We’ve had so many decisions to make in the past few weeks; heating systems, interior wall and ceiling materials, electrical and lighting plans etc. We’ve found that Google isn’t really your friend in Tassie Mania when it comes to sourcing local suppliers, you need to resort to the trusty old Yellow Pages. It’s not a bad experience actually.
Confirming our window sizes, positioning and type has been an important process. Initially we didn’t like the idea of thermally broken aluminium windows because we thought that timber would be more aesthetically pleasing, though the maintenance of timber windows was a bit scary (especially with clerestory windows on the roof). Then we noticed our outdoor setting, which is a combination of ironstone colour aluminium and dark timber. We love that look, that’s why we bought the outdoor setting for our house in Pymble, and remember saying at the time we’d like to carry that theme through the house. So that was a huge milestone.
Our friend Anna generously spent most of the day with me (when Karim got stuck travelling due to the ash cloud) helping to survey the windows to make sure they offered views of the forest, river, mountains and sky. Admittedly without the guys it took us a couple of hours just to get the hang of the dumpy level, but hey, we got there in the end! Handy tip: it helps not to cover the lens with your finger.
The software that Graham uses (and Graham himself) is so clever. He can actually import the exact view that we will have through our chosen window sizes. Check out the view from our bed. We’re already anticipating the first morning we wake up to this. Ok it might be in 2013, but hey…
Then of course there are other big decisions like the wastewater management system and toilet. Why do we want a wetlands system rather than a simple septic system with trenches? Predominantly to re-use all the water that goes down the drains in the house, as well as the other benefits such as habitat for frogs and aquatic invertebrates, an environment to grow reeds that are useful for basket weaving and many more benefits.
Why do we want a compost toilet? A typical reason is to save water, however our rainwater catchment roof area, as well as our dam and other water harvesting features, means we have an abundance of water, and new 5 star toilets only use 2L each flush. Then of course there’s the policy of “if it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down”. So the minimal water saving aspect is not a compelling reason for us. Our main reason for having a compost toilet is for the compost. But you know what, we have dozens of hot compost piles in the garden containing a variety of organic materials and animal manures, we really don’t need to, and I haven’t been particularly enjoying, handling the human waste from our compost toilet in the shed. We’re also not happy with any of the so called “accredited” compost toilets. They are anywhere from $3-6,000, are made of cheap plastic, have travelled miles to get here, have mechanical components that rely on electricity to run fans and heaters, and rely on people with composting experience to keep them healthy (which is a problem if we go away). And to add to the debate, we’d have to dig a 1.4m deep x 1.6m wide trench under the house with a floating slab and retaining walls to accommodate the chamber.
So I’ve worked out how we can connect a flushing toilet to an affordable wetlands system. Rather than an expensive BioSeptic system that contains three stages (settling of the waste, an aeration process and the addition of chlorine to kill any pathogens), we can install a basic septic tank that purely settles the waste, connected to a gravel red beed then pond, where plants, bacteria and the sun can perform the aeration and cleaning processes. The pond can overflow into our dam, which is hooked up to the garden irrigation system, so the plants will still receive all the nutrients they would from a compost toilet, but in liquid form accompanied by other nutrient it picks up through the system (without us handling the shit or having to empty a grease trap).
So the question is, to flush or not to flush? Considering we can still recycle the water and the nutrient, flushing appears very compelling. We have a feeling that Mumsie, Kat and Craig would vote for the flushing option.
Apart from working on the house, there was lots of permaculture action during the month. We had a wonderful meeting about the future of the Permaculture Association of Tasmania over a candlelit dinner in a friend’s humpy in Mountain River, during which a baby wombat sat on my lap! It was the most incredible experience. I think the expression on my face looked like I had just won the lotto, that’s certainly how I felt. We also held an Organic Orchard Care workshop on the property. Well two actually, because 44 people registered!
And for a bit of fun we went to Cirque du Soleil, which was awesome and very inspiring in terms of athletic ability. We certainly need to start pumping some weights as before we know it we’ll be lifting 500 straw bales and rendering for days on end. Did I say we? I meant I… doh!
