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  • From: "Kevin Topek" <ktopek@houston.rr.com>
  • To: <blissett@optonline.net>, "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Composting an Entire House
  • Date: Fri, 25 Nov 2005 22:14:31 -0600

David,

Houses do not compost well at all. They are full of slowly degrading
materials to keep them from degrading rapidly. They are best lived in, moved
or salvaged for components. There is not enough low lignin carbon and
nitrogen incorporated into them for a thorough composting to occur. Time is
the best decomposer of a house. If you live in an older home, you know what
I mean!

Kevin

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Travis" <blissett@optonline.net>
To: "permaculture" <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 1:35 AM
Subject: [permaculture] Composting an Entire House


> Hi all,
>
> Without knowing much about conventional home construction, I was
> wondering how it would be possible to systematically compost an entire
> suburban house. Here I'm thinking of a structure more or less along the
> lines of the average American McMansion. I'm having difficulty picturing
> the scope of what might be involved in such a project -- these questions
> in particular come to mind:
>
> 1. To what extent would a house have to be deconstructed before it
> could be composted? How much of the garbage used to produce a modern
> home would actually be useful? Here I'm thinking PVC, wiring, plumbing
> fittings, lighting, ducts, misc. mechanical elements, etc.
>
> 2. Would inorganic materials necessarily have to be extracted from
> the more biodegradable elements? Roughly what percentage of the
> structural volume of the average house is biodegradable?
>
> 3. Could more specific bioremediating agents be introduced to act on
> inorganic components or problem organics (eg, chemically treated wood)?
>
> 4. What other tools might one use to catalyze the composting of a
> large structure like this? How could a long-term composting site like
> this be used in other ways? (eg, using bioremediating agents for food or
> fuel)
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
> in solidarity,
>
> David
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