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












2 comments:

Simcha Daniel Burstyn שמחה דניאל בורשטיין said...

Hola Dalia, shalom shalom from Pittsburgh Harachok - at least it's sunny today, but May here has been cold and rainy so far.

Thank you so much for the pictures of the bustan neighborhood! We all miss Lotan immensely and look forward to our return in the summer of 2009.

D aniel
E liza
A malia
R euven

Harry Papaley said...

rili biutifol