a cyclical understanding.

reading Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground i'm reminded that nothing is ever truly disposed of, nothing really goes away. matter simply changes form. industry, agribusiness and our water infrastructure are all designed on a linear model, when we live within a cyclical system. how different things would be if we took into consideration the full life cycle of every resource and every element.

modern toilets are only one illustration of a forgetful, wasteful model. when cured correctly, human urine and feces can become a nutrient rich humus for growing food, or simply returned to the soil for positive impact. instead, massive amounts of clean, potable water are used in the US to flush them away, and massive amounts of energy and chemicals are used to prepare this sewage for dumping in waterways.

Dam Nation chronicles alternatives, from individual composting toilets to centralized collection systems. As Laura Allen writes "A system that enforces [waters] thoughtless use and waste necessarily inculcates a disregard for own lives requirements." Here are some resources for finding out more about ecological sanitation.

-the dry composting toilet explained
-how to construct a composting toilet
-The Humanure Handbook online
-companies that sell composting toilets: Envirolet and SunMar

real urban greening.

+Majora Carter talks about her important work with Sustainable South Bronx:
http://www.youtube.com/user/MajoraWatcher

+Amy Franceschini of the art collective Future Farmers builds backyard gardening in SF: http://www.futurefarmers.com/victorygardens/index.html

+People's Grocery maintains 5 gardens in Oakland and assists West Oakland residents in starting their own backyard gardens: (film #3) http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/mtm_good_food/#