Good for the environment, real good for
gardens
By Will Collette
Now that this
year’s annual flap from the residents of the Arnolda neighborhood against summer festivals at Ninigret Park has subsided, we can now focus on some
innovations that could make those festivals a major environmental plus.
With the Seafood Festival kicking off this weekend, we're getting into
the heart of event season at Ninigret and thousands of visitors will be in the
Park, eating and drinking and having a good time.
That means lines
and lines at the battalion of Port-a-potties brought in because there's
absolutely no plumbing or septics in the park.
Aside from being kind of nasty –
though necessary and welcome when needed – Port-a-potties have to be hauled
away and, according to most of the rental service websites, emptied into
municipal waste water treatment systems.
This is a real
waste in many more ways than one. It’s not just the added pollution we ship
away to the city, but a wasted resource.
The Europeans
have found a much better solution, one I’m glad to say I am not making up. The
French company Faltazi has come up with the eco-friendly Uritonnoir. It’s a very simple construction. You take a straw bale and bang
in several appropriately shaped plastic funnels (see photos).
This is pretty much a guy thing, especially a
guys-who-drink-a-lot-of-beer thing, because it’s a strictly stand up and do
your business mechanism. The nitrogen in the urine combines with the carbon in
the straw and, after about twelve months, you've got yourself some very nice
compost.
Since Ninigret Park is right next to Arnolda, as the Arnolda
residents remind us often, perhaps a nice way for Ninigret Park goers to pay
back the nice Arnolda people is to have the compost brought over for their
gardens.
This method of elimination could eliminate the need for many of
the Port-a-potties currently needed.
Of course, the Uritonnoir only works for
those people who’s toilet needs can be handled standing up. What about the
needs of people who need to sit down? Are they doomed to be stuck with
Port-a-potties?
Well, fortunately, we still have our research from the 2011 battle with the CCA Party over building new toilet
facilities at the town beaches. If
you will recall, the CCA Party regulars who own beach property could see no
need for new toilet facilities.
They argued that such new facilities would only
encourage more people to go to the beach. Besides, if you can’t walk home to
pee, you probably don’t belong at the beach anyway. At least so the argument
went.
Anyway, one of the alternatives we found to building new beach
toilets was a Japanese innovation that might very well provide the solution for
those who can’t use the Uritonnoir. Click here.
I would suggest a couple of modifications – skip the chemical
tablet and use biodegradable bags so that each person using the Japanese system
can add their waste to the composting Uritonnoir pile. More nice nutrients for
Arnolda’s gardens!