Composting Toilets - Ecuador. Composting Toilets with an Andean View! We are not experts on composting toilets, but we have a positive experience using them for over 10 years. A featured 'Best Practice' at the Black Sheep Inn is the success of the composting toilets. Do people endure 3 hour bumpy bus rides just to use these special toilets? Maybe... as we often find guests taking photos inside the bathrooms. Composting Toilet Links. Click for photos of how it all works. Ecological Alternatives to Illogical Practices Flush toilets are common around the world. Most people accept it as normal to deposit human fecal matter (i.e. poop) in clean water. Why would you ever take a glass of clean water and poop in it?? The accepted norm is CRAZY! Not only is it a disgusting idea to poop in drinking water, but it is a waste of two resources, clean water and potential fertilizer. Sign to Composting Toilet. It does not make sense to contaminate clean water with poop. We learn this when we go camping and we are taught to dig a hole at least 50 meters away from any water source. We are also taught from a very young age that it is unhealthy to mix fecal matter with food or drink. We wash our hands after going to the bathroom. Clean drinking water is becoming a precious resource world wide. Composting toilets provide an alternative to flushing away our wastes. A flush toilet that has no water is unappealing after just one use. If it is used two or three times without flushing it is disgusting, and if used four times or more with no water, nobody wants to go near it. The FLUSH for a composting toilet is the dry stuff, made up of sawdust, dry chopped leaves or any other dry organic matter. Human feces consist of approximately 65% water and 5-10% nitrogen. Urine has 10-15% nitrogen. In order to compost human waste, a ratio of 30 parts carbon to 1 part nitrogen is needed. That means a lot of dry stuff!! The dry stuff is the necessary flush and helps keep insects and odor at a minimum. Finished compost has no smell, it does not resemble feces in any way and it's a great fertilizer for gardens and trees. Imagine turning 'poop' into sweet smelling roses! Why do people take photographs inside our composting toilets? Toilet with Roof Water Collector. Flower Gardens Inside Toilet. From an early age we are accustomed to relieving ourselves in the privacy of small cubicles. Public toilets are small stalls and the only view is occasional writing on the wall. Household bathrooms provide more comforts, but rarely have windows with a view nor flower gardens. When camping the act of 'pooping in the woods' is not the most comfortable experience. The view may be great, but you still have to dig a hole, squat and bury your waste. The composting toilets at the Black Sheep Inn bridge this gap, providing an excellent view, making you feel at one with nature, while offering privacy and comfort. Path to Composting Toilet. Multi-Function is Important The roofs of our composting toilets are made of a transparent material providing natural light for bathroom and gardens. Roofs also funnel rainwater to small tanks used for hand washing. Using biodegradable hand soap, wastewater from the sink irrigates interior flower gardens which are fertilized with finished compost. The book, The Toilet Papers by Sim Van der Ryn explains the design and process of the composting toilet. Why did we choose composting toilets? We first experienced composting toilets at Ecuador's pioneer ecolodge: Hosteria Alandaluz in 1992. We were impressed at how well they worked and how they saved water. When starting to build the Black Sheep Inn in 1995 our very first project was a composting toilet. By studying the out-of-print book, The Toilet Papers by Sim Van der Ryn, we were able to come up with our own creative design. Guests have enjoyed scenic pooping ever since! Since then we have used The Humanure Handbook, a guide to composting human manure by J.C. Jenkins 1994, and The Composting Toilet System Book, a practical guide to choosing, planning and maintaining composting toilet systems, an alternative to sewer and septic systems by David Del Porto and Carol Steinfeld 1998. We have now built 11 composting toilets. There are still millions of practical things that can be learned from books! Composting Toilet and Bottle Wall. Design of Our Toilets. Out of Print Back-to-the-Land Bible. Outlines many different Systems. Now for some pictures of how it all works... Ventilation Tube Inside Toilet, Oxygen Stimulates Decomposition. Rainwater Sink drains into Gardens. Dry Stuff for the Flush. Composting Toilets are just one fitting into the Permaculture chain. Composting Toilet Links: ECOSANLAC - Saneamiento Ecologico en Latinoamerica y Caribe se sustenta en individuos o contactos a nivel de cada pais que interactuan con el objetivo de informarse, investigar, difundir y poner en practica proyectos y actividades referentes al saneamiento ambiental sustentable. http://www.ecosanlac.org/. Composting Toilet World is an advocate for the use of composting toilets worldwide. Their goal is to educate, promote and facilitate the use of compost toilets. They believe that the use of composting toilets by persons in all countries will substantially help the environment and improve living conditions now and in the future. http://compostingtoilet.org/. Global Dry Toilet Club of Finland was founded in 2002 to promote the use of dry toilets. Their vision is to make dry toilets an essential part of sustainable development, thus securing clean waters and a healthy environment for future generations. Their mission is to introduce functioning dry toilets together with controlled management of toilet waste and to make people aware of the benefits of dry sanitation. http://www.drytoilet.org/. IWA Specialist Group Ecological Sanitation http://www.ecosan.org/. World Toilet Organization is a non-profit organization, established 2001, that communicates the need for better toilet standards in both the developed and developing economies of the world and provides a service platform for all toilet associations, related organizations and committed individuals to facilitate an exchange of ideas relating to health and cultural issues. http://www.worldtoilet.org/. Black Sheep Inns goal is to become self-sufficient in energy, water and food production. We have made significant steps in this direction, such as researching and designing for alternative energy installations, expanding gardens, and improving water collection. The Black Sheep Inn will never be a finished project. Change, efficiency and improvements are a part of Black Sheep Inns everyday process. Using permaculture ideas, we plan on further connecting existing features and buildings on our property for a more efficient use and re-use of resources. We have built a new laundry washing area that uses roof collected rain water, recycles gray water. This new laundry area provides a roofed open air space for drying sheets, towels and clothing. All laundry at the Black Sheep Inn is hand washed and line dried. Another goal is to implement environmental education in the area, provide enhanced protection for the Iliniza Ecological Reserve, and also increased participation in global ecotourism conferences to share successes and best practices.

Wanted: TreeClimber Trimmer. Black Sheep Inn Carbon Offset Program. Eco Awareness Sustainability. Black Sheep Inn continues to receive recognition for Best Ecological Community Practices. What makes our hotel an Ecological Hotel? Our Mission Statement Vision Black Sheep Inn aims to provide a comfortable, educational experience for guests, teaching them about the local area, local customs and Permaculture, while contributing to and improving the local community and the natural environment. Our goal is to be a leader in environmental stability and ecotourism. When someone first arrives and walks up our driveway, we want to surpass their expectations. Composting Toilet Information. Land People Culture. Historically land and people are inherently tied together. Native American tradition believes that people cannot own land; in fact they believe that the earth owns the people who temporarily reside upon it. When starting the Black Sheep Inn, it was the first time we owned property. We knew that we should care for our land if we wanted our land to sustain us. Culture: All human beings have basically the same needs for food, shelter, warmth, clothing, family etc... how different societies provide for these needs is based on local climate and culture. Celebrating cultural differences and diversity is just as important as maintaining biodiversity. We believe it is important for human beings to maintain a connection to the land that sustains them: to know where the foods they are eating come from, to value the resources they are consuming, to appreciate different foods, arts, music, buildings and ways of living around the world. Everyone on earth lives in some type of community. The particular community and world we live in sustains us and therefore we must sustain them. We are neither fanatics nor purists, yet we have become conservationists. We respect our community and the earth. We choose to tread lightly whenever possible. While exploring Ecuador and traveling to other parts of the world, we hope you choose establishments that are ecologically sound, supportive of their community and that promote low impact tourism. Community Education. For over 10 years we have been living in Chugchiln and we are a part of the local community. Michelle teaches English and Computers in the local high school. Andres often repairs the town water system and phone lines. We have donated computers, phone lines and a copy machine and to the local school, health clinic, and police station. With the help of a generous donation, we have subsidized school textbooks since 2002. Water Tubes for the Community. One of our most successful projects has been establishing a local Library/Learning Center stocked with over 1000 Spanish language books and 8 computers. Students now have a local resource for research and investigations. Young children are becoming interested in reading. High school students are getting hands-on experience with computers. The British School of Quito has led computer workshops at the library and assisted with technical difficulties. All of these projects have been supported with the help of Black Sheep Inn guest donations. Black Sheep Inn has sponsored several workshops with tech assistance from US Peace Corps Volunteers: family planning, guiding skills in native flora and fauna, guiding ethics, first-aid for hikers, nutrition and womens health, and knitting. Locally knit crafts are displayed and sold in the lodge and proceeds go directly to the artisans. We have encouraged community members to participate in the growing local tourism industry by opening hostels and restaurants. We also provided an interest-free loan to a neighbor enabling him to start a horseback riding business. We have organized a tourist transportation cooperative with local vehicle owners. Native Guides take tourists hiking. We now have a musical instrument lending library to help bring traditional Andean Folkloric Music back into the area. Library/Computer Workshop. Textbooks for the School. A competent local staff of 9 full-time workers run the Black Sheep Inn. All staff members have been working with us for many years, and have become our family. In 2000 we offered a continuing adult education program for staff to improve reading, writing and mathematics skills. In 2004, we took the entire staff whale watching on the coast of Ecuador. For some of them it was the first time they had seen the ocean, let alone whales! Being part of the small, very rural community of Chugchiln has been very rewarding and is an integral part of our lives. Zero Waste - Reduce, Reuse Recycle. At the Black Sheep Inn, we reduce our environmental impact by buying in bulk and avoiding non-recyclable packaging. We reuse paper, cardboard, glass bottles, large plastic containers, kitchen scraps, water and human waste onsite. Trash is separated into 3 receptacles in all rooms. We produce less than one ounce of non-recyclable trash daily per person! This amounts to ZERO waste. Waste that cannot be reused or recycled onsite is brought to a new recycling center that the Black Sheep Inn is sponsoring and supporting. See for information about our 2006 Ecolodge Award for Building a. Community Recycling Center. We offer packed lunches in unbleached brown paper. We do not sell bottled water, but instead let guests fill their bottles with ozone purified water for free. On hikes, guides and guests are encouraged to take nothing with them, nor leave anything behind. We recycle wine and liquor bottles by building bottle walls. The sauna, bunkhouse shower, and showers in the private bathrooms are examples of this eco-architecture. The hardest part when building a bottle wall is all the drinking that you have to do first! Large plastic containers are re-used as planters or to store milk and water. Newspaper makes good mulch for the garden as well as an alternative non-toxic mirror and window cleaner and woodstove starter. Food scraps are composted or fed to animals: chickens, guinea pigs, pigs, dogs etc. Recycling that is not done directly on site is done in Latacunga or Quito. Recycled products available in Ecuador include plastic buckets and barrels, water hoses, toilet paper, and more. In 2005, Andres was elected by Chugchiln to be the King of Garbage. He is working with public officials and has purchased a small property to use as a separation facility, tree nursery and a mini landfill. See our. Click for Details about Composting Toilets. Famous Composting Toilets. The most popular question asked about our eco-friendliness is on the subject of the composting toilets (and somehow the topic always becomes dinner conversation). The toilets work wonderfully. Composting toilets may seem common in ecotourism, while the developed world thinks it normal to defecate in a toilet bowl filled with clean water. In order to bridge the gap between two very distinct norms, we built composting-toilets that are attractive, educational and productive. All toilets take advantage of a spectacular view across the canyon. Inside the rooms are beneficial flower/vegetable gardens fertilized with finished compost from the toilet. Roofs are made of a transparent material providing natural light for bathroom and gardens. Roofs also funnel rainwater to small tanks, which are used for hand washing. Using biodegradable hand soap, wastewater from the sink irrigates interior gardens. The book, The Toilet Papers by Sim Van der Ryn explains the design and process of the composting toilet. Often guests take photos inside the composting toilets and locals are impressed with the finished fertilizer produced. The condensation that accumulates around the toilet seat is proof that waste is heating up (thermophilic) and decomposing. Human feces and urine are extremely nitrogen rich. In order to balance the mixture we add dry stuff with every use. The dry stuff is a mixture of sawdust and pods from the cultivated lupine (chochos), which are high in...

 Dinner may be served in the room
 Games room
 Access to internet
 Laundry services/washing machine
 Mixed dorms
 Smoke-free guest rooms
 Pets are accepted
 Private park, garden, courtyard
 Quiet surroundings
 Sauna
 Private/Ensuite bathroom
 Tea and coffee making facilities
 Phone at reception
 Cheques accepted