Scoop on Poop (eBook)

Dan Chiras is a highly respected educator and the internationally acclaimed author of over 30 books on residential renewable energy, green building and sustainability, including The Homeowner's Guide to Renewable Energy and Power from the Sun. He has studied and written extensively about ecologically sound waste water systems. Dan is the president of Sustainable Systems Design and the director and lead instructor at The Evergreen Institute's Center for Renewable Energy and Green Building (www.evergreeninstitute.org), where he teaches workshops on sustainable waste management, self-sufficiency, energy efficiency, solar electric and solar thermal systems, wind energy, green building, natural plasters, and natural building.

Chapter 1 Introduction
Effluenza – Poisoning our world, poisoning ourselves…with our own waste (the scope of waste production and mismanagement in the world today)
Liquid and solid waste disposal –gray water and black water treatment
Linear thinking, linear systems -- how we deal with human waste (how we waste our valuable ‘‘wastes”) and the problems that resulting from the linear thinking
All waste is food: ecological waste management (how Mother Nature would design waste management systems)
Is there a gold mine in our poop?
Eliminating the concept of waste from our lives: Building an ecologically sustainable lifestyle no matter where you live
Ecological design concepts that eliminate waste
It doesn’t matter where you live – city, country, or suburb – you can recycle your own waste without pooping in alleyways!

Chapter 2 The Modern “Solution” to Human Waste: How Stupid Can We Be?
Understanding liquid and solid waste
Where does your waste go? (Sewage treatment in modern cities and towns)
Are we drinking our own pee? No, someone else is!
What happens to solid waste? Is any of it recycled and put to good use?
Fish on steroids, birth control pills, antibiotics, and antidepressants: Where do all the medications go and what effects are they having on fish and wildlife?
Household cleaners and antibacterial cleaners: Dumping more poisons into our environment
More linear thinking: Rural septic systems and lagoons, and their weaknesses (from an ecological standpoint)
Nature Gets an A, We get an F: Mother Nature’s Scorecard for modern, technologically advanced solutions to solid and liquid human waste? `
Making the best of a bad situation: Ways you can improve the ecological score of your existing sewage system (low flush toilets, one-pint flush toilets, dual flush toilets, managing flushing, going outdoors when you can, controlling what you flush down a toilet, etc.)

Chapter 3: Sawdust Toilets
My experiences with sawdust toilets
Anatomy of a sawdust toilet
How do they work?
How to build your own sawdust toilet and what will it cost?
How to use the toilet
How often will you need to empty the bucket?
Do they smell?
Composting the wastes safely and odorlessly
What about flies?
Killing bacteria and harmful viruses, naturally (composting human manure outdoors—in your own backyard)
What can you legally do with the wastes? How can you put your waste to good use?
Overcoming obstacles—Will your neighbors object?

Chapter 4 Self-Contained Composting Toilets
What are self-contained composting toilets?
How does a self-contained composting toilet work? (Examine different commercial models)
Will a self-contained composting toilet smell or attract flies?
Maintaining a composting toilet-- what you need to do to make it perform optimally? (For example, some things you should never add to a composting toilet)
How often do you need to empty the toilet?
What can you do with the waste--legally?
Pros and cons of self-contained units
Product options: Survey models made by major companies (Envirolet, Sunmar, Biolet, Nature’s Head, etc.), looking at their pros and cons
Do you need to heat or ventilate a self-contained composting toilet?
Installing a self-contained composting toilet in new and existing homes
Personal experiences with composting toilets

Chapter 5 Remote Composting Toilets
What are remote composting toilets?
Options: waterless and low-water systems
How do remote composting toilets work?
Will a remote composting toilets smell or attract flies?
Maintaining a composting toilet-- what you need to do to make it perform optimally?
How often do you need to empty the toilet?
What can you do with the waste?
Pros and cons of remote compost toilets
Product options: Survey models made by major companies (Envirolet, Sunmar, Biolet, etc.)
Do you need to heat a remote composting toilet?
Should you ventilate a composting toilet?
Installing a self-contained composting toilet in new and existing homes
What’s your best option?
Personal experiences with remote composting toilets

Chapter 6 How to Build Your Own Composting Toilet
Designing and building your own system
Design options
Where to find plans
Indoor and outdoor composting toilet systems
Dos and Don’ts
What works and what doesn’t work
Ensuring success—maintaining temperature, removing moisture, eliminating odor, and extracting compost easily and efficiently
Managing a self-built system

Chapter 7 Indoor Waste Water Planters (for treating gray water)
Inspiration from Michael Reynolds’ Earthships
Design of the Earthship gray water recycling/ purification systems
How these systems work
Growing plants indoors, year round using an Earthship gray water recycling planter
What can you do with the purified gray water
Installing a system in new and existing homes
Experiences with these systems (interview Earthship owners for personal insights into their effectiveness and ways to manage these systems so they work optimally)
Dos and Don’ts of gray water planters
Can these systems be used to treat blackwater, too? (How Michael Reynolds has adapted these systems to treat black water)
Effectiveness of gray water planters
Pros and Cons of gray water systems
Getting approval for a system

Chapter 8 Gray Water Systems
Why is gray water recycling so important?
From simple to complex: the wide range of options
Designing a system to meet your needs
Rules of gray water storage, filtration, and safe re-use
Experiences with gray water systems
Getting approval for a gray water system

Chapter 9 Outdoor Waste Water Planters
Recycling gray water and black water in outdoor planters
Outdoor Earthship planters—how they are designed and built
Experience with outdoor planters
Are they better than modern sewage treatment plants?
Watson Wick filters – how they are designed and built
Experience with Watson Wick filters
Getting approval for outdoor gray water and black water systems
Maintaining and operating an outdoor waste water planter for optimal performance
What climates do they work best in?
Getting approval

Chapter 10 Wetlands as Waste Water Treatment
Constructed wetlands for waste water treatment
What is a constructed wetland?
How do they operate?
Small-scale systems for waste recycling
Converting a waste water lagoon into a wetland
How to build a constructed wetland
Maintaining a constructed wetland
Taking the wetland underground—submerged systems
Combining submerged and surface systems for safety
How long will a constructed wetland last?
Pros and cons of constructed wetlands

Chapter 11: Aquaponics and Hydroponics
Building an indoors wetlands
Design principles and design options
How indoor wetlands recycle wastes
Can human waste be used to grow food or make food for livestock?
Greenhouse design options
Choosing a greenhouse design
Heating and cooling a greenhouse naturally
Designing and building a system
Pros and cons of aquaponics and hydroponic waste water systems

Chapter 12 Eliminating Waste from Your Life,
Beyond sewage—what you and I can do to eliminate all waste from our lives
Eliminating the word waste from our vocabulary
Following in nature’s foot steps
Recycling and reusing all resources
Composting all wastes
Benefits of composting and recycling
Precycling – reducing consumption and waste
How to get started