Transform Waste Into a Community Space!

On Sunday February 12^th, around 30 community members – including kids and community elders – came together to build the bench. The bottle bricks were arranged with saguaro ribs and sealed inside the structure using locally sourced sand, clay, straw, rocks, and water.  The cob, which means lump in Old English, was applied so to reflect the shape of their sacred mountain, o:ks dáhá, which means “old lady sitting” in O’odham.

During the week, the bench was left to dry, while we built the roof and rainwater catchment system. The roof will protect the bench for decades to come and provide much needed shade in the desert. The rainwater collection system will provide free and local water to the garden. The garden manager was so inspired he went to Tucson that day (two hours away) to buy seeds and soil to finally start the garden.

On Saturday February 18^th, we applied the final plaster, incorporating local nopales cacti to increase the adhesiveness of the mixture, and decorated the bench with O’odham cultural elements. One of the greatest assets of the Tohono O’odham community is their emphasis on language and culture, reflected in the bench.

Already other Tohono O’odham communities (and now a Navajo community!) have expressed interest in building their own “Peace on Earthbench” with their own cultural elements. This includes the Meanagers community, located right on the border. Other Tohono O’odham Nation members are calling to “build benches not borders!”  The earthbench offers a way for a community to transform waste into a community place, and shows the community’s commitment to bringing people together vs. creating divisions.

Links:

• http://www.earthbench.org/tohono-oodham-peace-on-earthbench.html