Ecological Sanitation for Haiti

Hello! I'm Rodrigo Silva from Madeira island - Portugal.

I'm 32 years old and I'm a volunteer for Haiti, for Haitians and ultimately for all the planet (yes! because polution has no borders) since 23 Jan 2010. I have taken Permaculture e Eco-village design courses and bio-construction, but my focus now is in sustainable sanitation systems.

I've been helping, teaching and learning about ecological sanitation.

After some time of observation and work with another young Haitian volunteer called Jean Lucho, we've chosen a technic to collect human and non-human waste and transform it into a natural fertilizer.

This technic is called passive thermophilic composting.

There is increasing interest in alternative sanitation options such as ecological sanitation as a means to avoiding the limitations of conventional sanitation systems and contribute to the objectives of sustainable development

Ecological Sanitation is based on the idea that urine, faeces and water are resources in an ecological loop. It is an approach that seeks to protect public health, prevent pollution and at the same time return valuable nutrients and humus to the soil. This recycling of nutrients helps to ensure food security.

We collect the human waste in dry toilets.

These toilets don't smell bad and therefore no flies are attracted to it, giving the user a dignified and pleasant moment of giving back to the soil the nutrients that it needs.

A reconnection to the planet! We simply prevent bad smell to happen, by just adding organic dry material (sawdust, sugar cane "bagasse", rice husks, etc..) on top of each fecal deposit, making sure that you don't see it and you don't smell it. It's just like a cat does it!

After each container is full we transport it to a compost pile, mix it with food scraps and other organic materials and cover it again with dry organic material and let it rest for 6 to 9 months.

During the resting period the bacteria will eat/decompose all this organic matter so quick that it creates a lot of heat (122

Return to Message List