the location. Greywater would be a tricky thing to figure out for camp, but I think it can be done if we get some noggins together :) Here's a link to a very informative website all about greywater: http://oasisdesign.net/greywater/index.htm

Also, check out this funky little video, all about sand filtration:

After class, I continued the mud-building from the morning. This is an AWESOME way to build just about anything, as it is hands-on, very easy, and just the right amount of messy. In order to actually build with the clay/mud straw, you frame the area you want to fill between 2 boards, a wall and a board, or some type of similar frame. From there, you just layer the straw on-top of itself. Sounds pretty easy, right? It is! ...Minus a very key technique – in order to have a sturdy wall, you have to compact the sides very, very tightly, while making sure that the center stays loose and NOT compacted. To compact the sides and corners, we took a wooded board and lined it up with the sides of the frame, then compacted away. We didn't touch the middle, creating a rainbow shape with the straw. From there, you let it dry. The next step will be covering the dried straw with mud, which hopefully I'll be able to do.

I also learned how to “read” my dome. Every morning, the dome residents record how much energy they use from the day before, as well as the temperatures in the dome from the day before. This way, you're able to see what your consumption of energy is, which allows us to figure out ways to reduce it. Very cool way of having a direct impact on how you're living.

The community is absolutely wonderful here – warm, welcoming, down to earth, and progressively minded. I've met people from all over the world, some volunteering, some working, and some just living. English is ubiquitous, as there are many cultures from all over in the same place. Being in a consciously minded community is pretty powerful, not to mention extremely motivating. For anyone who wants to explore the options at this place, check out the “Green Apprenticeship” tab on their main website: http://kibbutzlotan.com/index.html