… soon to be easier than ever, as work gets underway to install our new (but still compostable) disabled toilet.
Tag: Composting toilet
GFAA has had success in two bids to Aberdeen City Council for funds to support new developments around our site. The monies will go towards improvements in the general amenities for all members in the years ahead.
As we will be participating in the Its Your Neighbourhood Programme in the coming year, ACC has agreed to contribute £400 towards the purchase of Public Liability Insurance, paving slabs, sand, greenhouse staging and hand-tools for use with the Community Garden Poly-tunnel. This will allow us to set the Poly-tunnel up to support wider use by groups and individuals for classes, workshops and communal growing activities, e.g. for pupils visiting from Kaimhill Primary School and within the RGU Community Garden and Student Plot projects.
ACC have also awarded us £400 from their Small Projects Fund to help with the purchase and construction of Larch composting bins to be used in connection with our new Dry Composting Toilet and for the purchase of associated signage and information boards.
We are obviously delighted with this continuing support from Aberdeen City Council as we try to develop our site and its amenities and widen community participation and knowledge of the health and environmental benefits of working a plot.
Thanks go to Stuart for alerting me to this good news story.
Our site has a new amenity – a compostable toilet is now in place and fully operational.
The Eco-Loo was obtained with funds kindly made available from the RGU Student Association Garden Project. GFAA contributed necessary sundries and will undertake maintenance and servicing. The Eco-Loo is kept locked: the padlock uses the usual combination used on all other communal locks. Stuart has the details if you need them.
Obviously, the Eco-Loo is a unisex facility. However, old boys will need to learn one or two new tricks to use the toilet successfully. Compostable toilets work on the principle of separating wee and solids: a special bowl-shape takes care of this naturally. Gents therefore, MUST sit to pee. Wee needs no further treatment, but solids and loo paper should be covered with a small scoop of the special sawdust provided in the large white bin. Separating liquid and solid waste, and adding sawdust, keeps the facility odour-free. It is important that sawdust is NOT added to the wee.
It is vital that no other rubbish or materials are disposed of in the toilet. Other waste materials, such as nappies, should be removed from the site by the user, but in emergency situations they may be disposed of in the small silver bin provided.
The Eco-Loo is a non-smoking facility! Naked flames and gasses are a dangerous combination and ignition might bring a whole new application for Michael Caine’s line, “You are only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!”
An automatic dispenser provides hand wash and there is a small LED light for use in the winter months or in low light.
Please leave the Eco-Loo as you would have liked to find it.
Members of the Committee have agreed to service the Eco-Loo and after some discussion at the last meeting it was agreed that Stuart would take the first stint on the rota, handing over to someone else in late 2020. However, in a late breaking bit of news, one plotter has expressed an interest in ‘harvesting’ the wee as a compost-heap activator. Perhaps we ought to sell off the franchise for GFAA funds?
Read more on compostable toilets on the Eco-Loo Site or via these links: