So we all know how composting works, right? Whatever goes into the compost container takes time to decompose, then comes out as an earthy, dark and crumbly substance. Usually when we talk about composting, we refer to the composting of kitchen and garden wastes. Did you know that we can compost human waste?

Okay, I know that sounds gross, but composting toilets are actually very clean and effective. They are starting to sprout up in many state parks and even some green college campuses. Think of it as a very upscale and green portable toilet. The building pictured actually contains a composting toilet. It is the Canaan Valley Institute in Davis, WV. It is a LEED-certified building. This facility also uses a green filtration system to reuse their water for flushing toilets. (There is actually only one compositing toilet in the building; the rest are normal toilets.) They keep their drinking water separate from their water filtered by plants, though their measurements indicate that the water they filter on their own would be safe of drink. Their energy bill is amazingly low, not much more than a typical home.

Owning a personal composting toilet is not anything I expect anyone to be doing any time soon. It just doesn’t fly well when people have to think about dealing with their own waste. However, if you know of a nearby park where there is currently a portable toilet or simply no toilet at all, consider recommending a composting toilet for the area. Composting toilets are much cleaner (and smell less) than normal portable toilets, and they help our world become a little bit greener. On Seguin Island in Maine, there is a composting toilet that a boy built for his Eagle Scout project. When I visited the island with some locals, they told me I had to use the toilet. They were actually quite proud of their composting toilet, believe it or not. The facility was indeed very clean and did not smell like waste or chemicals. Properly built composting toilets protect ground water from contamination or provide optimal nutrient recycling.

Halfway (or more) through summer vacation, you may be hearing, “I’m bored!”  While a quick suggestion of cleaning the garage or basement may help quiet the whining, there are other ways to eliminate summertime boredom.  This list of suggestions not only will help entertain and amuse your child but also will help keep our planet healthy.

1. Track and reduce trash.

Create a spreadsheet on your computer or on a whiteboard (to make it more visible) with days of the week labeled at the top of the columns. Brainstorm with your children, and then label the rows with items that they throw out on a regular basis, such as napkins, paper towels, water bottles, paper plates.  Then each time a child discards one of those items, have him or her add a tally mark to the correct box on the chart.  At the start of the next day, total the tally marks in each box for the previous day.  Challenge your family to discard one less item.  See how low you can get your tallies to be!

2. Recycle old clothing

Although cleaning out closets and drawers may not be fun, it does allow more room for new clothes.  Once all worn-out and undersized clothing has been removed, sort them.  Things that are just too small but in good condition can be passed down to a younger sibling or cousin or donated to a charity.  Clothing items that are stained can be repurposed.  Encourage your kids to find creative uses for these items:  cut up a few t-shirts and sew a quilt for your stuffed bear, remove all of the buttons and use them as decorations for an art project.

3. Start a mini-garden.

Yes, it is late in the season for a lot of vegetables, but there are some that sprout more quickly.  Try planting a few radish or lettuce seeds in a medium to large planter or in a quiet corner of your yard.  Have your child check the soil daily for signs of growth and to determine if watering is needed.  When these veggies are ready, make sure your child gets to do the picking!

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault celebrated its one year anniversary on February 26th. Never heard of this vault? Well, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is is a secure seedbank located on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. This $9 million facility was built last year in order to preserve a  variety of plant seeds from locations worldwide in an underground cavern. The Seed Vault contains duplicate samples of seeds held in genebanks worldwide. This is also a refuge for seeds in the case of large scale regional or global crises. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault’s mission is to provide a safety net against accidental loss of diversity in traditional genebanks.

What I did not know is that almost every country has a national seed bank, and Svalbard is the place to store the samples from all of these seed banks. On February 26th, they celebrated by receiving 90,000 new samples, or four tons, of seeds. They now have over 400,000 seed samples located in this “vault.”  Officials have estimated that there are approximately 1.5 million distinct seed samples of agricultural crops in existence. This facility has the capacity to conserve 4.5 million different seeds.

The seedbank is constructed about 400 feet inside a sandstone mountain at Svalbard on Spitsbergen Island. Why Spitsbergen? Well, apparently Spitsbergen lacks in tectonic activity and permafrost–two factors that will aid in preservation. It is located about 400 feet above sea level, so they hope that this ensures that the site will remain dry even if the icecaps melt. If all of the equipment fails inside the vault, then everything should remain frozen for several weeks and the temperature should not rise past -3 degrees Celsius, or 30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Constructing the seed vault was funded entirely by the Government of Norway, and storage of seeds in the seed vault is free of charge. Surprisingly to me, all of the operational costs are also paid by Norway and the Global Crop Diversity Trust. With this seedbank, we should be able to save and preserve plants for hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years.