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  • John F Dean
  • paul wheaton
  • Pearl Sutton
stewards:
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  • Leigh Tate
master gardeners:
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  • Timothy Norton
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  • Jeremy VanGelder
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greywater and willow feeders
instruction, regulation, insurance, safety, etc

Modern sewage treatment plants are problematic.  Liquids that enter the plant are typically released into our river systems within 24 hours and cause a lot of problems.  The solids are separated and usually hauled to a dump.   At the same time, there is a struggle to import nutrients for our horticultural practices.  

Willow feeders, dry outhouses and greywater systems are designed to operate far better than a modern sewage treatment plant (which is better than a septic tank and drain field, which is better than an old school out house).   We will keep most of the valuable nutrients on the land, and we will have zero impact on our river systems and oceans.  

This aspect is designed to impress Otis with our powerful, next generation ability to own our own shit.

sand badge

plant five "poop beast" trees
use a bucket of water from a shower
use water from a dishpan
give urine to growies

Steinfeld list (1 required)
  - significant art for a willow feeder or dry outhouse
  - build a better urine diverter
       - plus 1 point in plumbing
       - plus 5 points in metal working
  - create a hand crafted, laminated information sheet
       - that details how a willow feeder works on one side
       - and how to deal with shark week on the other side.
       - Lots of drawings.
  - Overhaul the ventilation system
  - Overhaul the “occupied” system
  - Seal a poorly sealed box on a willow feeder
  - urine diverter and sink drain goes to a mulch pit with a willow tree
  - dramatically improve the southern exposure for the trombe wall
  - Add a wood-burned, oil-sealed sign identifying the willow feeder or dry outhouse
  - Create a level 1 Pee spot
       - Moderately established plants (privacy and nutrient loving), carbon source and signage

Jenkins list (2 required)
  - Add art to a willow feeder or dry outhouse
  - move one willow feeder can to a willow candy warehouse
  - move one willow feeder can to a willow tree
  - Improve the urine diverter
  - build a secondary fly trap
  - Empty a fly catcher that is at least 20% full
  - improve a fly catcher
  - Improve or repair the ventilation system
  - add a wax bag dispenser (with bags) for anything that needs to be contained before going into the garbage can
  - add a small garbage can with a foot pedal operated lid
  - add a system for sterilized and dirty “shewees” with proper labels
  - improve the "occupied" system
  - Add 4 coat hooks
  - Add a chalkboard to the inside
  - a thorough cleaning  

straw badge
35 points required
New items from Sand badge allowed:
  - Items on the Steinfeld list are worth 2 points
  - Items on the Jenkins list are worth 0.5 points

build a small cold-climate greywater-fed mulch pit - 5 points
  - 2’ diameter by 4’ deep hole, deposition chamber and plant two kinds of poop beasts
build a large cold-climate greywater-fed mulch pit -  10 points
  - 4’ diameter by 8’ deep hole, deposition chamber and plant three kinds of poop beasts
Plumb an outdoor sink to drain to a mulch pit - 2 points
plumb a greywater fixture (sink, shower, washer, etc.) to drain to a mulch pit - 4 points
plumb a greywater fixture (sink, shower, washer, etc.) to connect to an existing greywater drain - 2 points
take an existing greywater-fed mulch pit, and re-plumb the distribution so the greywater is split equally between two mulch pits - 3 points
  - Show how you are making sure that the greywater is split roughly 50/50 (note that a simple “T” or “Y” often sends 90% or 100% of the flow down one path - so we need to see how you are preventing that)
Reroute house plumbing that drains to a septic system drain field into a collection of mulch pits instead - 7 points
Re-route a house that drains to a sewer system into a (poor man’s?) septic tank and then a collection of mulch pits instead - 7 points
build a poor man’s septic tank for a greywater system - 5 points
Create a level 2 Pee spot - 4 points
  - Established plants, very little privacy
Create a level 3 Pee spot - 6 points
  - Mature perennial plants, moderate privacy
Create a level 4 Pee spot - 8 points
  - Mature perennial plants, significant privacy, added privacy screen and moveable seat
upgrade a willow feeder or dry outhouse
  - install a trombe wall - 14 points
  - build a truly great urine diverter - 8 points
       - Worthy of putting in a book, also get 5 points in metal working
  - build a raised floor - 3 points
  - urine diverter and sink drain goes to a mulch pit with a willow tree - 3 points
  - oddball projects
       - double points
build an indoor willow feeder - 20 points
take a willow feeder to a fair / event for public use - 8 points
  - available for use at least 8 hours with proof of happy customers
build a willow candy warehouse - 16 points
short experiments with willow candy - 14 points
  - Conduct experiments with 7 different willow candy cans for 12 weeks

wood badge
180 points required
Up to 80 points from straw badge

build a dry outhouse (skiddable structure) - 40 points
build a outdoor willow feeder - 40 points
prove you’ve improved the quality of groundwater at a property - 60 points
wofati greenhouse that never freezes for processing greywater - 60 points
  - At least 6’ x 8’ inside with two thermal wells, wofati membrane and Oehler style cold sink
full-length experiments with willow candy - 50 points
  - Conduct experiments with 7 different willow candy cans for two years

iron badge
iron badge to be determined another day
COMMENTS:
 
pollinator
Posts: 3842
Location: Kent, UK - Zone 8
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How many of the above list need to be completed to earn the badge?

Some of them are not transferable to all properties, so this is automatically unachievable to some people. Specifically:

plant five trees
  - willow, cottonwood or poplar
  - must be planted somewhere where they will get enough water
  - since these do not have a taproot, you can transplant or use seed



These trees won't grow well in all climates, and on smaller properties they might not be appropriate even if they did grow well.

And beyond that, conflating greywater use (broadly useful for everyone) to be combined with willow feeder toilets (a substantial infrastructure investment that not every property can have, or would want to have) makes the badge inaccessible to people for whom a willow feeder does not fit into their overall property plan.


 
gardener & author
Posts: 2080
Location: Manitoba, Canada
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All of the sand badge BBs must be completed in order to earn the sand badge.

PEP is designed to work for Paul's ideas and Paul's property with the idea that there will be a lot of other people with other properties who feel like it is a good fit for them.

People who are not into Paul's ideas or who have properties where Paul's ideas do not transfer are welcome to make their own PEX program that fits their ideas and property better.
 
Posts: 44
Location: Texas Zone 9
4
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What about growing willows from seed?  I have about a dozen little willow saplings that are currently in containers (planning to plant them into the ground once we get our own place, hopefully next spring).  With all of our rains, they're getting plenty of water in their 3-gallon containers.
 
steward & author
Posts: 38376
Location: Left Coast Canada
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steward
Posts: 12420
Location: Pacific Wet Coast
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r ranson wrote:Musing - is there room for keyhole gardening as a way of using greywater

I normally use punky wood in the bottom of beds like this, and I've been thinking of using "duckie buckets*" to add water to the center compost, and I was even wondering what might happen if I added urine, so if people think either is possible, maybe I should add a post to r ranson's link (updated version, as her's led to a redirect on my browser).
*ducks can get their bucket of water dirty faster than I can fill it, so I'd *really* like to find good ways to recycle it where the water will be more useful.
 
pollinator
Posts: 3089
Location: Meppel (Drenthe, the Netherlands)
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The willow-feeder part of this badge is not possible for me (living in a rented place). But I can plant some more willows (I have 5 which were planted before I knew of SKIP). The other BBs I did already, as far as I remember
 
Posts: 53
Location: Western PA
6
urban
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We live in a walnut guild in the city. Willows and other trees listed do not grow here. Also in small lots, gotta watch that urine doesn’t kill the raspberries. I found that out the hard way.
 
gardener
Posts: 1331
Location: Miami, 11a, Am, apartment dweller
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This Aspect has a new blurb! The SKIP Book is this much closer to being complete!
 
Posts: 72
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are all of the jenkins list of things for willow feeders only or can they be done with a dry outhouse?
 
gardener
Posts: 1569
Location: Washington State
985
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Here is my submission for the Greywater and Willow Feeder Sand Badge.
Two of the BBs still need to be approved:  Plant trees and Add a Sign.
Please approve and award this badge so I can apply for PEP1.

You can check out my profile page here.

Complete 7 BB to Earn this Badge - Four BBs are required, plus 1 BB from the Steinfeld List and 2 BBs from the Jenkins List
  Give Urine to Growies
  Use Water from a Dishpan
  Use a Bucket of Water from a Shower
  Plant Five Trees
  Jenkins List - Move One Willow Feeder Can to a Willow Candy Warehouse
  Jenkins List - Move One Willow Feeder Can to a Willow Tree
  Steinfeld List - Add a Wood-Burned, Oil-Sealed Sign to a Willow Feeder or Dry Outhouse
Staff note (Mike Haasl) :

Congratulations on another badge!

 
steward
Posts: 15505
Location: Northern WI (zone 4)
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I got my greywater Sand BBs all done!

Link to my profile

Give pee to growies
Plant 5 trees
Use dishwater
Use shower water

1 from Steinfeld list:
Seal a poorly sealed box

2 from Jenkins list:
Move poop to the warehouse
Upgrade the occupied system
Staff note (Opalyn Rose) :

Congratulations on your new sand badge!

 
pollinator
Posts: 273
Location: Gaspesie, Quebec, Canada, zone3a at the bottom of a valley
170
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Does the sand badges list would be ok if i do it with my bucket-compost toilet ? It's clearly not a willow feeder but i think it is close enough to a dry outhouse system, and more importantly it is very far from a conventional water-flushing system, i would think it could be accepted for the basics bb's ?
 
Mike Haasl
steward
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Location: Northern WI (zone 4)
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I'm sorry but I don't think a bucket compost system would count.
 
Mike Haasl
steward
Posts: 15505
Location: Northern WI (zone 4)
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Update:  All the requests for badges have been moved to individual threads.  Please request your badges by clicking on the badge headers in the top post and following those links.  Please continue to request individual BBs by following the BB links.  Thanks!
badge-link.jpg
[Thumbnail for badge-link.jpg]
 
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permaculture and gardener gifts (stocking stuffers?)
https://permies.com/wiki/permaculture-gifts-stocking-stuffers
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