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When the yurt’s loo takes pride of place…
While Architectural Digest describes yurts as “an architectural wonder of the world” — and it is without doubt — inside my yurt it’s the loo that’s the showpiece. It’s Saniflo‘s Sanicompact 43— a very superior toilet in every way. It’s high quality ceramic; it’s almost silent; it’s about the most waterwise-efficient toilet you can get… and […]
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The yurt’s biogas unit/biodigestor… for R300!
All the blackwater from the yurt’s toilet goes into the biodigestor. And so does all the organic waste from the kitchen. Methane gas output is increased by fats, oils, greases and sugars, and you can use the gas for cooking and heating. Another byproduct is liquid fertilizer, which you can use in the garden. You…
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The Yurt’s Catastrophe! … and Making it all Work
I had just gone to sleep one night… I knew it was going to be windy but the winds were well within what the yurt had been through before. And then I became aware of the sound of the wind just rising and rising. I waited for the gust to end but this was no…
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Adventures with a Yurt (or Ger)
Imagine a small house, granny flat or weekend getaway where the structure only costs you R12,000. (That’s US$850 or €750!) You can’t buy a small Wendy house for that… and it’s about the same cost as the emergency materials given to shack dwellers after fires destroy dwellings in informal settlements. And it’s a structure that one…
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What’s a Yurt?
Two posts from my sister on Whatsapp from Ulaanbataar in Mongolia really got me thinking. She had shown me a photo of the yurt belonging to the building manager for her apartment block before. He and his family live in their ger or yurt alongside the apartment building. But he had been away for his…