Our Mission

Hello, I’m Bill Norton. Our mission at Walk the Walk is, quite simply, sustainability. This is an overused and under practiced term. Most of us, myself included, sadly, are armchair environmentalists. We talk a good game about how regrettable it is that the environment is dirty and that the climate is changing (too quickly!), but we are either unwilling to make the necessary adjustments in our day-to-day lives to reverse this trend, or, in my case, are just too embarrassed to talk about it. This can’t continue.

I have realized that the only way to bring about positive and lasting change is from the inside out. This is how I started this conversation, and it is an amazing vantage point from which to view the world. From here there is no burnout. Mara Gleason Olson and Eirik (pronounced Ay-dik) Olson describe this vantage point very well in the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GitiPB76Nag. I’m convinced that as people gain this understanding, they will compost, not because they are “supposed to” but because it just makes sense.

Speaking of just making sense, right now (10/15/23) we are in a very urgent time, and thinking and acting from the inside out is not just a luxury anymore. We have at least three incredible presidential choices right now in Marianne Williamson, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, and Cornel West. All of them have put personal transformation front and center in their campaigns. The problem is that they are all outliers. The two front-runners are deeply imbedded in a corrupt matrix that has bought off the government and the press and pits one half of the population against the other. I strongly encourage you to check out the videos of any one or preferably all of the aforementioned alternatives. The environment and the human spirit cannot wait for the entrenched system to get a clue. How about a third party convention? Then the winner of the third party convention could square off against the other two. If there was ever a time when a third party could win, this is it!

There will ultimately be many projects here at Walk the Walk, but right now there are only three, all of which involve humanure, a.k.a. human manure, a.k.a. your poop. I’ll never forget a couple decades back when I heard a talk show host address this subject. His response was, and I’m paraphrasing here, “Forget it! Been there. Done that. I’m all for environmentalism, but I did that many years ago as a Boy Scout. Never again!” I’m guessing this is the image most of us conjure up: stumbling outside on a cold winter day to squat on a smelly latrine that may or may not have sanitizer (talk about freezing your ass off!). The fact is, you can sit comfortably on your throne and do your business as usual. The only difference is that when you’re done, instead of flushing your contents, you cover them. I will cover this (ha ha) in more detail in the Projects tab of this website, but just remember, as with any worthwhile goal, don’t think of any of the steps along the way as a means to an end. The journey itself is the point. We only ever have right now. As one of my favorite sources of inspiration, Dicken Bettinger, put it: “There IS no later on.”

One of the biggest challenges, ironically, is getting the state environmental agencies to hop on board. I have contacted all 50 states, but have heard back only from 15. Right now (1/12/2022), IN and KS appear ready to go in this regard. The reticence of the state agencies is understandable, given the awesomeness of their responsibility, but focusing on the spirit behind the regulations rather than the regulations themselves will reveal just how perfect this composting approach is.

As of now (3/28/2022), TX appears to be on board. In fact, they even offered me to send a plan. The ball appears to be in my court now…………Indeed, it does. As of now (8/21/2022), I still haven’t followed through on a very promising idea that Austin is already implementing. There is a product there called Dillo Dirt. In a nutshell, it basically grabs treated wastewater and turns it into compost rather than have it get redistributed into the Earth. Not as environmentally efficient as backyard composting, but very encouraging. I need to find out why more cities aren’t doing this. More to come (much sooner than five months, I hope!).