Crystal Waters has definitely been a great change from where we have been staying. One big change that we have already experienced is seeing kangaroos for the first time. It gets one thinking of how well Crystal Waters does with living among nature and other living beings. Another thing everyone noticed is that there is hardly any internet access (sorry mom, dad, sister and boyfriend who have been wondering where I’ve been or if I’m okay. Still alive, haven’t got bit by a poisonous snake yet!) That’s another thing, poisonous snakes, at least 16 different species I think I saw on a poster. Kind of nerve racking, and I have already seen three! Though I was informed that one of them was harmless, the other is nick named 6 minutes.
So far here we have toured the grounds, learning very interesting facts on the way. Now I know what a gum tree looks like but still haven’t seen any kookaburras. I thought it was interesting how they build this community trying to alter the landscape the least. The roads are made with at least an 8% grade so that runoff can continue off the road and they don’t have to make a drainage ditch. We also had an interesting lecture on water/wastewater. I never thought of human waste being part of a recyclable system, and most people I feel don’t put our human waste through the full cycle. Here at Crystal Waters they have compostable toilets where they actually turn waste back to organic matter and nutrients in soil. I learned that urine is actually more nutrient than human solid waste and that diluted to a right amount, urine makes a great fertilizer!
Just from these two days I really feel motivated to make some changes around my home (watch out parents here I come!) I would like to test the flow rates of water through my house and learn how to attach aerators to lessen the amount of water use age. We had to estimate the amount of water we use each day and for the shower section I estimated if my shower is 25 liters per minute, and if I take around 5-6 minute showers then my water use is around 125-150 liters a day. With a low flow shower head around 9 liter per minute I would be cutting it down more than half to around 45-50 liters a day. I am also debating on trying to build my own garden. I would think I would feel very rewarded bringing in fruits and vegetables into my home that I made myself. The only thing I want to research more is how to try and grow plants more year round. So that I can sustain my family more than just in the summer time.
Another thought: wished I would have thought of a science experiment way back when I was younger for science fair on the best way to grow plants. Take one and just water it, another use a name brand fertilizer, another with urine, and another with human solid waste and water. That would be interesting to see if all this hype on urine was really true!
So still nervous around bugs and snakes, (which there are very big spiders here that live in the bathrooms. Janet and I do checks each time we take a shower so there are no surprises.) but I am very excited about seeing the kangaroos. This morning Janet and I got up at 4:30 to try and see if we could see a platypus and we had success because there was one that got scared by us and flopped into the water and we got to see him swim by. Very amazing. And the songs I hear from birds getting up each morning makes me wish I could wake up to this wonderful music every day. Instead I will have obnoxious crows and crying cats to wake up to.
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