Fall 2000 Number 65

The ASPI gardens are setting no records during the year 2000. This is in part due to a deficit in ground water resulting from last year’s drought. The garden plots on the Rockcastle River flood plain were reasonably productive with heavy yields of raspberries, summer apples, three types of mint, mung beans, cucumbers, and a wide variety of flowers. The small town plots are not as productive as in previous years with reasonably good yields of tomatoes, carrots, beets, parsley, rhubarb, poke, and peppers. However, a localized dry spell in the summer has not allowed the fall root crops to begin growing on time at Mount Vernon — and thus will lower total 2000 yields. Incidentally, to show how localized this condition is, we have good fall crops coming on at the Livingston gardens.

Tours and Visits

Kitrina Kearfott is serving as our part-time coordinator of the Nature Center program. She is making arrangements for school groups to come from September through May, and she has some flexibility as to time. However, each group leader needs to contact her at (606) 453-2026 or through the e-mail address, <naturecenter@kih.net>, in order to determine the best time. ASPI is always beautiful in autumn or spring, but winter visits can be pleasant as well.

Peggy Pollard is currently working part time getting the area under the Nature Center converted into an office. Besides looking into funding for our Nature Center she is trying to help develop a more systematic tour program. She is available in the autumn from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm each working day and assists with school visits at the Nature Center. She can be reached during those hours at (606) 453-2105.

Joshua Bills is willing to operate our solar car in festivals and parades. He will be at Mount Vernon during this Autumn’s annual Solar Tour. This is Kentucky’s part of the American Solar Energy Society’s Solar Works program which will take place in thirty states on Saturday, October 14, 2000. If you would like additional information, you may call Joshua in the evenings at (869) 985-9032.

Chemistry Laboratory

ASPI is in the process of converting one of our tool buildings into a small chemical lab with a hood facility, which is already installed thanks to a donation of funds by Mary and Frank Fritsch. We are storing solvents and chemical supplies in the building along with thin layer chromatography plates and glass chambers for ginseng root and foliage analysis. While only a limited amount of work can be done on our grounds, we are in the process of talking to those at schools and research laboratories to enlist help with this work.

Sustainable Forest Program

One of the areas of most critical concern to us in virtually wild ginseng growing is that of poaching of the valuable root. This is a widespread practice in central Appalachia and perhaps is the major factor discouraging ginseng production. If you have suggestions on ways to halt poaching please send them to our main office by phone, letter or e-mail.

Trails being Completed: ASPI has a system of three trails which have been in the process of being completed for a long length of time. It took a number of years to work out the details of the lease with the U.S. Forest Service which owns land adjacent to our 180-acre ASPI property. The trail system does slip across the boundaries in a critical area of old growth forest on the Government’s north slope of our mountain. While the trails will not extend down the very steep north slope into the area of greatest beauty, it is possible to view it from the top of the mountain on the newly finished Blue Warbler Trail. This is now being connected to the Michael Zalla and the Irene Dickenson Trails. Up-to-date maps and markers are being drawn up by Mark Spencer with trail clearing by him and Eddie Stallsworth.

Ginseng Project: The year 2000 program is winding down and we are very heartened by the interest in virtually wild ginseng growing. Our trainers workshops were slated for 100 attendees during the year 2000. Due to interest we increased meetings from 5 to 6. By the end of the year we expect 160 trained persons. Also during the upcoming year we hope to proceed with developing our marketing plans, explore the feasibility of a ginseng marketing card similar to what was used for 70 years by tobacco growers, and we will also incorporate the Appalachian Ginseng Foundation.

Upcoming Workshops and Events in 2000

During the year 2000 ASPIers are conducting 18 workshops, conferences or associated activities. Events still to come in the second half of the year 2000 include:

Ginseng Training Workshops: Burnesville, NC, (Sept. 23, 2000); Charleston, WV, (Sept, 30, 2000); Whitwell, TN, (Oct. 14, 2000). Also we will have a gathering and follow-up meeting for Ginseng growers who have attended previous workshops on March 17, 2001 at ASPI. Call ASPI for further details.

Solar Tour Day: Oct. 14, 2000 (note change of date). See solar food cookers, food dryers, fans, space heating, water heating units, automobile, greenhouses, and photovoltaic systems.

ASPI Publications

The 24th edition of the Simple Lifestyle Calendar is selling quite well. See web page for prices and ordering information.

Technical Publications during the Year 2000: TP 55 Kudzu in Appalachia; TP 56 Exotic Plant Species in Central Appalachia (see Spring AA # 62). TP 57 Moratorium on Wild American Ginseng Exports, by Greg Williams. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is responsible for determining whether export of wild American ginseng is “not detrimental to the survival of the species.” However, lacking a genuinely scientific basis for this determination the Service must, by international treaty obligations, establish a moratorium on wild ginseng exports. The paper asks for scientific research and regulation. TP 58 Compost Toilets and Constructed Wetlands as a Solution for Appalachian Water Problems, by Emily Bedwell. This report brings together in one place — and goes beyond — information previously discussed in TP 2, 30, and 41. It is a handy guide for policy makers, homesteaders and others. TP 59 Twelve Ways to Conserve Water in Appalachia, by Al Fritsch. You are familiar with some of these ASPI tested conservation procedures through our technical paper series. However, you will have some surprises and may find a use for some of these domestic water conservation measures.
TP 60 The ASPI Nature Center Educational Program, by ASPI Staff and Volunteers. This surveys the goals, visiting procedures, and contents (listing of all trees and wildflowers) which pertain to our Nature Center and Nature Trail system. It could prove helpful for teachers, parents, general tourists, and youthful visitors who want to come and learn about the region.

Spiritual Growth Through Domestic Gardening by Al Fritsch. Full text version (49 pages including notes) available for download free of charge in the PDF format. "PDF documents provide an easy way to publish complex materials for a variety of computers....It allows the document to be seen on your computer exactly the way it was written." Come to the ASPI Web Site <www.kih.net/aspi>, get a free Acrobat Reader, and download this free gift to the public.

Recent Videotapes showing on WOBZ-TV this fall include an interview with Chris Bogliano of Fulks Run, Virginia, author of The Appalachian Forest; wind power in Appalachia with Todd Garland of Webster Springs, WV; and the Forkland Festival in Boyle County, Kentucky. ASPI reproduces these tapes at cost and so the $25 price along with postage & handling pays only expenses. The Pollution Prevention Videotape Series is still available.

Other Activities

Kick-66. ASPI is a member of a coalition of environmental groups working to halt the use of a billion dollars in Federal and KY funds to build a 30-mile section of proposed I-66 from Somerset to London. The coalition has made major waves in opposing this unneeded highway and to promote the reuse of funds to improve the state’s many rural roads which become impassible for school buses during winter snowy conditions.

Solar Cookers. During the summer Mark Schimmoeller and Jennifer Lindsberg completed the sixth and last of a series of overseas workshops on building solar cookers in Malawi. Their program was very well received.

West Virginia. Al Fritsch is assisting an environmental ecumenical group of about 20 WV denominations in setting up a training program so they can perform assessments of local church properties in the Mountain State.

Thanks(June 20 to Sept, 14, 2000) to: Alexander Adams, Dogwood Alliance, Claire Carpenter, George Schloemer, Richard Mercy, Ian Rudick, Michael & Patricia Hazard, Ernie Muhly, John Surette, Kris Peterson, Sr.Loretto Driscoll, Albert & Elizabeth Seely, Ilse Ackerman, George Rector & Joan Byrd, Henry E. Moore, James Willard, Sr. Agnita Marie Hill, Patsy Hoover, Sandy McFarland, Danny McKinney, Casey Sterr, Paul Hollenbach, Fr.Dan Noll/St.Paul’s Church, Glenn Ihrig, Michael Lenz, Sr. Carol Stiefvater, Nancy Evans, Steele Hinton, Dan Kendrick, Francesca Bartos, Mary Yocum, Hazel Robinson, Jane Spragg, Donna Goebeler, Jessie Herdic, Barry Howard, Karen Phillips, Dr.Wendell Kingsolver, Bruce Griffith, Lillian Lawrence, Louise Hamel, Robert Blinn, Lee Amundsen, Lucille Farrar, Richard H.McGurn,S.J./Chicago Provience Office, Lynn Chong, Russell & Bettye Ebelhar, John Saponara & Susan Lang, Leslie Smith, Lyle Starr, Dawn Ramsay, Mary Jo Sage, Fr. Albert Ruschman, Frank Hare, Charlotte Offerdahl, Richard Hoar, Imogene Margison, Ray Dunkelberg, Rosemary Corsetti, Thomas Merrill, Margaret Zureick, Meg & Larry Bowerman, Cynthia Miske, Leah Aasen, L.A.Warner, Carol Cox, Marilla Barghusen, Shirley Reynolds, Jessie Lang, Don & Betty Newton, Diane Faircloth, Paula Ferrenburg, David Schmenk, Patricia Mundt, John Winder,Jr.

Wish List

We are putting our Nature Center into order and thus are looking for any additional materials for displays. Our ultimate hope is that we would have a picture or specimen of every plant and animal of the central Appalachian region. We want to some day extend this to minerals and rocks from the region. Need we add that we are grateful for already donated nature, agriculture, forestry, gardening, herbal, general science, and appropriate technology books and periodicals, as well as display and educational materials for the Nature Center.

TEN REASONS FOR INSTALLING DRY COMPOSTING TOILETS

1. Major Water Conservation. The dry composting toilet is just that — dry. Water is not wasted as a carrier of the sewage, since the effective “flushing agent” is sawdust, leaves, dry grass clipping, or other carbonaceous materials. Instead of using often potable high quality water to carry waste materials to a sewage disposal plant, the composting operation occurs at the site of deposition and with no carrier water “wasted” or requiring reprocessing. Most homes and facilities witness a fifty percent or more drop in domestic water consumption because water is not needed to flush the toilets.

2. Possible Lower Installing Cost. This is a potential savings because some would purchase and still have to install a commercial dry composting toilet. These commercial ones could cost as much as $5,000 — much of which is heavy shipping containers. However, people can build the device themselves and save construction and hauling charges for only about $200 - $500 for container materials, chute, seat, fan and ventilation pipes. If one considers normal sewer hookup, cost of the commode portion of indoor plumbing, sewer pipes and plumber costs in the installment, along with the cost of specific fixtures, one could realize savings of up to several thousand dollars if the compost toilet is built by them in their own facilities. We can furnish instructions.

3. Teaching Simple Living. The largest hurdle to the popularity of the dry composting toilet is the misunderstanding that this is an old-fashioned outhouse. That isn’t true. Outhouses would not undergo aerobic decomposition as does the compost toilet, and thus they were known to generate methane and unpleasant odors. This lack of distinction carries over into policy-making discussion at the local, state and even national levels. The safety, low cost, and odor-free nature of these aerobic devices requires better information dissemination and no one is better able to do this than the proud owners of compost toilets. The conversation comes soon enough with your visitors and the opportunity exists to give a pitch for utilizing one’s discarded materials and not exporting them to another’s backyard.

4. Waste Emission Reduction. The burden to care for municipal sewage and for furnishing homes with larger amounts of domestic water (used for flushing purposes) is well known. In a number of places the systems break down and require costly repair as well as the risk of contaminating local streams and waterways. In poorer parts of America “straight pipes” send this effluent from the bathrooms directly into creeks and streams. This is all eliminated by the compost toilet.

5. Global Warming Reduction. An estimated 5% of all methane, a major global warming agent, is from wastewater treatment facilities. The total methane generation is reduced through aerobic composting methods. Methane, a gaseous product of anaerobic decomposition, is part of the burden inflicted on the general environment — a troublesome phenomenon.

6. Retain Local Economic Resources. The draining of money to generally large-scale outside contractors through major municipal water and sewage system construction projects occurs frequently. This is especially true in poorer areas where construction firms are not available to build mega-million dollar sewer and waste treatment facilities. The dry composting toilet and constructed wetland can be built using local talent and thus the money remains within the community for further circulation and community economic health.

7. Plumber Bills Decline. The dry compost toilet has far less chance of breaking down because it is so simple. Now if a child drops a toy down the hole it may take some fishing but it doesn’t need an expensive plumber to do it. In fact there is no plumbing to the non-washing portion of the bathroom — and thus no need of plumber.

8. Wood Waste Reduction. The use of organic matter as a diluting and composting medium could help eliminate the sawdust waste problem in timber processing parts of Appalachia and forested America. Wood and other carbonaceous waste products often accumulate and become a water and land contamination problem in themselves. The greater the number of composting toilets, the lesser the amount of leaves and other such materials that need be sent to hard-pressed and burgeoning landfills.

9. Composted Product Reuse. The resulting composted product (looks like sawdust or whatever carbon material is added and with no unpleasant odor) can be safely utilized since pathogens are killed. This product can enhance organic soil content for shrubs, flowers, lawn, trees, berries and even vegetables and herbs after observing several safeguards. The preference is to use on non-root edibles, but after careful heating under plastic in the summertime the composted material can even be used for carrots and onions. The compost toilet serves as an extra source for compost that those who maintain green space must otherwise purchase.

10. Beauty of Constructed Wetlands. Compost toilet owners need to consider the greywater which comes from washing hands, dishes and clothes. Some of this water may get contaminated by dirty diapers or other forms of contamination. The answer is the constructed wetlands which can be built as a coupled device to the compost toilet to a size determined by state regulations. This can be built at relatively low cost and with enough capacity to handle both greywater and even black water if need be. The required land is far less than for septic tank leach fields and can grow beautiful flowers which are watered and fed by the waste materials coming from the house. In many places the constructed wetlands have substituted for flowerbeds which even adorn the fronts of some homes in Kentucky.

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For more information surf this ASPI Web Site, or order our technical papers (TP 2, 30, 41 and 58), or one of several videotapes dealing with the subject (EHE 4, 11, 12, and 13). ASPI’s work on dry composting toilets during the year 2000 was partly funded through a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection agency.

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