We have often considered this homestead an experiment. On this little inexpensive plot of land in this tiny ruggedly built straw bale home, we get to try out different off-grid techniques to see what works. The compost toilet, for example, the most ecologically sustainable solution to humanure, was an experiment which included a lot of trial and error. I've written about that more extensively in an earlier post. It is still questionable whether or not we would choose a compost toilet again in our next house.
Mistakes are an important part of experimenting and that is what I kept telling myself this autumn as we dug up our backyard all over again. It turns out we did our gray water system all wrong. I won't deny that even as we were building the very minimal system comprised of PVC pipes and plastic buckets with holes in them, I had serious doubts it would work. I assumed that it would get clogged with hair and food and other detritus because we didn't have much of a filtration system o…
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