Compost It: Humanure In The City?

Humanure already has a tough time in becoming an acceptable practice in modern society. It is taxing enough to produce outside of the cramped cities, but next to impossible to produce within them; according to Joe Jenkins, author of The Humanure Handbook, it takes two years of composting your poop with table scraps and other carbon-rich absorbent materials to kill the pathogens and produce efficient, truly man-made fertilizer. Saving two years’ worth of shit in the city will be very difficult when you’re paying a premium per square foot.

Most people think it’s a terrible idea to compost your own waste product, inasmuch as it’s been proven to be particularly worthwhile fertilizer. We tend to not care about that matter, instead simply accepting that our own poop is nasty and best eliminated and forgotten about.

Still, it’s a very green idea, will save 1/3rd of your yearly water use, and if you are a grower, it’s nitrogen rich and full of other nutrients. If done correctly, it is said to not smell. And the hippies will adore you for it (a mixed blessing).

If you are the least bit curious about processing your own feces, there is an abundance of material out there helping to guide the way.

• Humanure [wikipedia.org]

• The Humanure Handbook [weblife.org]

• Compost Humanure [journeytoforever.org]

• Backyard Gardener: Few people attempt this kind of composting [post-gazette.com]

• Phoenix Composting Toilet System [compostingtoilet.com]

(Image: journeytoforever.com)