We are edging closer and closer to a final plan for our sustainable, little house to be built next summer.  We have worked out a plan that is cozy and ship shape.  We have visited and seen photos of a number of Whole Tree Architecture Houses.  I’m starting to develop a rich fantasy life in my future home.

When I am making breakfast and putting it on the table, I imagine making breakfast and putting it on the table of my whole tree house.  When I am sitting at my desk, I imagine my future office space.  When I do laundry, when I do yoga, when I come in from gardening and wash up, when I go to bed at night — I move in parallel through imaginary rooms.

The space will feel different there.

The straw bale walls, sod roof and solar hot water heat in the floor will all be taking a baby step toward more sustainable building of the future.

But, when I flush the toilet, I’ll be trapped in a “personal waste handling system” that has been  fouling the world for a long, long time.

Check out my architect’s blog posts on The Great Stink and Does a bear s**t in the woods?  Does the Pope?  Do you?

Why haven’t we taken that last leap to have a composting toilet in the house?  I’m not sure.  It may happen yet, but we are building in a rural area where getting approval for all our departures from normal building practices are a challenge.  The lack of a septic system might be a bridge too far for those who issue permits.

The right kind of outhouse is a destination.

One has to pick one’s battles.  We are planning to put in the drainage field for the septic system this summer to expedite building next year.

I think we will also have an additional composting toilet by the time all is said and done.  It is an option I would prefer.  At the moment our Luggable Loo  and a supply of sawdust is working great on the land.  A generous dusting of sawdust and all odor and fly issues are resolved, as well as all that sending one’s problems downstream nonsense.

There is no more downstream on this little planet.