“This drawing shows the New Composting Toilet Building at Bayview and its environmentally-friendly accouterments.Construction has begun on what will likely become Whidbey Island’s fanciest outhouse.The owners weren’t trying to make the pages of Outhouse Beautiful, however. The outhouse, more aptly described a composting toilet building, will serve as an example to islanders who want to be more self-sufficient and environmentally friendly in the way they live.Excavation began last week at Bayview Corner. The composting toilet building is another creation of the Goosefoot Community Fund, the not-for-profit corporation that owns the old Bayview Cash Store building and surrounding property.Nancy Nordhoff, Goosefoot founder and local philanthropist, describes the new structure as a very small building with a very big impact . . . We want to continue the island’s rural traditions by making adaptations for the 21st Century.Outhouses are a rural tradition brought to Whidbey Island with its first white settlers, but the one now under construction would boggle the minds of the settlers. When they sat in their outhouses, they too were disconnected from the grid (it didn’t exist then) but their only amenity was the Sears Catalogue.Those who enter the composting toilet building after it opens in July will find it to be a total learning experience. The flush toilet uses only half a cup of water, the urinal is entirely waterless, hot water is provided by an on-demand propane system, electricity is produced by solar panels on the roof, the floor is warm thanks to in-floor radiant heat, and a compost unit below turns the waste into a useful product rather than flushing it away into the soil or Puget Sound.The building will allow Goosefoot to practice what it preaches in terms of water management and energy conservation. And it will give others an opportunity to look at some of the most practical devices, evaluate them, and copy the ones that work.Linda Moore, Goosefoot’s project director, said she hopes others learn from their outhouse experience. We have a chance to reinvent development so that it strengthens the island ways and values instead of destroying them, she said. The building will be independent of the energy grid and piped or well water. The little water needed will be rainwater, and the resulting small amount of greywater from hand washing will be used for irrigation.Information about the composting toilet building and its features, including what they cost, what they save, and where to get them, will be available in the ideas greenhouse located at the Bayview Farmers Market. “