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Make It Easy:  Composting human waste  |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 22 2008 : 03:46:08 AM
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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! |
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Sandra K. Licher
True Blue Farmgirl
1106 Posts
Sandra
Horseshoe Bend
Arkansas
1106 Posts |
Posted - Jun 22 2008 : 10:27:08 AM
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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!
Sam in AR..... "It's a great life if you don't weaken!"
Farmgirl Sister #226 |
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a rose
True Blue Farmgirl
443 Posts
Linda
Waterford
NY
USA
443 Posts |
Posted - Jun 23 2008 : 4:00:57 PM
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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. |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2008 : 06:37:08 AM
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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' |
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Quintessential Kate
True Blue Farmgirl
175 Posts
Kate
Tyler
TX
USA
175 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2008 : 07:45:58 AM
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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
http://quintessentialkate.blogspot.com
Today is my best day! |
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CrunchyMama
Farmgirl at Heart
4 Posts
Christina
Portland
OR
USA
4 Posts |
Posted - Jul 16 2008 : 7:37:48 PM
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| 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. |
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Brew Crew
True Blue Farmgirl
676 Posts
Molly
Arizona
676 Posts |
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Rainier01
Farmgirl in Training
10 Posts
Leslie
Eatonville
WA
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 06:39:07 AM
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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!" |
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lilwing
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Brooke
Fulshear
Texas
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 11:43:18 AM
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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!!
http://maggie.ecrater.com
http://maggiemerch.blogspot.com |
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handyam
True Blue Farmgirl
394 Posts
Ada Mae
Greensburg
KY.
USA
394 Posts |
Posted - Jul 17 2008 : 12:34:31 PM
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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. |
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Make It Easy: Composting human waste |
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Composting human waste
