![]() ![]() When people are interested in his habits, it makes it easier to deal with the social consequences, but he goes through waves of excitement, he says. “I always wonder,” he said, glancing down at his crocs, “is it because I’m a weirdo, you know? Is it because of the composting toilets? You never know. Some people who visit, including his daughter’s friends, never come back. It’s the social aspect, however, that’s the most difficult, he said. He fixed this by making coverings for the light fixtures, but still, it’s a mistake he regrets, he said. The sunlights heated the house during the summer and made it cooler in the winter. He installed sunlights for natural lighting, which he soon learned was a bad idea. Though most of his designs went smoothly, not all his ideas improved his house. “See all the insects in there, rolling around. “Look, look - the black soldier fly larva,” he said, his voice raising. “Can you smell it?” he said, unearthing his two-week compost in the ground. I just throw a little sawdust on it.”Įvery two weeks, he takes out the bucket and empties it into his backyard. ![]() “The urine smells bad, so it goes down in the urine trap and out with the grey water,” he said. His most radical innovation is the compostable toilet system, which redirects urine into his yard and fills a bucket with the poop. “It makes taking a shower something you always look forward to because it’s fun,” he said. The solar panels on top of the adjacent shed heat the water in seconds, and the water hydrates the vegetation surrounding the outhouse. They don’t use soap and shower no more than three minutes. Schwartz and his family shower outside in an open structure built with equipment from SLO MakerSpace. His goal is to have the entire roof blanketed in vines, to ensure cool temperatures during the summer. Most of his plants don’t need extra watering and they all serve a purpose beyond aesthetics - such as producing food or providing shade to cool the house without air conditioning or fans. Citrus, pineapple guava, apples and pear trees populate his backyard. “I decided to change the direction of my house, which changed the direction of my life.”Īfter installing solar panels, insulation, natural lighting and the usual fixes, the physics professor rerouted his sewer system so all the grey water used in the house flows into his yard - flushing water, urine and soap into the surrounding vegetation.Īnd it works. “I bought the house and all of the sudden I realized for the first time I was in a position to make these (energy-efficient) choices, whereas before I was always renting,” Schwartz said. After purchasing his house in 2003, Schwartz faced a dilemma. ![]()
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