(light guitar music)
- [Reporter] This house in Midtown Tucson may
look like thousands of others in the city,
but it's actually quite unique.
- I had the vision of making it like a
natural landscaping and living oasis,
and so really I was coming in from square one.
- [Reporter] Since buying the property in 2010,
Joe Silins has been transforming
his slice of the urbanized Sonoran Desert,
going back to its roots in some ways.
In the front yard Silins uses native
and desert adapted plants.
They are grown in basins,
which take advantage of water harvesting curb cuts
that channel rainfall onto his land.
- I've got some hackberry, quailbush and jojoba,
which are all great for local wildlife,
and those plants have really thrived.
I've got a mesquite and a palo verde
that are doing great right now.
- [Reporter] And when he needs to weed or trim,
the backyard chickens get a salad bar.
(chicken clucking)
The chickens provide fresh eggs
and the adjacent trees in the garden
produce fresh fruit.
- Nancy Lily, come on.
Goin' for a trip.
- [Reporter] They get much of their water
from the outdoor shower Silins installed.
(water showering)
- And there's nothin' better on a hot day
than coming home from work for a cold shower.
When that water comes out,
as you can see it just drains off the pavers here,
and then it runs down the slope
and I've got a pomegranate tree planted nearby
that takes advantage of that water.
And so we'll be growing some nice fruit
for a harvest coming up.
- [Reporter] But the most unusual feature at this site,
and probably the most talked about,
is the room next to the straw bale guest house
that he also built.
It's a water saving biological recycling system
for your bathroom waste, your poop and urine,
and it's not hooked up to the
city's public sewer pipe.
- This is my composting toilet.
It's outside.
It's the, a 55-gallon barrel batch method.
So rather than the five-gallon bucket method
that a lot of people are familiar with,
you just basically use this one for a few months,
filling it up,
and then you switch it out with another barrel.
And then by the time the humanure is ready
to remove and be used out in the garden
or out in the yard,
it's fully aged and you're not
having to interface with any fresh material.
Similar to composting in the garden,
all the same ingredients,
just slightly different in that you're
contributing your own material rather than
your kitchen scraps and things.
- [Reporter] If you've never used one don't despair.
Silins even has instructions at his outdoor commode.
It includes information about the handy wood shavings
close to the toilet paper.
- And basically covering any toilet paper
and any deposits that you've made,
so the next person who comes along
has a very user-friendly, pleasing experience.
It just smells like wood shavings.
It's not disgusting.
A well managed composting toilet
has no discernible odors.
A lot of times it's just social stigmas
or psychological barriers that we have.
I think having examples like this
and having more people have the experience
can demonstrate how well these systems function,
and how great of a solution this is
for our water issues here in the desert.
- I'm excited to have all of you here tonight.
So it's interesting.
I forget how many of these classes we've led,
but each one seems to be getting
more and more popular.
- [Reporter] At Watershed Management Group
in Midtown Tucson, like-minded residents
can learn about various water-saving measures,
including the toilets.
The class covers basics such as permitting,
options when it comes to toilets,
and how to use the end result,
the humanure, on your land.
- I love it, I love after four months
I have that finished, processed humanure.
Take it out to my fruit trees,
amend the soil around my fruit trees,
and then grab an apple,
grab a peach off that fruit tree.
And it's just, it's a delicious cycle.
- [Reporter] Not gross.
- Not gross at all.
- [Reporter] Okay.
Members say their goal is to increase
knowledge and understanding,
engage the community and regulators
to bring these toilets out of the shadows.
- I had the ick factor myself many years ago,
and it took me a while to get over it,
but now it's just part of the
natural systems, natural processes.
- [Reporter] Supporters admit these toilets
will face resistance until the general population
is more comfortable with the concept,
so they recommend other steps you can take
to conserve water.
The biggest residential water guzzlers are our yards,
so you can begin right there,
by changing or removing irrigation systems,
choosing your plants wisely,
and amending the soil with kitchen compost,
mulch, or humanure.
- As we increase soil organic content,
we enhance the ability for maintaining
more soil moisture for our plants.
Everything kinda boils down to,
how do we make the most with our limited resources?
And all of this relates always
back to watershed and water conservation.
- [Reporter] Back at his home Joe Silins
says he'll continue to look for ways
to save water and other resources.
His experience has been part of
an ongoing evolution, he says,
which he wants to share and hopes will inspire.
- I definitely see our resources as limited,
and this planet is precious.
So we've gotta do what we can to preserve it
and to make it better,
so I'm certainly endeavoring to do my part.