[Greenbuilding] diapers, WAS clay wall for pool

Gennaro Brooks-Church - Eco Brooklyn info at ecobrooklyn.com
Thu Feb 2 15:03:25 CST 2012


" I've often wondered if used kitty litter might be diverted from the
waste-stream ...."

I wondered the same for diapers. My two year old kept me wondering. And a
client of mine with two twin two year olds at the time made me wonder even
more.

I wondered what the hell I could do with all these used diapers.
And then I realized: they hold water and contain fertilizer and compost
(pee and poop).

So I built a green roof with them. I collected six months of diapers from
three children, enough to cover 400sq.ft of four inch deep diapers, about
20 garbage bag full.

The roof is a stunning success. The compost and fertilizer gave a nice
boost to the roof when the fledgling plants needed it most. The diapers
continue to be great water retention devices.

I've had to keep the location and job secret since it violated quite a few
New York City health codes.

But the experiment proved it is a very beneficial way of keeping diapers
out of the landfill. I would even say it is up-cycling.
.
Gennaro Brooks-Church
Director, Eco Brooklyn Inc.
Cell: 1 347 244 3016 USA
www.EcoBrooklyn.com
22 2nd St; Brooklyn, NY 11231



On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 12:22 PM, RT <Archilogic at yahoo.ca> wrote:

> On Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:01:55 -0500, Gennaro Brooks-Church - Eco Brooklyn <
> info at ecobrooklyn.com> wrote:
>
>
>  I am building a natural pool and looking for a good sealing option.
>>
>
>  Something that "self heals" like clay is attractive to me.....but it has
>> to work on vertical walls.
>>
>
> You might want to Google "Bentonite clay vertical surfaces" and see what
> it comes up with.
>
> As you may be aware, Bentonite clay is used extensively for making garden
> pools.
> I've never used the stuff myself. The closest I've come to Bentonite is
> kitty litter. (Not that I use kitty litter. I have had bags of it around
> when cat-sitting for friends. (I just chucked the cats outside. No way I'd
> live with caturds in the house.)
>
> I've often wondered if used kitty litter might be diverted from the
> waste-stream and utilised in building where the fertiliser component might
> be beneficial. There must be gazillions of tonnes of the stuff going into
> municipal waste streams weekly.
>
>
> But speaking of waste diversion, salvaged tempered glass would also seem
> like a pretty good candidate for consideration for this "pool vertical
> surface" task.
>
> The existing concrete would provide sufficient lateral strength/support
> for a glass pool liner.
> The glass liner would be constructed in the same manner as a glass fish
> aquarium. (ie silicon caulking for the joints).
>
> You'd just need to provide something to hold the glass away from the
> concrete and that would allow the glass liner to freely expand/contract.
>
>
>
> --
> === * ===
> Rob Tom
> Kanata, Ontario, Canada
> < A r c h i L o g i c  at  Y a h o o  dot  c a >
> (manually winnow the chaff from my edress if you hit "reply")
>
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