Humanure

[Dinner]

I've been noticing several hippies on youtube advocating the storing and composting of human waste for use as organic fertilizers claiming 1) it is free (actually the saw dust will likely cost most people money) 2) it is environmentally friendly and lowers carbon emissions but I can't help but think this is the past and not the future. Here's a video:



Given the large number of pathogens in human waste the humanure must be aged for 1-2 years before use as fertilizer plus there is the whole grossness of having to **** in buckets and then handle the waste during the composting process. I really have to question wither this sort of stuff is really that beneficial and if our time would be better spent on other things. I mean a 20lb bag of cow manure fertilizer can be bought for $5 and most cities have a green waste recycling program where you can get fresh compost for free so what's the economic benefit? Lastly, given the risk of leachate contaminating ground water during the 1-2 year aging process, using the humanure to soon could contaminate crops with pathogens, wouldn't it be more sanitary and safe for human and ecological health to just deal with sewage in a modern sewage processing facility? We all want to help the environment but ****ting in buckets just doesn't seem like a practical way forward.

A wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanure

I've seen several Hollywood types and eco types advocating the use of humanure and I'm wondering if anyone here knows someone crazy enough to try this, would actually do this themselves, or think this is really the way to help the environment. Anyone?

[Wezil]

Don't **** where you eat?

[Patroklos]

Night soil is the reason you can't get a salad in China.

If they really want to do this use it to on stuff not meant for human consumption like reforesting or what not. And let the hippies do it.

[MrFun]

Farmers still use manure from livestock as part of their fertilization of fields. So doesn't livestock manure have numerous pathogens as well, just as human **** does?

[Dinner]

I"m sure it does though I'd guess human feces has a lot more human specific pathogens then say cow dung. It's not completely on topic but this is what wiki says about night soil.

Sanitation issues

Without proper treatment, the use of human feces as fertilizer is a hazardous practice because of disease-causing microbes it contains. Nevertheless, in developing nations it is a common practice. Parasitic worm infections, such as Ascariasis in these countries are linked to night soil, since the larvae are in feces. There have also been cases of disease-carrying tomatoes, lettuce, and other vegetables being imported from undeveloped nations into more developed nations.[citation needed]

Human waste may be attractive as fertilizer because of the high demand for fertilizer and the relative availability of the material to create night soil. In areas where native soil is of poor quality, the local population may weigh the risk of using night soil.

The safe reduction of human waste into compost is possible. Many municipalities create compost from the sewage system biosolids, but then recommend that it only be used on flower beds, not vegetable gardens. Some claims have been made that this is dangerous or inappropriate without the expensive removal of heavy metals. There are other simple yet effective ways to process the compost into safe and usable material. One method that has been successful is known as "humanure" where the material is composted with kitchen refuse and high-carbon materials such as yard waste, heated through biological activity and kept for an optimal period of time whereby the pathogens are destroyed. Many people in the United States and other countries have been practicing this method for over ten years now without any negative consequences.[1]

I guess that's why it needs the long 1-2 year compost time while cow manure doesn't need to be cured for as long.

[MrFun]

Nice one, smartass. You should have read my post as asking if say, cow manure would have just as much cow pathogens as human **** would have just as much human pathogens. Why would one be safer than the other in this case, then?

[Dinner]

You got DanSed.

[Drake Tungsten]

The organic food craze is completely retarded.

[Jon Miller]

On many points.

The large amount of hormones that they stick into chicken/cows I think does have real impact in our bodies though, and shouldn't be ignored.

JM

[Drake Tungsten]

The large amount of hormones that they stick into chicken/cows I think does have real impact in our bodies though, and shouldn't be ignored.

Let me know when there's some scientific evidence on this point. Until then, I'll continue eating cheaper and safer non-organic produce.

[MrFun]

When I buy snacks, I try to buy organic snacks - or, if not organic, "all-natural" snacks to try to avoid as much junk ingredients such as high fructose syrup as possible. I'm not strict about this, but I am certainly aware of what I buy for snacks, and read ingredient labels.

And I do not like being DanSed.

[Drake Tungsten]

People freaking out about HFCS is also retarded.

[MrFun]

Look at me, I'm retarded.

get help

[Drake Tungsten]

Organic 'has no health benefits'

New data: High-fructose corn syrup no worse than sugar

[Ben Kenobi]

I used to sell organic food. Excellent scam.