Housing

Straw Homes That Would Have Foiled the Wolf

By: Arnie Cooper

In the United States, the embodiment of permaculture can be found at a 450-acre parcel — the Quail Springs Permaculture Farm — tucked into a piñon- and juniper-covered canyon in Southern California's Cuyama Valley, 32 miles "as the raven flies" from the Pacific Ocean and about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Here at the base of two "sister mountains" on a windswept desert-like terrain sacred to the area's native Chumash Indians live 14 permanent residents, mostly teachers and "land stewards," along with a handful of interns. All work to restore a landscape laid waste by a century of clear-cutting and grazing, while also hosting seminars and workshops on topics ranging from safe water and green building to creating a carbon economy.

by Matt Lombardini

I have spent the past several months volunteering and coordinating certain aspects of the Sunny Acres program and would like to share what I have become aware of by being on site and having lengthy discussions and interactions with Mr. De Vaul as well as many of the residents (formerly homeless) who live there now.

Sunny Acres has been in operation for over 9 years. It is the only place in San Luis Obispo County that provides a 'long-term' living situation for people who were formerly homeless. In addition, people who come to live there are provided with 3 hot meals a day, 12-step recovery meetings held twice weekly, and a unique opportunity to rehabilitate at a pace that works for each on an individual basis. This is accomplished in large part by working on the ranch and performing  jobs such as growing crops, dealing with the 40 head of cattle, repairing and maintaining farm equipment, automobile mechanics and restoration, welding, converting wine barrels into water barrels and more. Training is provided as needed to those who show interest in a particular area.

Composting commode is first to gain official stamp.

By Asher Price
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF (Thursday, June 18, 2009)

It took more than four years of negotiations and construction, but this month an Austin Water Utility inspector gave final clearance to a glorified outhouse that is on the vanguard of down-and-dirty environmentalism.

Known as a composting toilet, the East Austin commode relies on the alchemy wrought by bacteria to transform human waste into a rich trove of soil. Specialists in so-called humanure have hailed the approval of the toilet as a watershed moment for common-sense environmentalism.

Users flush not with water but with a scoop of sawdust from a nearby bucket, saving the drinking-water-quality water used by conventional toilets, not to mention the energy and money required to pump and clean the wastewater.