humanure. there, I said it
This may not be the most tasteful topic to broach since my last post ended with
some delectable shots of a SPAM omelette and oat/walnut/blueberry/chocolate
pancakes. In another sense it’s perfectly logical.
Humanure. Not Humanure, the album by the death metal/grindcore/vegetarian
band Cattle Decapitation, featuring the song “Cloacula: The Anthropophagic Co-
promantik”. No, I’d much rather discuss the loftier topic of composting human
waste.
The word was made popular by Joseph Jenkins in The Humanure Handbook, first
published in 1994 and now in its 3rd edition. He’s not referring to the sewage from
waste treatment facilities. That can also contain industrial waste and pharmaceu-
ticals. Estrogen in waste water, both in its natural form and in discarded birth
control pills, is already causing problems like skewed gender ratios and reduced
fertility in vulnerable species like fish.
To paraphrase Harold Hill in The Music Man, we got trouble right here in the river.
Jenkins’ focus is simple: your feces and urine goes into a bucket in a compost toilet,
along with toilet paper and a coating of sawdust. The sawdust and a snug-fitting seat
and lid eliminate unpleasant smell. The bucket is emptied into compost bins that
may set for months or even years, depending on how you want to use the final
product.
The upside of humanure is incredible. It eliminates flushing, which is 30% of an
average household’s water use. Reduced water usage reduces the GHG emissions
necessary to get clean water to your house and sewage away from it. Returning
properly treated waste to the earth prevents soil degradation and ground contam-
ination.
It also puts nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, carbon and calcium
back to work. You save time, money, gas and avoid the frustrations of shopping by
making your lawn and garden fertilizer. And you get more exercise by composting.
The downside is the squirm factor. We’re used to flushing away the natural yield of
our bodies. What had recently been a romantic dinner with our sweetie becomes
something so offensive that we have dozens of obnoxious slang words for it. I’m not
asking you to embrace humanure. But please consider it as an innovative way to
save and reuse resources.
I realize that this might never be a widespread solution. I can’t see, for example,
how it could work in an apartment building. But home owners willing to challenge
building codes and health regulations could make a huge difference as resources
dwindle.
It’s high on our to-do list at the farm. Jude and I have the added incentive of a full
septic tank. We’ll keep you in the loop with tasteful photos. In the meantime, I’m
going to fix a breakfast of reheated pancakes and SPAM fritters.
