Turds to Tomatoes: Composting Humanure

I just finished reading a radical, funny, and really interesting book called The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure by Joseph Jenkins. The book, obviously, is about composting our poo. What!? I thought that, too, until I read the book, and now I am convinced that getting in personal contact with our shit is a key part of moving forward on the path to sustainability.

According to Jenkins, in America we've adopted a policy of defecating and urinating in our drinking water and then piping it off somewhere to let someone else deal with it. Even after the contaminated water is treated at wastewater treatment plants, it may still be polluted with excessive levels of nitrates, chlorine (a potent cancer-causing poison), pharmaceutical drugs, industrial chemicals, detergents and other pollutants. The treated water, along with antibiotic-resistant bacteria that breeds in sewage sludge, is then discharged directly into the environment. The discharging of sludge, sewage, or wastewater into nature's waterways invariably creates pollution, the effects of which are far-reaching. Not only are we polluting our drinking water and our environment, but the billions of gallons we waste every day by flushing our toilets is depleting our water supplies in a time when water consumption is on the rise. Additionally, by dumping soil nutrients-- found in humanure-- down the toilet, we increase our need for synthetic fertilizers, which is now the largest diffuse source of water pollution in our lakes, rivers, and streams.

The squandering of our water resources, Jenkins argues, and pollution from sewage and synthetic fertilizers, results in part from the belief that humanure (human manure) and food scraps are waste materials rather then recyclable natural resources. We have a waste mentality plaguing our culture, yet the key to our long-term survival lies in our living in harmony with the planet. As an alternative to our current throw-away mentality, we can understand that all organic material is a resource, rather than a waste, that can be beneficially recycled using natural processes. Humanure is not waste at all-- it is an organic resource rich in soil nutrients. It originated from the soil and should be readily returned to the soil through the composting process. Returning organic materials to the soil gives back to the earth what we have taken from it; in this way humans can maintain the fertility of their soils indefinitely, rather than depleting them of nutrients as is done today. When humanure is composted, as it has been done for thousands of years by much of the world's population, it is converted to a hygienically safe form suitable for the purpose of human food production.

In addition to composting our manure, Jenkins says we should eliminate the use of all toxic chemicals in our households and reduce our water consumption altogether. This can be aided by collecting and using rainwater, and by recycling graywater through beneficial natural systems.

A home composting toilet is simple: It involves simply adding some organic material such as sawdust to the toilet after each use. Instead of flushing, you cover. Once a week you take it out to the compost pile, cover it with more organic material, and let it decompose. No smell, no mess, no problem. Jenkins shows us how to construct a variety of toilet styles, all involving a 5 gallon bucket and a seat. Sawdusts toilet systems are simple, low-cost, low-tech, and, most importantly, sustainable.

Jenkins' argument makes great sense to me. As a composter and gardener, I know that I can only do right by my soil if I enrich it with organic material. And think of it... no flushing toilet means no clogging, no plunging, no scrubbing, no wasted water, and the benefit of being that much more connected with what it is to be a human being living on the planet.



Related posts/links:
How To Build a $25 Humanure Toilet
Photo Gallery of Owner-Built Humanure Toilets
Wikipedia Composting Toilet Info
Coffee to Compost
Garden, Not Lawn