112 results for tag: compost
SOIL Talks Trash (Magic)
Daniel Tillias & Dr. Sasha Kramer with SOIL's compost SOIL’s Executive Director Dr. Sasha Kramer and SOIL Board Co-Chair Daniel Tillias were recently featured on the Trash Magic podcast where they discussed ecological sanitation, recycling human waste into nutrient-rich compost, and empowering local economies in urban Haiti. The podcast, hosted by chemical engineer Oakley Jennings-Fast and waste and recycling expert Sara Fuentes, aims to demystify the circular economy and encourage listeners to ‘change the world one purchase and one piece of trash at a time.’ On the podcast Sasha and Daniel discuss ways that sanitation remains the most ...
SOIL & Schools: Inspiring the Next Generation of Change Makers
Recent visitors from a local school.
Every day SOIL works to empower the communities we serve in northern Haiti, and the well-being of Haitian people is at the very heart of all that we do. We are always excited to share more about our regenerative sanitation services with the community to raise awareness and to let people know about our accessible household sanitation. We are even MORE excited when we get to share SOIL’s work with the next generation of changemakers: students! We were thrilled to welcome these eager visitors from the local schools around Cap-Haitien to tour our composting facilities in Limonade. So far this year we have welcomed ...
Back to the Basics: An Overview of SOIL’s Essential Service
Readers of our blog might know that SOIL provides EkoLakay sanitation services to households in the city of Cap-Haïtien on Haiti’s northern coast and that we are currently providing this essential service to nearly 2,000 households, impacting over 11,000 individuals. This past year alone, our sanitation and composting staff collected and treated over 500 metric tons of waste from the communities we serve and produced 170 metric tons of compost through our ecological waste treatment process. But do you know how the service works? For new potential household customers, the EkoLakay journey begins when an individual expresses interest in ...
Farmers Driving Increase in Compost Sales in Cap-Haitien
SOIL’s compost team working at compost site
Over the past year, SOIL has produced 170 metric tons of our rich, organic compost at our waste treatment facility in Mouchinette, Haiti. Extensive research shows that not only does compost increase agricultural harvests, but compost application can also be instrumental in restoring ecosystems and mitigating against the impacts of climate change through increased soil water retention, restoration, and carbon sequestration. This means that with every sack of compost that SOIL sells, Haiti is becoming a little more resilient to droughts, floods that wash away topsoil, climate change, and food insecurity. ...
Compostable Container Liners to Reduce High Container Costs
SOIL’s Research Team experimenting with compostable container liners
In October of last year, SOIL’s research team met up in Cap-Haitien to identify potential opportunities to improve the efficiency of our service in the coming year. One of the opportunities identified during the team session is exploring the potential for using compostable bags as a liner for the containers in our EkoLakay in-home toilets. The team is interested in testing the idea that the liners may reduce some of the stress the containers go through during the cleaning and disinfection process and therefore reduce the incidences of container and lid breakage rates and costs. ...
The Potential of Human Waste: SOIL Featured in Newswise
Compost team pictured with SOIL’s organic, agriculture-grade compost made from human waste.
Our world creates an enormous amount of waste, and that waste exists in many, many different forms. There’s food waste, liquid waste, hazardous waste, solid waste, and what we at SOIL care most about, human waste. A recent article published in Newswise, titled (Human) waste not, want not, highlights the topics discussed in a presentation by Rebecca Nelson, Cornell University, at the 2021 ASA, CSSA and SSSA Annual Meeting on a new vision for the reuse of human waste. Nelson, a plant pathologist, shares a sentiment on the incredible and largely untapped ...
SOIL Receives Stamp of Approval from Haitian Ministry of Environment
BNEE staff visiting Konpòs Lakay customer’s coffee plantation
When SOIL first started out building our composting waste treatment facility in the northern Haitian community of Mouchinette in 2012, the only thing on the property was a big mango tree. Since then, the SOIL team has completely transformed the site into a beautiful, efficient, and highly productive composting facility. Now, alongside that original welcoming mango tree, Mouchinette is a flurry of activity, with SOIL team members working hard to empty containers, turn and nurture the compost, and maintain the growing facility.
In 2019, we expanded the composting site to accommodate ...
Job Post: Konpos Lakay Consultant
INTRODUCTION Le but de cet appel d’offre est de trouver un consultant qui pourra aider SOIL à bien positionner son produit Konpos Lakay afin qu'il puisse être vendu en quantite en Haïti. À la suite du travail de ce consultant, SOIL aura un rapport avec des recommandations soumis par le consultant pour augmenter la quantité de Konpos Lakay que nous vendrons au cours de l'exercice 2021-22. SOIL souhaite embaucher un consultant ayant une bonne connaissance et expérience des projets agricoles dans le pays, de la façon dont le gouvernement haïtien travaille pour mener à bien ces projets, et les fonds impliqués dans le secteu...
Field Day for the Directors: Launching a New Research Project
SOIL’s HR Director, Director of Operations and Compost Manager
We at SOIL are always working to develop innovative approaches to support our growth strategy and further expand our reach to provide accessible, sustainable and reliable sanitation to those that need it the most. Research plays a critical role in SOIL’s efforts to achieve strategic goals and advance knowledge in the sanitation sector. This year has started off very busy for SOIL’s Research team, as we are working on a number of ongoing research projects including; small-scale black soldier fly larvae experiments, improving collections with human-centered design and utilizing ...
May Day Celebrations Kick off in Cap-Haitien This Year with EkoLakay, Compost and More!
SOIL was excited to have the opportunity to participate in the vibrant (and delicious!) May Day Celebrations that kicked off in Cap-Haitien over this past weekend. The 3-day event, typically hosted in southern Haiti, made its first appearance on the north coast with much delight and pride. The annual event is hosted in honor of the Haitian national holiday, Labor and Agriculture day, celebrated on May 1st.
Agriculture is Haiti’s main industry and makes up over 60% of the workforce nationwide. This holiday not only serves as a celebration of agriculture itself, but also of the people that contribute to it. The fair, which usually takes place in ...