Building a Composting Toilet

Here is what my group looks like in a typical theoretical lesson in the bomb shelter classroom, in this case, learning about the history of different types of composting toilets.


You can see how the Americans expand their Hebrew vocabulary and the Israelis expand their English vocabulary in our lessons:


And so we began building a new composting toilet in the Bustan neighborhood. We started sort of from scratch. The metal frame was already built for us, and we continued the construction from there. It was an amazing process, using various different techniques we've been studying throughout the program, and having a group project that everyone worked on together as a team---rotating jobs, helping one another, developing our personal and group working skills. To see the structure develop from a metal frame to what it is now has been incredible! Here's the frame we began with:


We put up rows of straw bales for the east, west, and north walls. Here's a photo of hammering in the internal pins to keep the bales sturdy:


Leveling the straw bales to make sure that the wall isn't leaning in any direction:


Another building technique we used for this structure was building a mud brick wall. This is what we did to separate the two stalls. Mike and I:


Continuing to build up the mud brick wall:


The south wall was done using a technique called wattle and daub. We first wove date palm branches into horizontal wires and then began applying mud onto the branches. You can see how this wall is much, much thinner than the straw bale walls:


This is what the toilet looks like from the back. You can see the area below it, where the bins will be placed to collect the "humanure" in batches. Efrat and Ohad working on the wattle and daub:


Applying the first coat of mud to the outside of the straw bale wall:


Each person spent time practicing each technique, so this really feels like a collaborative experience educating us as individuals and as a unit. This project has definitely been one of the most valuable work experiences I've ever had.