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ra, to point. The toilet requires no water, no electricity and can be piggybacked to handle additional volume. They've contracted with Sustainable Strategies Massachusetts to build the prototype. To show his support, Sura performed a traditional Balinese 1IIII!!fIIIlce'rernorlY to the sea goddess Dewi Danu to bless the project, Traditionally the mushroom omelets. About the only thing they don't offer is a functioning toilet. Lack of water and Uluwatu's remote location have left thousands without a proper sewage system. When the urge hits, foreign surfers and locals alike use the sea caves below the cliff as a convenient crapper, resulting in a health hazard and a soiled version of paradise. When Washington-state surfer Kevin Ranker made his pilgrimage to Bali in the early '90s, he was appalled at the stench and by the sight of his fellow surfers blithely treading through their own filth on their way to the break. "It was so disillusioning," recalls Ranker, then a graduate student who had come to Bali to research the effects of tourism on indigenous peoples. 'The cave smelled like a gas station restroom in Barstow." Ranker also claims that local fishermen have noted a decline in reef health and fish populations around the surf break. "We're starting to see the beginnings of a threatened ecosystem," he says. Surfers, defacto environmentalists who traditionally have battled outside ocean polluters fouling their playground, are now faced with a problem caused by their own growing numbers. Ranker, who has a background in sustainable community development, has decided iI's time for surfers to clean up their shit. Enlisting the aid of fellow surfer and past Surfrider Foundation president Gary Sirota, the pair gained the blessing of Uluwatu's landowner, I ..... : IE . f -- C -- TO LEARN MORE ABOUT COMPOSTING TOILETS AND OTHER ECOLOGICAL WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES CONTACT: SUSTAINABLE STRATEGIES, 152 COMMONWEALTH AVENUE, CONCORD, MASSACHUSETTS, USA 01742-2968. CALL 978-369-9440, CHECK OUT THEIR WEBSITE (WWW.ECOLOGICAL-ENGINEERING.COM) OR E-MAIL THEM.SUSTAINABLE@AICS.NET Balinese have feared the ocean as the home of demons, but due to surf tourism ___ _ there is now a healthy population of local surfers on the island. "II's time I show her that I'm giving back instead of just using her," said Sura. Sustainable Strategies has built similar systems in Micronesia with great success and has proposed constructing the toilets on-site using local materials and labor, and teaching the locals how to build and maintain additional toilets. This is important, says Ranker, if they are to keep up with burgeoning surfer-tourist populations. "II's a classic case of the difference between giving a man a fish or teaching him how to fish. If they buy systems made in another country and they break, it's not like they can call an 800 number to get it fixed," The projected budget to plan, build and maintain the crappers is $15,000. Ranker and Sirota are currently seeking funding. They promise the company or individual who donates the most will have a plaque mounted in the toilets that surfers can contemplate in lower-bowel bliss. In addition, Sirota is looking to start a chapter of Surfrider Foundation in Bali. "With the surf industry exploding in Indonesia now, this is a great way to launch the concept of ocean stewardship." says Sirota. "We're the ones that messed this up, so we should be the ones to clean it up. This is like the climbers at Everest going up to clear all those oxygen bottles from Camp One. If we can't clean up after ourselves, then we probably don't have a right to bitch about anyone else." KEVIN RANKER AND GARY SIROTA ARE ACTIVELY SEEKING FUNDING AND EXPERTISE. FOR MORE INFORMATION GET IN TOUCH WITH KEVIN AT 360-378-2319 OR WATERMAN@ROCKISLAND,COM AND GARY AT ENVESQ@CONNECTNET.COM