The Biofilter toilets used at the last Global Eclipse Gathering in Oregon, organised by Simbiosys Events, with 30,000+ attendees was the crowning of an experiment in mobile ecological sanitation that started in 1999, in Brazil.
Ecocentro Ipec is a multi award winning institution displaying more than 30,000 sq feet of natural buildings and 60 acres of gardens, food forests and sustainable technologies in the heart of South America. Ecocentro Ipec first started to develop composting technologies in 1999, and some of the sanitation solutions developed include the Bananaloo, an awarded technology and the Biofilter toilet for urban zones without sanitation infrastructure.
Composting toilets are not new technologies. In fact, the reuse of human waste for agricultural purposes has been part of our society almost as long as agriculture itself.
The technology of composting toilets is simple to reproduce within the scale of residential family life or small rural holdings. But the same cannot be said when we consider the scale of the metropolis or the intensity of large scale festivals such as the Eclipse Gathering, Burning Man and others.
The world is expected to have more than 40 megacities ( +10 million people) in the near future. When it comes to sanitation, the reality of high density living is similar to the temporary reality of large scale music and art festivals: tens of thousands of people that need food, water and sanitation within limited space.
The Ecozoic Biofilter toilet uses the action of microbes to digest and process human waste without adding water or chemicals. By replicating the conditions of a healthy forest floor and without compromising on the comfort level to the public it is possible to offer a mobile technology that achieves a level of onsite treatment similar to tertiary centralised biological sewage treatment systems without expensive underground infrastructure.
The Ecozoic Biofilter toilet can potentially replace the dangerous and controversial sanitation technology used in large scale events: the infamous port a potty.
The final product is biofertilizer that could be applied to grow food or forests.
This workshop will tell the story of Ecocentro Ipec and the journey to develop Ecozoic Biofilter toilets as a Permaculture solution for ecological sanitation in high density populated areas, including festivals and mega events.
We will see some inspiring images and revisit the natural cycle of digestion and flow of nutrients to identify design patterns that apply to the requirements of such environments.
Saturday Oct 7| 11:00am| Yurt
