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The Scoop On Poop
The Dr. Pooper Papers, Issue #4:
If you know of the name Dan Chiras, then you’ve probably heard it in reference to the multitude of books he’s written on alternative energy sources, alternative building methods, and more. But as important as his previous works have been, his latest book, on an alternative food source, is probably his most important yet. Yes, for those who already know what his latest book is about (and/or just saw the cover shot accompanying this post), I did just say “alternative food source.” For Chiras’ indispensable latest book is called The Scoop on Poop: Safely Capturing and Recycling the Nutrients in Greywater, Humanure and Urine.
As Chiras states in the book’s first few pages,
As I remind my ecology students, all life is built on the dead remains of the past… It’s for this reason that in this book I don’t refer to urine and feces as “waste” without using quotation marks, signaling to you what “waste” really is – nutrient-rich material we must recycle in order to ensure the continuation of life on planet Earth. The only time that calling human excretions “waste” is appropriate… is when it refers to the fact that we waste so much of it.
That I would call our urine and feces an “alternative food source” is due to the simple fact that what is one organism’s “waste” is another organism’s food. And since, as Chiras points out, our “waste” is currently wasted, that means that something out there isn’t getting its just deserts. And that something is our soils.
Since the vast majority of our food is grown in the monocultures of industrial agriculture (which has the wonky description of being called “conventional agriculture”), this means that what gets applied to our soils isn’t nutrient-dense organic materials, but rather petrochemical fertilizers. Moreover, since these petrochemical-based fertilizers are now what plants most often directly feed upon (which is akin to us humans living off of diets of vitamin pills), this relegates the soil to being nothing but a medium to hold plant roots in place. That this is a problem is a massive understatement. This isn’t however the post to expound on soil ecology, but suffice to say, what’s going on within our soils might just as well be called the seventh mass extinction.
This quasi-extinction going on is partially the result of the brilliant (from the engineer’s perspective) linear thinking that has brought us the modern sewage system. The nutrients that enter our mouths and then a few hours later make their slightly less classy exits aren’t returned to the land to feed the soil of which then helps grow another round of edibles to continue the cycle. No. What generally happens is that said nutrients are flushed away with (chlorinated) drinking water to centralized sewage treatment plants. Once there, the organic solids are separated and then dumped in landfills, sometimes even incinerated (!). The liquid portion, including our urines, is then doused with chlorine and a slew of other chemicals, then ditched into nearby bodies of water – lakes, rivers, oceans… the places where our kids swim (or perhaps used to).
And it’s not as if rural areas are some bucolic refuge from the veritable shit-show playing out in our cities. In the country, the inability for economies of scale comparable to those in towns and cities means that septic tanks are installed in place of connections to centralized sewage systems. These collect the not-quite-bucolic effluent in large underground tanks, leach some of the liquids out into leach fields, then periodically have the solids emptied out by special pump trucks that then drop said solids off at the same sewage plants that the more sophisticated systems of the ruralite’s more sophisticated urban and suburban cousins pipe their unmentionables off to.
This is all, as Chiras correctly describes it, “the greatest misallocation of natural resources on the planet.” For what’s supposed to happen, and what does happen in nature when our human cleverness doesn’t get in the way, is that “wastes” provide the nutrients – become the food – for organisms like bacteria, worms and insects. What they then excrete into the soil is the food which plants then feed upon. Since everything is used by something else, there is actually no such thing as waste.
Turns out the true face of Melbourne is actually its arse? (The Western Treatment Plant in the sacrificial town of Werribee)
This whole problem with our wastes pretty much emerged with our transition from nomadic ways of life to settlement in towns and cities 10,000 or so years ago. Our effluents began to pile up, and although a few – a very few – societies recognized their value and put them to good and proper use, most saw them as something to be discarded as quickly and as easily as possible. While the modern sewage system has certainly made our cities a lot more hygienic and smell a bit better (although don’t tell that to the town of Werribee, the residents of whom currently have to put up with the smell of my dung), it is, for all intents and purposes, a grandiose sham. As I’ve explained earlier, the modern sewage system is based on, and dependent upon, limitless supplies of cheap fossil fuels. Not only that, but the more industrialized we are, the worse the situation becomes. As Chiras puts it, “The most affluent have become the most effluent.” Or as Dr. Pooper rather crudely puts it, “you humans have big brains, but you’ve got even bigger arseholes.”
Thanks to the hype-mongers, swirly light bulbs and cars running on souped-up rechargeable triple-A batteries get pretty much all the attention when it comes to sustainability issues. But as Chiras again correctly puts it, “True sustainability can only be achieved by ensuring that your excretions make it back to their rightful place in nature.” In short, we have to compost our humanure.
By no means though does this have anything to do with those horridly smelling latrines/long-drops found at conservation areas (which leach their nutrients and pollute groundwater), port a potties, or even handling raw sewage, but is rather the process of breaking down our excretions into sweet smelling humus (fluffy organic materials) via methods that are virtually odourless and absolutely unyucky.
There’s all sorts of methods and contraptions for properly processing these alternative food sources of ours, ranging from commercial composting toilets costing in the thousands of dollars (but which Chiras and others say are actually challenging to work correctly), all the way down to sawdust toilets (which technically aren’t compost toilets since their deposits do their breaking down in compost piles where they get periodically emptied out onto) that can set you back as little as $20. (Chiras also recommends checking out Joe Jenkins’ book The Humanure Handbook for much more about sawdust toilets.)
Although care should be taken when handling human excretions (which can harbour pathogens, but which is actually a rarity), there’s no need to let our inherited Victorian priggishness turn us off the whole thing. With proper design and maintenance, compost toilets (and attendant compost piles to “cure” the materials further) aid rapid decomposition, through which potentially harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites are destroyed. A properly operated system, conducive to microbial decomposition, results in organic materials that can be applied under trees, to flower beds, and as some do, even dug into vegetable beds.
Yes, when poorly designed and maintained, compost toilets can smell somewhere in the range between awful and downright putrid, and if one didn’t know any better, coming across one of these would be a fair reason to write off compost toilets in toto. Although I’ve come across one of these before, I was fortunate enough that my first introduction to compost toilets came via the one built into my mate’s rammed-earth house in New Zealand. If you had of blindfolded me and brought me into the house and then onward to the loo five seconds after someone had done a number two, then told me that I was in the kitchen, I’d of had no reason to disbelieve you. Don’t try that in a washroom with a flush toilet. (For the curious, my mate’s compost toilet always has the lid closed when not in use, as is general practice with these things. As well, it has intake and outtake ventilation pipes which utilize a small computer fan to vent out any unpleasant smells. This set-up can lead to a few issues in cold climates, but Chiras covers all that in his book.)
Properly designed and maintained, compost toilets can not only smell completely non-offensive, but by reducing the amount of sewage we produce, they reduce the amount of energy required to pump, purify and process all the raw sewage, they help reduce groundwater and surface water pollution, and they help us build top-quality soil to grow healthy food with. To go along with growing a bit (or even a lot) of our own food, dealing with our own wastes is one of the most ecological actions we can partake in in order to usher in a more sustainable future.
So if after reading all this you feel the urge to pick up a copy of The Scoop on Poop, don’t feel shy to also run out to your doorstep, and with fist waving angrily in the air, let everyone know that “stuff this, I’m ta–”
– wait a second. I think I’d better save that for the next post.
I, Mr. Shit Face Dr. Pooper, approve of The Scoop on Poop!
p.s. In describing sewage treatment plants, Chiras states that “In these facilities, the organic solids are precipitated out, dried, and typically dumped in landfills, alongside diapers, old TV sets, and back issues of The National Enquirer.” Kind of sounds like he’s already gone from couch potato to potato cultivator if you ask me.
22 Comments on "The Scoop On Poop"
penury on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:18 pm
I do believe the end is clearly in sight,if eating or drinking your own excrement is not a sign that the end has come and it does not matter how you pretty it up, unless used as fertilizer for edible crops this is a sign of terminal insanity.
onlooker on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:24 pm
Agree especially given that we are quickly reaching the point whereby humans are the largest food supply for humans. Soylent Green anyone?
JuanP on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:36 pm
I haven’t read this book. For those interested in omposting human feces I highly recommend “The Humanure Handbook”, the best book I’ve read on the subject. Composting human fecal matter makes a lot of sense if done properly as feces are a great source of nutrients and organic matter. It is very important to do this properly and scientifically. I intend to compost our feces at our farm because I would consider not doing this a great waste.
Using urine as fertilizer is a no brainer. All you need to do is make a solution of ten parts water to one part urine.
Both human urine and properly composted human feces can be safely used to fertilize fruit trees.
Davy on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:38 pm
Onlooker, soylent green seems too industrial to me to be an option. Industrial agriculture including soylent green will degrade quickly. I think people will die off too fast to preserve and prep for food. It is going to be a bonanza for worms and insects but I don’t see humans finding any use for humans for food at least at the industrial scale.
Davy on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:43 pm
I agree with Juan. A nutrient is a nutrient. The preparation will differ but the chemicals are the same. My wife and I are utilizing goat and chicken manure. I don’t have time or the interest in human manure but I still recommend it for those with the interest and time.
Go Speed Racer on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:43 pm
This article is full of shit.
JuanP on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 2:44 pm
Here is a tinyurl link to “The Humanure Handbook, 3rd Edition” for sale at Amazon for $17.
http://tinyurl.com/hrsk8vg
Davy on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 3:24 pm
Good one speeder!
Anonymous on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 3:35 pm
Isn’t there a bit of a problem with human waste being rather toxic? I mean, we are what we eat, and excrete, and industrial ‘food’ is so full of drugs and toxins, to me, the idea of using it as fertilizer seems problematic. In ancient China, the ‘night soil’ they collected for the purposes outlined in article, was nowhere near as toxic as that produced by ‘modern humans’ I would bet. And sewage plants end up with more than just poo, they end up with a lot of *other* toxic crud as well that has little to do with natural excretion.
The author fails to mention, its a practice in the uS, and possibly elsewhere, for sewage plants to sell the solid waste that cant be further broken down, to industrial farms as ‘fertilizer’. This ‘fertilizer’ is actually rather nasty, for reasons that go far beyond merely being stinky.
http://www.life.ca/naturallife/9712/sludge.htm
Northwest Resident on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 3:57 pm
I read that pre-industrial Japanese made extensive use of their poo to fertilize their rice fields.
To be totally self-sustainable, you have to recycle human waste. In a closed system, it is possible to recycle the nutrients endlessly, but not if your dumping human and other animal waste outside of the closed system. I have noticed during the three years I have been organically mini-farming and putting everything except human/dog waste into the compost that the amount of compost produced is not enough to re-fertilize for the next year’s crops.
But I’ll hold off on recycling human/dog waste until I have no other options. For now, I can gather huge amounts of fallen leaves and other bio-mass in a wide area around my residence. That’s better than saving and processing excrement, in my book.
JuanP on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 4:43 pm
Anonymous “Isn’t there a bit of a problem with human waste being rather toxic?” I guess it would depend on your diet and other inputs. My diet is more than 90% non GMO organic food, the only exceptions being Italian, Spanish, Swiss, and French cheeses, French baguettes, Prosciutto di Parma, and mostly French Cabernet Sauvignon wines, which are all imported from Europe, very traditional, and of the best quality available, but not certified organic. I also don’t take any kind of drugs or medications. I would consider my shit a premium grade organic fertilizer. 😉
penury on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 4:55 pm
If you follow the news you might have noticed that there is a problem with drugs being flushed and then entering the stream of water going into the ocean. Certain birth control drugs are affecting the fish reproductive cycle. On compost from city sewage he concentration of heavy metals has been a concern for years. There is a long list of items which should not be flushed if recycling of the solid or liquid is to be re-used,EPA has a list if you are interested or your city or state could provide the list with recommended levels to avoid toxic effects.
onlooker on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 5:05 pm
Yes Davy. But with all the advances happening quite rapidly in bio engineering and genetics, as long as we can keep the lights on literally a factory industrial food system can be maintained. The question is for how long can we have access to energy to keep this food system going. For food, you could have some sort of enriched sugar substance to nourish people along with laboratory cloning and seeding to reproduce food and plants. As for human derived food, I assume that would happen like in the movie in a disguised fashion to not admit to people that they are eating people. But if things get worse that would be a logical outcome considering that we would be the most plentiful source of food for ourselves. Shocking yes but possible.
makati1 on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 5:35 pm
Human waste as fertilizer has been used for millennia, but no matter how “organic” you are living, yours is still contaminated from the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. Even organics take up contaminants from the soil, air and water. Avoiding ANY processed food will eliminate (pun intended) many contaminants in your crap, but not all of them. We live in a very contaminated world.
BTW: If you never bothered to read the list of ingredients in what you buy at the grocery market, you should. Some of the items sound like the product list of Dow Chemical. Especially “junk” food.
onlooker on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 5:52 pm
“If you never bothered to read the list of ingredients in what you buy at the grocery market, you should. Some of the items sound like the product list of Dow Chemical. Especially “junk” food.” True Mak and I think that is one of the worse things about living in the US
JuanP on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 6:16 pm
I would never ever use processed sewage sludge as fertilizer or other people’s shit.
As far as eating humans go, I couldn’t make up my mind until I tried them to see what they taste like, but I’d rather feed them to the pigs. I don’t think I’d be interested in living in a world in which I had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Life ain’t worth that much to me, what with my being suicidal and what not. Time for my third party of the day!
makati1 on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 7:04 pm
I think this is interesting. Ingredients in a can of Chef Boyardee. Mini Ravioli in order of their quantity:
Tomatoes ( tomato puree & water)
Water
Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour,malted barley flour,niacin,reduced iron,thiamine mononitrate [vitamin B1],riboflavin [vitamin B2] and folic acid)
Beef
Cracker meal (enriched wheat flour [bleached wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid], guar gum,)
High fructose corn syrup
Sea salt
Salt
Textured soy protein concentrate (soy protein concentrate, caramel coloring)
Modified corn starch
Soybean oil
Carrots
Potassium chloride
Caramel coloring
Ammonium chloride
Citric acid
Flavorings ??? What “flavorings”? Rat droppings?
Yeast extract
Enzyme modified cheese (cheddar cheese [Pasteurized milk, cultures,salt, enzymes]
Cream
Water
Salt
Sodium phosphate
Xanthan gum
Carotenal (color)
Lactic Acid
Brought to you by ConAgra Foods, Omaha, Nebraska.
Go Speed Racer on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 7:54 pm
The rat droppings are not used for flavoring, they are used to fill the center of each Ravioli.
So this article is getting interesting. How does Congress fit in? Their legislation is a load of crap. What about the bathroom law, they could have required a shit launcher to fling the shit skyward.
What about each senator, they are so full of shit that we could tap into that.
What about Trump, there is so much shit pouring out of his campaign . If we load it onto trucks that should be plenty of supply, and it all comes from just one place.
Anonymous on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 8:59 pm
In order to use our waste in the manner described, drawn from industrial scale sewage systems, several criteria would need to be met.
1). The waste would need to be as ‘clean’ as possible. This is a tall order given the pervasiveness of toxic ingredients in the industrial food system. Garbage in, Garbage out. The use of human waste in say, ancient times would have been far less problematic than it is currently. As things stand, we ARE using using sewage for fertilizer, and we are just recycling ingested toxins in an endless, not very virtuous cycle.
2) The sewage systems themselves would need to be re-designed and operate far differently (and at greater cost no doubt) then they are currently. People fail to appreciate just how little sewage systems actually filter and how much is actually gets re-discharged back into the environment. Once discharged, these wastes become a problem as they re-introduced into the food chain(again), and the process repeats itself over and over.
I have little hope for progress on either point. And Im less hopeful because there are actually very few people how even know how to dispose and or utilize human waste in a safe manner. Our ‘primitive’ ancestors likely knew far more than the typical ‘modern’ citizen does. From what Ive read on the topic, the ancient south americans (urbanized), China, Romans and a few others were pretty good on this(not perfect of course), despite the lack of powered tech and engineering. There are of course, notable exceptions to this. Dark Age Europe (ie christians), were appallingly filthy and careless when it came to human waste for an example. When the new dark ages comes around, I expect there will very few people with the skills and knowledge needed to construct safe, non-powered waste systems.
We have all the knowledge to understand there is a problem, and the resources exist(in theory anyhow) to ‘fix’ it. The fact we chose to not to, or do just enough to make it appear we are, well, that’s a topic that comes up over and over on PO.Com, right?
makati1 on Sun, 3rd Jul 2016 10:35 pm
Anonymous, maybe the pollution in olden times was not a great, but the people drank beer because he water was not safe.
We will use whatever we can to survive and polluted waste will not even be considered.
Ralph on Mon, 4th Jul 2016 7:57 am
As anonymous writes, the problem is not the human waste, but the toxic additives it contains. The waste needs to be heated and mixed with suitable bacteria to kill any pathogens and break down organic toxins, but the problems that are hardest to treat are heavy metals, plastic additives like endocrine disruptors, and pharmacological contamination like residual contraceptive pills.
In the UK and many other densely populated industrial countries, recycling human waste has been the norm for a century or more.
Go Speed Racer on Mon, 4th Jul 2016 5:03 pm
Congress passed into law there are now 6 types of bathroom
* men
* women
* gay
* lesbian
* transgender
* unknown
but they need to add a 7th type of bathroom
* composting
that last one they could paint the door green. Only with 7 types of bathroom, can America be a free nation. Also no matter how small your business, even a hamburger stand, you have to provide all 7 types of bathroom, or the feds will fine you $10,000 per day.