The Humanure Handbook - 255 pages of crap

What exactly is Humanure?

I'm sure you can guess exactly what it is. Your poop (and other stuff) turning into fertilizer. But details are necessary as to what's involved in order for someone to even think of doing this. I've done the dirty work on this book. Is it unsafe, messy, smelly, what? Well it could be if you wanted, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Joseph Jenkins is the author of The Humanure Handbook. He is a down to earth guy and this book is actually pretty hilarious. I mean it almost has to be when it's a book about poop. He has composted not just his but his families dumps for twenty-eight years now. Seriously. He has had an organic garden using this compost for about as long. It takes around two years to fully compost.

Humanure composting is safe, easy, and totally scalable. The author has lectured around the world about it. He's got nuns doin' it! If you have a backyard, you can do this. If you like to garden this is totally for you.

If you think about it, why do we relieve ourselves into clean water we paid the city to clean, just to foul it up again? Couldn't some of that water go into agriculture, or god forbid, be left in our streams, rivers, and lakes? Why are we the only land animals that routinely takes a poop in water? A lot of sewage is actually dumped into waterways untreated. 1/3 of household water is used to flush. We are smarter than that! or should be...

Imagine if everyone did this, if municipalities did this. Our topsoil could be what it once was and agriculture could be less about chemicals and more about sustainability. Our waterways would not be polluted by sewage. We could help control desertification in the Gobi and Sahara with the basest of our bodies functions combined with some intellect. Something to work for I guess...

Here are the basics.

With two or more 5 gallon buckets and sawdust, newspaper, or junk mail you can start making Humanure. He has instructions for adapting lids to these buckets. These can be in your house. When you #1 or #2, you have a rubbermaid container of material nearby to put over it. You put the lid back on and there you have it. Everyone trying it has had no problems with smell using this method. Depending on the material there might be an earthy smell at most. The bucket will probably last for two weeks. At that time you take it out to one of three compost bins. Cover it with a bit more leaves or kitchen scraps and there you go. After two years you will have safe and fully composted manure ready for whatever you want. This time lapse is for both safety and quality. Harmful bacteria in our waste is converted into good bacteria by natural methods as discussed more extensively in the book.

More detail and history is explained in The Humanure Handbook that is generously hosted by a number of websites, including the author's. This is probably one of the greenest things you can do. Then you can show off to your green friends. One of the funniest parts in the book is about when he has parties. He finds it funny the guests are actually paying him when they take a bathroom break!

Unfortunately I will have to wait to experience this, but to you readers with houses and an earth-conscious spirit, please give it a shot. The book is a funny and insightful look into one the things humans do but rarely talk about. Unless you are one of my friends who seem to talk about it a lot.

Joseph Jenkins' Humanure HQ: http://jenkinspublishing.com/humanure.html

The weather is making me think green. More info is to come...

Let us start with Monolithic Domes

For a growing number of people, parishes, and industries, a strange new shape has come into their lives. Sometimes it looks like a boob or two but most of the time it just looks awesome. Here is a good example. It's commonly called a Monolithic Dome(tm) but that's the trademarked name. It's really super cool name is "insulated thin-shell concrete structure."
What is really sweet about them Dan? Well...

• They are tornado proof
• They are fire proof
• They are hurricane proof
  
• They are pest and rot free
• They require no roof to re-shingle
• They sides are easy to clean
  
• They often save 50% or more on electricity each year
  
• They have high energy star ratings.
  
• They can often save on home insurance.
  
• They will last hundreds of years with proper care.
• They use far less material than conventional buildings.

Who could say no to that right? Well a lot of people apparently. Not many respond to the change of structure well. When they are proposed, officials aren't quite sure about them, but its quite another story when they are built. The guy that built the one pictured above lives in Australia Tornado country. He was going to build a few of them for rental units to make some money and protect people from tornadoes. He was totally shot down but he did end up building his own house that you see up above. Once everyone sees them they are usually like, "that kicks butt" or at least "looks better than I thought."

How can you save a bundle by living in one? Its really simple. The whole dome is one continuous shell and acts as a thermal battery, soaking up the sun during the day and releasing the heat absorbed during the day at night. This regulates the temperature year round. Not to mention that no wind can penetrate a properly constructed dome.

The Airform or outermost covering is made in Texas and is made of the stuff used to make river rafts. This is inflated and insulation, rebar, concrete are sprayed on from the inside. Thats right, you don't have to worry about the outside weather. It just has to be hot enough for the concrete to keep mixing. All this sits on top a concrete base. There are other processes explained in detail at www.monolithic.com

It's totally customizable and scalable. You can have a 30 ft. dome or a dome for an entire school. Domes can be buried as well. For hot climates or storage you don't even need the insulation!

Look for Monolithic blogs here and there. My favorite is Peggy Atwood's site, she has a great slideshow accompanied by her own music. There are some really great architects that specialize in this on the web as well.

This is a totally awesome technology that needs to be utilized for our future. These would have survived Katrina, and survived the wild fires in Southern California. If these were square there would be no problem accepting them. The hardest part is when you want one the banks are all weird about it.

Stop being conventional everybody! Isn't the future supposed to be all domes?