greywater

California Greywater Update from Greywater Action Co-Founder Laura Allen

Posted by Kirstie Stramler at 10:27 pm cooperation, design, ecology, education, people, transition No Responses » Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
Aug 182010

Laura Allen, Co-founder of Greywater Action, at a packed Greywater Info Session for the Community of Petaluma, mid-July 2010.Photo Credit:  Ron and Laura Paul of Greywater Marin.

Progress in California Regulation and in Inspection Procedures

Laura Allen, on progress made in California Greywater regulation, on recent Greywater Action strategies and successes, and expectations for the future of greywater usage in California:

http://www.vimeo.com/14249649

Rigorous Greywater Education

Laura Allen describes the remarkable curriculum and installation projects of their 5-day Greywater Installer’s Course, and outlines their 1- and 2-day Greywater Courses, as well:

http://www.vimeo.com/14249207

Register for the upcoming 5-day Greywater Installer’s course, organized by Daily Acts, and to be held in Sebastapol Mon 13 Sept. – Fri 17 Sept.

Students who take the 5-day Greywater Installer’s Course, and who pass the certification exam, and complete the 5th day installation project which Laura describes in the video above, are listed as Level 1 Installers on Greywater Action’s Installer Directory.  I took the 5-day course last month,  in July 2010, and found it to be outstanding preparation to get out in the field, and have already been on my first consultation.  Not bad for an atmospheric scientist who has logged untold hours programming computers, but has rarely picked up a drill!  It’s entirely attributable to Greywater Action’s rigorous teaching methods.

Greywater Resources

Laura Allen describes resources that Greywater Action has developed for Greywater Installers and how to access them:

http://www.vimeo.com/14248937

Many Greywater Action members take an active role in the Greywater Alliance, a wonderful resource to keep both the greywater curious and seasoned greywater installers updated on this rapidly  progressing field.

Greywater system specification table for 4 common greywater systems.  Source:  http://cleanwatercomponents.com/education/greywater

Addressing the unique greywater installer’s needs to (1) merge components from disparate sources, and to (2) purchase single items that may typically only be available in bulk, Laura and her colleagues have created Clean Water Components, a for-profit website that sells pre-packaged, ready-to-use, greywater components.  They also offer complete greywater system maps in PDF format, to be sure you install your greywater systems correctly, as well as other items ranging from ‘how-to’ books to modern indoor composting toilets.

Next up in Greywater:   Branched-Drain Installation Footage/Stills and the most recent Bay Area Greywater Roundtable Footage.

Confessions of a Permgin, Part III

Posted by jenni_perez at 4:43 pm permaculture.tv No Responses » Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,
Oct 132009

by Jenni Perez

Bill Mollison said, “Though the world’s problems are increasingly complex, the solutions remain embarrassingly simple.” It was only after taking the Permaculture Design Certificate course ( www.OAEC.org) that I began to truly believe this.

We pollute our watersheds and pump our drinking water from the ground, while flushing our waste “away” with potable freshwater. We flush our waste “away”, while our urine and feces can and should be used to put nutrients back into our soil (“You are what you don’t shit,” says instructor Brock Dolman – our bodily waste isn’t even ours to flush!).

We rely on this elusive place called “away” to store our landfill, when in reality, it doesn’t exist – it’s our oceans. We rape our local soil and have our food trucked to us from far-off places. We exhaust our water supply (and put toxic chemicals into our land) to maintain grass lawns – providers of nothing but a homogenous aesthetic – when, centuries ago, the lawn was originated in warring countries to keep an eye out for enemy invasion. We rip species out of their habitats to build our own habitats with toxic, pollution-yielding materials. After water, cement is the second-most poured substance in the world.

The basis of Permaculture is common sense. Why adhere to societal traditions that clearly don’t work anymore? Why not introduce to our society the basic Permaculture principle of working with nature instead of against it? Why not forego the lawn, and replace it with a flourishing food garden that also serves as a biodiverse habitat? Why not use our drinking water for drinking, and implement greywater systems that shuttle our used washing machine and shower water out to our gardens? Why not situate our houses, using passive solar, so that they take advantage of the natural thermostat in the sky? Why not let “form follow function,” and mimic tried-and-true patterns in nature for functional building? The list could go on and on.

The aesthetic possibilities are nearly endless with natural building. Here’s what’s been done with cob:

There are many laws and codes to be challenged. Some have been knocked down by a determined few, but many others need the strength of the masses.

If you haven’t done so already, I urge you to treat yourself to a two-week Permaculture Design Course. Without this hearty dose of reality check, hands-on experience, and support from inspiring and accomplished individuals, I never would have come to understand our urgent responsibility to save the planet and save ourselves.

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