Sunday, May 25, 2008

Lotan


Kibbutz Lotan is the place where I found the path I'm on, the path of Permaculture, of doing things, of acting small scale and influencing the world in a big way. We went to speak about Yesh meain 2 weeks ago. I arrived with the usual anticipation, of seeing the progress at the Bustan Neighborhood, of walking into the dining room and hugging people that always greet me with a smile, of walking around the Eco-kef to check what's new (more vegetables, or another structure in the children's playground).


When I studied the Green Apprenticeship Course (GA) a year and a half ago we worked on the bustan neighborhood that was to host students like us in the future. During this visit we saw a neighborhood with students finally living and working there, making it more functional and prettier every day, a dream come true for many in Lotan and a sense of completion for the many hands who have worked there.


The bustan has now 8 geodesic domes made out of a steel frame, straw bales and mud plaster, they are beautiful and very nice, you almost don't feel like going out. Here is a picture of one of them.


The new composting toilets are one of the nicest I have sat on, so nice I could easily spend there a couple of hours.





Every dome is different, with its own personality.



The showers are also a very pleasurable experience, too bad it's not environmentally friendly to take long showers...




We started this part of the bustan! A grill and a wood oven.








This huge project is maybe one of the most important endeavors Lotan has embarked on, a constructed wetland to treat the kibbutz's waste water.
tan tan, the end