| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| lisamarie508 |
Posted - Apr 09 2008 : 08:17:16 AM
I know of a place down in Boise that composts human waste and uses it as fertilizer on crops that we eat.  As disgusting as this sounds, I have seen other sources that claim to do this and claim it is safe for humans and better for the earth.
Does anyone know the specifics of how to do this? That is the thing I have not been able to find. What I've been thinking is that if it can be done with human waste, why not with dog waste? I so hate to bag it up and send it to the land fill and if it's possible to do this, I would much rather. I mean, really, what else can you do with the stuff? I have never been able to train my dogs to go on the toilet!
Farmgirl Sister #35
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| handyam |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 12:34:31 PM
My husband used a pelleted form on the hay fields last fall. It was OKed by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. There was an unpleasant odor in the Spring, but it soon went away.
www.adasadorableaprons.blogspot.com
This is the day that the Lord has made. |
| lilwing |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 11:43:18 AM
I still believe that it logically doesn't make sense to put your own waste on what you are growing and eating. Everyone has their own beliefs and opinions, but I must say I think personally that is going a little far!
What US companies were starting to use Humanure??? I'd like to know!!
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| Rainier01 |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 06:39:07 AM
Check out the Humanure Handbook, it goes into the process of composting human waste in great detail. It's been done in China for centuries, and if done properly there is no problem with using the compost on edibles. Also, how our culture disposes of human waste by putting it directly into the water system is even more gross and causes many more problems all down the line (literally) than using a simple composting system that returns the waste to the earth. In this instance I am talking about people recycling their own waste by using composting toilets and a compost bin system that processes the toilet waste, along with yard wastes, over a two year period. It is definitely all "dirt" at that point. Check out sawdust toilets -- simple, non-smelly, non-water polluting, incredibly effecient, and can be easily homemade (rather than spending hundreds or thousands on a commercially made composting toilet). The idea does seem "gross" at first glance, but if you read the Humanure Handbook you'll come to understand that that reaction is from our cultural bias, and after getting to know the real process and mechanics of it, it makes a lot of sense to let the earth process our "stuff" rather than pollute the water with it. JMHO.
"It's Good, Clean, Dirt!" |
| Brew Crew |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 10:23:48 PM
I still say ewwwww.
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| CrunchyMama |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 7:37:48 PM
The book Humanure explains everything in great detail. I was pretty grossed out at the idea of it, but after reading the book I'm not at all worried about trying it out. This has been done in Asia for thousands of years. There is a huge difference between his composting techniques of the humanure and simply spread your waste in the garden. He doesn't even recommend using grey water in the garden due to possible fecal contamination from bathroom handwashing, so he is certainly not taking the matter lightly and feels very confident that his soil is clean. He has had lab test done on his soil that prove it is safe and has had hundreds of visitors use his composting toilet and added that waste to his compost destined for the veggie garden and has never gotten sick or gotten any parasites etc. |
| Quintessential Kate |
Posted - Jun 24 2008 : 07:45:58 AM
I have to say I side with the eeeeeeeew's. And personally, I don't think the problem with veggies from Mexico is a handwashing issue. It's e-coli from vegetables contaminated with human waste. I bury my doggy doo at the opposite end of the yard from where my garden is. I compost......but it is all organic, vegetable matter. My mother has an aerobic septic system....and it automatically waters the lawn when the third tank gets filled to a certain level. I don't have a problem with watering the yard with it....but I don't want to drink the stuff, eventhough "they" state that it is potable water after it reaches tank #3. No thanks....
Just my 2 cents worth!
Peace, Kate
Farmgirl sister #234
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Today is my best day! |
| Miss Bee Haven |
Posted - Jun 24 2008 : 06:37:08 AM
Joseph Jenkins wrote "The Humanure Handbook". I'd really like to try it, once we do move to the farm full time.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
| a rose |
Posted - Jun 23 2008 : 4:00:57 PM
Ladies I read this a few days ago and it is not a good idea. Humans should not be using waste as a compost. Why do you think employees are advised to wash their hands after voiding. There is Hepatitis, all kinds of drugs and God knows what else. Human waste is nothing but by products that our body can't use. How could you possibly call it compost material when it is filled with fats. People die from contact of infected feces.
If you are so inclined to use it as a compost,please contact OSHA.
Remember me as a rose. |
| Sandra K. Licher |
Posted - Jun 22 2008 : 10:27:08 AM
I'm not that knowledgable on this subject although I have composted for years and still do but wasn't that the problem with the "Bad" tomatoes? Also, I used to live in the country but now I live in town and my dog (my BIG dog) has only a small yard to go in but I leave it there all winter and then in the Spring when I mow it all gets mixed in with the grass clippings but it also gets spread around the yard at the same time and like Erma Bombeck's book title "the grass is always greener over the septic tank" you can tell exactly where the dog went over the winter because there are vibrant, tall patches of grass there. Also, my grass clippings are in a big pile that I've had for 3 years now and I do use the bottom of that for my garden and all my beds so there is probably some dog doo-doo in there. Actually I never really thought about it although I would never dream of putting it in my regular compost or meat either....hmm....but my tomato plants ARE huge this year!
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| Annab |
Posted - Jun 22 2008 : 03:46:08 AM
Along with the biodegradable toilets, there are also ones in the same market that incinerate it. According to the literature, there is no burn smell, it's all contained in the unit.
Kind of interesting
You can find examples in issues of Backwoods Living and Countryside
I could see spreading this ash on fields, but nothing liquid. That's just too gross
I have ridden a bike by farm fields that use HUGE sprinklers to spread hog lagoon waste, and let me tell you, it was hard getting a breath, let alone having to try and breath through a stretch of that stench! |
| handyam |
Posted - May 11 2008 : 2:53:38 PM
My husband spread human waste in pellet form on some of the hay and tobacco fields last fall. It was studied and OKed by the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture. I don't know how long they studied it or the tests they did. It did have an ODD odor for a couple of weeks. You can really tell a difference in the fields that got it and the ones that didn't.
www.adasadorableaprons.blogspot.com
This is the day that the Lord has made. |
| lisamarie508 |
Posted - May 09 2008 : 10:18:14 AM
A paper grocery bag would work, Alee as long as I let the poo dry out first. The bag could get really soggy with fresh stuff in it!
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
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| CountryBorn |
Posted - May 09 2008 : 08:19:24 AM
The Mexican veggie fields were actually found to have raw human sewage in the fields. That was a big No No. Very dangerous. I am sure that report didn't stop it though. As far as the outhouses, I know a lot of them were treated with lime. There were other things too. We had outhouses in Canada and a chemical toilet in the house for night time use now this was a lot of years ago. I know that my Dad was always putting lime and other things in the outhouses. Personally, I wouldn't use any kind of human waste. We have used horse manure and cow manure and my flower beds sure loved it! In the farm fields we used bagged fertilizers also.
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
| Alee |
Posted - May 09 2008 : 08:06:21 AM
Lisa- perhaps you could do this-
Get a paper bag- like a grocery bag and designate it your "poo" bag. When you clean up your yard- fill it up and then put it in your garbage. That way you are sending it along in a biodegradable container?
Alee
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| lisamarie508 |
Posted - May 09 2008 : 08:03:10 AM
Well, I sure stirred the pot, didn't I? I had no idea... Composting dog doo apparently isn't a smart way to go.
I can't dig a hole to bury it in on my property as the water table is only about 6 feet down - less in the spring. So, that would only contaminate the water for my neighbors down hill from me who have shallow wells as well as possibly my own shallow well (I'm on city water but to save on the water bill and get away from the chlorine we dug a shallow well in the back yard for irrigation purposes). Of course, they had outhouses here way back when, but folks weren't too concerned about water contamination then, either (mining practices were HIGHLY toxic!).
To bring it in the house to flush down the toilet and just use our city sewer system would use up a lot of water so, that's not really an option either.
It appears I just have to continue to bag it up and send it to the landfill :(
Farmgirl Sister #35
"If you can not do great things, do small things in a great way." Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)
my blog: http://lisamariesbasketry.blogspot.com/
My Website:
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| brightmeadow |
Posted - Apr 28 2008 : 6:04:42 PM
I think that in the old days, when people had outhouses instead of indoor plumbing, they would move the outhouse to a new "pit" every 10 years or so. Eventually they would use the waste from the oldest "pit" for fertilizer. I don't think they would try to say that it was fully processed until many years had gone by, though. I know that usually we think compost is finished in a year, and probably diseases would not break down in one year, but after 7 years? Maybe?
Your chances of disease would probably be more limited if you used your own family's waste rather than wastes from the general public, too.
You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands - You shall be happy and it shall be well with you. -Psalm 128.2
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| DaisyFarm |
Posted - Apr 28 2008 : 12:31:36 PM
I totally agree with you Tina...no humanure or anything even remotely close in my gardens. I hope you'll share the research you come up with, I'd join you in researching the topic if I had an extra five minutes to spare this time of year!!
I also agree about the chicken/duck manure. That stuff when used right grows science experiments! I had 13 ft high sunflowers last year, amazing!
Di |
| MsCwick |
Posted - Apr 28 2008 : 11:36:22 AM
Tina, along with finding out who our forbears farmed, I bet you will come acorss what they did with the bedpans and such. I dont believe I've ever heard of them emptying out the outhouse hole ;) just something to think about.
Cristine
jennifer, accidentally pooping in the garden and encouraging them to do it are two different things. I can see his point, and it is a good one, but one poo compared to buckets of poo is a big difference. If i knew where a raccoon pooed I would scoop it out and toss it out of the garden. lol good point though. |
| Peanut |
Posted - Apr 28 2008 : 05:37:56 AM
I was discussing this topic with my husband and he just sort of shrugged off the whole meat-eating thing. His reply, "How are you going to keep a racoon from pooping in your garden?" Or for that matter a possum, bear, mice, crows or skunks.
Of course, he shrugs off a lot of things! It takes a whole lot to get him worked up! 
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| Tina Michelle |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 9:56:45 PM
I can't imagine how anything "chemically treated" would equate out to a "pure organics" approach/concept to gardening?? seems like the chemical treatment sort of blows that concept away and defeats the purpose.
I want to personally do some reasearch on how our forebears gardened succesfully. I have a feeling I will learn quite a bit along the way.
I have always been interested in planting by the moon phases and so forth..and want to learn how to garden organically..as chemical free as possible.I cannot imagine using humanure on my garden though..or even doggy doo.
I would much prefer grass fed manures like cow manure, chicken manure, duck manure..and horse manure.
I can definitely attest to the fact that chicken manure works wonders for a garden..as does duck manure..we had an area along our fence line where we would spray the duck and chicken cage manure into the ground while cleaning the cages..and we planted some tomato and squash plants there this year..oh my goodness! It looks like those plants have been given a super big dose of miracle gro or something! They are lush big green plants..all ready to start blooming and producing..they are nearly three times the size of the plants that were planted in just normal manure free soil.
Anyhow...I'm going to do some research on how our pioneer forebears grew crops.
Thanks for sparking my curiosity even more..but..somehow..I cannot imagine using human blood or humanure on my garden..or doggy doo either.
just can't "go there"
it just sounds gross to me too.
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| willowtreecreek |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 4:44:55 PM
Its not a vegetarian issue it is the fact that meat contains tons of bacteria that can't possibly be gotten rid of through composting. If we aren't supposed to put meat into our compost piles than why compost waste that contains it. Also if this human waste is so chemically treated making it "safe" to use in thegarden are we really helping anything? Chemicals are still involved. Research has shown that even treated waste water that goes back into rivers and lakes contains allarminv amounts of antibiotics, hormones and other things from undigested medications humans take. If they can't get that out of the water how can they get that out of the " sludge" ? And we want to put that on our food supply? Why? I just don't get it.
I've done research and I still thinks its gross. I am not making an uneducated judgement.
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| jpbluesky |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 3:52:59 PM
Here in our county we have wastewater sprayfields. They use waste that comes through the sewer system to spray as fertilizer on certain fields. However, it has now been found that this wastewater spraying is seeping into our aquifer and polluting our fresh water sources. Hmm......not good.
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| MsCwick |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 3:33:50 PM
To some people, that's just really not appetizing though. |
| GaiasRose |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 1:24:15 PM
oh and to add: one would not be spraying raw fecal matter right on their plants. it's compost. it's treated like your kitchen compost but with a few variations. it's worked into your soil after being made into compost. It's really no different than using menstrual blood to feed tomatos and roses.
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| GaiasRose |
Posted - Apr 27 2008 : 1:18:59 PM
humanure is actually not a harmful thing one bit. The composting toilets are a wonderful way to reduce all manner of toilet waste. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on my garden in the least except for on leafy greens. It's also excellent for flower beds. IF your worries regard being a meat eater, consider becoming a vegetarian. Or if you already are a veg, then really, what's the trouble?
I have some friends moving into their tipi this week and they are starting humanure. I have been trying to convince Rob to make the change too, but it's more the expense than the "gross" factor.
Before coming to a conclusion about how gross it is or isn't you shoudl really do the research about it.
The reason one would have concern over veggies as someone said "from Mexico" is because of lack of handwashing. One humanure is treated is is perfectly useable-but then I also wouldn't use it on leafy greens.
there's my bit.
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