green boondockin'

[richie rich]

Sorry to post Immediately after my last post,but I feel compelled to say Mr. Tallytwo1994 nailed it! Don't use the water in the first place.This brings me back to the wall that so many run up against .The total non usage of water for black water purposes or pooperses,take your pick.There are waterless methods available.Water in the lav is relatively new. The crescent mooned outhouse was a state of the art innovation of the chamber pot,but are we now too refined for such a method?

[Gene]

Probably not what you had in mind:

[Gene]

Probably not what you had in mind:

[richie rich]

That's for the man on the go.

[craftsman]

Originally Posted by richie rich

That's for the man on the go.

Or, the man who has to go while going

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by warbler5

Our gray water tank is always the first tank to fill. I have thought that using gray water to flush would help with both saving fresh water and lessening the load on the gray water tank..........................

Since there usually are only two of us, our gray water fills up MUCH more rapidly than the black. I have often thought a pump to pump some of the gray water into the black water tank would great. It would allow us to stay put much longer. To follow the green theme, it would save fuel and associated emissions making trips just to dump.
regards,
Ken

[cclarkego]

My trailer is equipped with compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout to conserve energy usage with a solar panel to charge them. I also have a backup light system of stick up touch control LED lights scattered around in places I need them like the kitchen and bathroom, plus in closets and the frig. Then I have a lantern that uses rechargeable batteries for reading and if it is cold, I have another lantern that runs off a fuel canister and gives out heat. I am very careful, keep windows open , never leave it on when I sleep, and have a CO2 alarm. When it's really cold, I turn on the catalytic heaters. When all the power quits, there is the headlamp, several flashlights and a book light. If I can't read at night, I'm going home...

Carol

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by warbler5

Our gray water tank is always the first tank to fill. I have thought that using gray water to flush would help with both saving fresh water and lessening the load on the gray water tank..........................

Since there usually only two of us, our gray water fills up MUCH more rapidly than the black. I have often thought a pump to pump some of the gray water into the black water tank would be great. It would allow us to stay put much longer. To follow the green theme, it would save fuel and associated emissions making trips just to dump.
regards,
Ken

[cclarkego]

Originally Posted by richie rich

Sorry to post Immediately after my last post,but I feel compelled to say Mr. Tallytwo1994 nailed it! Don't use the water in the first place.This brings me back to the wall that so many run up against .The total non usage of water for black water purposes or pooperses,take your pick.There are waterless methods available.Water in the lav is relatively new. The crescent mooned outhouse was a state of the art innovation of the chamber pot,but are we now too refined for such a method?

Necessity and imagination can bring one to mind. If you want to keep poop and paper out of your black tank you could:

Bring along a bunch of NEW UNUSED (ie no holes in them) plastic grocery bags.
Lift lid and ring, line bowl with plastic bag
Use facilities
Tie up bag tightly
Put bag in large trash bag
Place in locking covered canister secured to top of tow vehicle
Dispose of properly

[azflycaster]

How many people recycle when they go camping? We come back from our weekends with a large bag of cans and bottles which we then put into the city's recycle program. This is something that everyone can do and it does not cost anything or require any modification to existing equipment.

[Gene]

When boondocking, we put a plastic dish pan in one of the sinks to wash dishes, then dump the water in the toilet, thus not filling the grey tank so quickly. It tends to make us use less water because it's a pain to do, the water is heavy, and repeated trips to the toilet with the pan get old.

When we did tent camping, we'd go many days without washing except for limited cleaning of certain areas. Same principles when boondocking also saves water, though others nearby may find us to be ripe. That does save water but can impair friendships.

I have read Arabs in the desert would clean themselves with sand since that's all there was. We have not tried that though sandpaper is readily available.

Gene

[cclarkego]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

I have read Arabs in the desert would clean themselves with sand since that's all there was. We have not tried that though sandpaper is readily available.

Gene

I have been there and know it to be true. The left hand is considered the unclean hand and it is an egregious error to ever use it to eat or serve food with.

At dawn, before morning prayers, they take a small tin can of water off in the dunes, which supplies their entire bath. If they are without water, they still do a symbolic bath before the prayers.

I brought a large supply of extra fluffy Charmin and a box of matches and also liquid antibacterial soap which I happily shared.

[TXHoops]

It's kinda extreme but the sawdust (humanure) toilet uses no water and contents can be composted and then used on ornamentals. Tight lid and bag of sawdust beside the unit. Link at Joseph Jenkins, Inc. - How to Build a $25 Compost Toilet

Would I use it? I'd have to think hard about that - depends on how desperate the situation would be. But do have plans for the solar toilet (Earthship books on Amazon) to build one for the other side of our land for when we get "caught short".

[richie rich]

Miss CCLARKEGO, I suggested in an older post a method similar to yours'. Kitty litter was added as an absorbent. The tightly sealed package then deposited in a trash receptacle on the way out.No need to go to a dump station. Thanks for reminding me about the stick up lights.If they were used in conjunction with the above method of disposal,they would be stink up lights!

[warbler5]

Originally Posted by azflycaster

How many people recycle when they go camping? We come back from our weekends with a large bag of cans and bottles which we then put into the city's recycle program. This is something that everyone can do and it does not cost anything or require any modification to existing equipment.

We do the same! Occasionally, we stay somewhere with a recycling program, but they are mostly after aluminum. We come home with bags of glass bottles....they are added to our home recycling collection.

The hardest thing for me to get used to on the road is not having my composter for vegetable peelings, leftover rice, and coffee grounds.

[cclarkego]

Originally Posted by warbler5

We do the same! Occasionally, we stay somewhere with a recycling program, but they are mostly after aluminum. We come home with bags of glass bottles....they are added to our home recycling collection.

The hardest thing for me to get used to on the road is not having my composter for vegetable peelings, leftover rice, and coffee grounds.

Why can't you just save it in a bucket till you get home?

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by warbler5

Our gray water tank is always the first tank to fill. I have thought that using gray water to flush would help with both saving fresh water and lessening the load on the gray water tank.

Originally Posted by w7ts

Since there usually are only two of us, our gray water fills up MUCH more rapidly than the black. I have often thought a pump to pump some of the gray water into the black water tank would great. It would allow us to stay put much longer. To follow the green theme, it would save fuel and associated emissions making trips just to dump.
regards,
Ken

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

When boondocking, we put a plastic dish pan in one of the sinks to wash dishes, then dump the water in the toilet, thus not filling the grey tank so quickly. It tends to make us use less water because it's a pain to do, the water is heavy, and repeated trips to the toilet with the pan get old.


I have read Arabs in the desert would clean themselves with sand since that's all there was. We have not tried that though sandpaper is readily available.

Gene

Hi, Gene beat me to it, we have a plastic tub in our sink and dump it down the toilet to save grey tank space. As for cleaning with dirt, it's an old mechanics trick to rub your greasy hands in dirt first then wash them with water and soap if you have it. The dirt removes the grease and the water, with soap if you have it, removes the dirt. I have done this and it works.

I would like to see solar panels become more affordable and tow vehicles get 30 MPG while towing without loss of comfort or power. A smaller trailer could possibly be towed by a Hybrid vehicle.

We pre-cook our travel food at home and reheat it in our trailer. Our food is put in reusable containers, which reduces trash while camping. We still have incandesant bulbs, but usually only have a few on at once. We have a generator but it is only used when necessary.

Our life style has always been somewhat conservative, but I wouldn't call us Green.

[Boondocker]

Scientists design plant filtration system that lets you drink your own SHOWER water



Last updated at 11:18 AM on 25th August 2009

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Eco-thinkers have come up with an amazing new way to create drinking water - by putting plants in the bottom of a shower.

Designers Jun Yasumoto, Vincent Vandenbrouk, Olivier Pigasse, and Alban Le Henry came up with the concept when looking for new ways to recycle precious H2O.

After you have washed in the special eco-shower the water passes down into a series of physical filters and is treated by plants such as reeds and rushes growing around your feet.

Enlarge A new eco-shower concept would recycle water by filtering it using different plants

Yasumoto, 34, said: 'These plants have been proven to be able to remove the chemicals from your shampoo.

'Using a natural filtering principle called phyto-purification, the bathroom becomes a mini-eco-system by recycling and regenerating the wastewater.

''With this project, we tried to combine the pleasure of taking a shower with the satisfaction of recycling water. We wanted the recycling process to actually interact with the use of shower.'


More...

• The new device which enables you to grow your own fruit and veg without using soil

The waste water passes into a chamber below the shower floor where it goes through a maze of filters.
Included in the network is sand, reeds, rushes, a mesh filter, water hyacinths and lemnas, and finally a carbon filter.

Enlarge Click enlarge to see how the design works

And the inventors - all graduates from French national design school Ecole Nationale Supirieure de Creation Industrielle - hope that the impact of their concept doesn't just alter the way we bathe.

'We thought that by conceiving this very intricate relation between the recycling of water and the user experience, we could get the users to also re-think the way they use water,' said Yasumoto.

After posting their seven-year-old design on the internet, the eggheads have been inundated with queries about where their shower can be bought.

'No prototype has been made as the project is just a concept for the moment, but it is interesting to see the positive feedback we are getting since we put these images online,' Yasumoto said.

'It has made us think we should keep on developing this idea and start thinking of ways to integrate it and bring it closer to reality.'

Read more: Scientists design plant filtration system that lets you drink your own SHOWER water | Mail Online

[HiHoAgRV]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

... Eco-thinkers have come up with an amazing new way to create drinking water - by putting plants in the bottom of a shower...

I had something growing in my shower during colledge, I seem to remember it was green... Fungus Farmer or simply ahead of our time?

[87MH]

Originally Posted by Gen Disarray

Scientists design plant filtration system that lets you drink your own SHOWER water
Enlarge A

'No prototype has been made as the project is just a concept for the moment, but it is interesting to see the positive feedback we are getting since we put these images online,' Yasumoto said.

I'd tend to have a bit more positive feedback myself if they would post an image taken from about 180 degrees across from where the one above was.