Let Sleeping Cows Lie: SOIL Executive Director Mauled by Cow
As many of you know SOIL’s dear Executive Director Sasha Kramer loves animals. Unfortunately, while attempting to wake up Uit the cow for a late night snack of a hot, salty potato, Sasha became tangled in Uit’s lead rope and was dragged across the field at the SOIL farm in Limonade. Sasha has thankfully since recovered, but she may reconsider the timing for giving hot, salty potato snacks to cows. We hope that you enjoy the reenactment photos below and remember to let sleeping cows lie.
read moreMay 2013 Newsletter: A Sustainable Sanitation Revolution
Dear Friends, Day after day our agronomists bring in epic harvests of spinach, beets, sorghum, yams, and other vegetables, and people are starting to take note of the positive impact that EcoSan compost has on production yields. On the compost supply side, our hearts are rich with stories from SOIL toilet users who like their toilets and the demand for EcoSan toilets around Haiti is so strong that we can’t keep up with all the requests. This month, instead of sending you a long letter, we wanted to give you a chance to check out some of...
read morePermaculture Magazine: Recycling Human Waste to Improve Sanitation and Produce Food
By Mark Sanders in Permaculture Magazine on Wednesday, 8th May 2013. Haiti is often seen as having the worst sanitation and clean water access in the Western hemisphere. But with the help of SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods), waste resources are being transformed into compost, sanitation is improving and local food production is being revived. Mark Sanders, a civil engineer explains his research visit to the SOIL project in Haiti. As the global use of inorganic mined fertilisers increases, so do the resulting environmental...
read moreTheo Talks Episode 12: Making UD Toilet Seats
Join SOIL’s charismatic Regional Director Theo Huitema on another adventure in EcoSan. This time Theo shows how SOIL’s new vacuformer tool enables the SOIL team to make low-cost urine diversion (UD) seats. Now every part of SOIL’s EcoSan toilets are made or purchased locally. Learn more about the vacufomer here (made from a vacuum cleaner, a stove top burner and a roll of aluminum foil) and watch the rest of the Theo Talk series here. Enjoy watching! Check out the entire Theo Talks series...
read moreHuff Post UK: Unearthing the Value of Soil
By Katherine Rowland for Green Futures. See the original article on Huff Post UK here. In Haiti, centuries of poor land management and poverty have steadily impinged on the country’s ability to feed itself: between 1979 and 2001, per capita cereals production fell by 34%, and between 1998 and 2000, imports and food aid comprised more than half of the cereals consumed. To boost food security, ecologist Sasha Kramer founded Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL), a non-profit organisation that builds composting toilets...
read moreCan Compost Fight Global Warming?
Given that we’re currently producing nearly two tons of compost on a weekly basis, we’re keenly interested in compost research. For the most part we encounter lots of encouraging reports about how compost improves crop yield or improves the viability of reforestation efforts. But today we came across a study showing that compost may be able to play an important role in fighting global warming. Rebecca Ryals and Whendee Silver’s recent paper in Ecological Applications presents their findings that after a single application of...
read moreJoin the SOIL EcoSan Cycle
Dear Friends, In our March newsletter we asked you to consider making a monthly contribution to SOIL, helping us to reach our goal of bringing in $2,500 each month in recurring donations. We’re sending you a note today to ask for your help in getting us there. So far over 50 people from around the world have pledged monthly contributions, and thanks to their support SOIL now receives $900 per month in recurring donations. If you haven’t already joined the EcoSan cycle by pledging monthly support for SOIL, today we ask you to...
read moreMarch 2013 Newsletter: Springtime in the Caribbean
Dear SOIL friends, Springtime in the Caribbean. Passing motorcycles rev their engines, in the distance horns honk, several radios play simultaneously, roosters crow, children play, the internet doesn’t always work, and it is sunny! In the SOIL office we are greeted by the cheerful faces of people arriving early in the morning with a warm “bon jou!” and a full plan of activities. Somehow, while we weren’t quite paying attention, SOIL became a smoothly functioning, efficient, neighborhood institution. The needs we are...
read moreCEPR: “As Cholera Continues to Spread, Some Turn to Composting to Help Fight it”
Originally posted on March 11, 2013 by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). For reference links, see original article. As of March 4, 2013, cholera has killed 8,057 Haitians and infected nearly 650,000 more. Despite some claims of progress, the epidemic, which was introduced by United Nations troops, has been significantly worse in 2013 than during the same period the year before. From January 1, 145 cholera victims have officially been reported dead, compared to just 22 last year. Worse, this occurred during the dry season,...
read moreFebruary 2013 Newsletter: Growing Into 2013
Dear Friends and Supporters, Lots of news from the SOIL team this month. The first thing on all of our minds this week is the departure of Nick Preneta, SOIL’s Operations Director. After three incredible years of hard work and dedication, Nick left Haiti a few days ago. Nick will be sorely missed, though he will continue to support SOIL from the mountains of Oregon. As the teams in Port-au-Prince and Cap-Haitien are settling into the new year, SOIL has some great updates and milestones to share with you. Following our partnership with...
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