Catchy title right? Well there is a reason for it.
Apparently many green movement people wish to use human waste as a form
of fertilizer due to the vast amounts of nutrients that are contained within.
And you know what? I agree with them. Let's discuss why.
Advantages to recycling human waste:
Human waste as I
stated is full of nutrients that can help plant growth. From pee, to poo
we contain vast amounts of nutrients in our bodies that can, once excreted, be
used to replace or supplement fertilizers. Why this is being advocated
for is simple. For one, it turns our sewer systems into collection tanks
for vital materials which now will not have to be as purified and dumped into
earth's oceans. That is right, we cleanse the poo and pee of bacteria at
waste treatment plants, and then send it out into the ocean and sometimes
landfills. The problem with the current method is that it uses a lot of
energy and has the potential to reduce the salt content of earth's oceans and
thus hurting the ocean environment. This has secondary impacts on
available drinking water, and on the fishing industry. So by harvesting
this waste sooner and not purifying it to the point that it is almost drinkable
means we save energy and protect the coastal environment for fish. Also,
energy wise, this means less fuel is required to run the waste treatment plants
where they can then switch roles to removing bad bacteria and then replacing it
with bacteria needed to break down the waste. On top of that, the waste
can give off methane and other natural gases which can be harvested to make the
waste treatment plant self-sustaining and can even be used to power nearby
towns. So overall it saves allot of money and the environment.
Impacts: This method makes us less reliant on other
forms of manure production from cows, horses and other animals. As such,
less fertilizers need to be produced, or it adds a cheaper alternative to the
fertilizer market to help poorer farmers grow food more cheaply. Newer
waste treatment plants can now be closer to the cities and towns they serve as
they no longer need to dump the waste into the ocean. This again saves
vast amounts of money for the waste need not be pumped as far. If they hybrid
the plant as an energy production facility using it to collect methane and
other flammable gases, then the city can essentially form a partial electrical
grid which saves taxpayers money on their electric bill. Overall
taxpayers save the most money from this cleaner energy approach as food will
become cheaper, and energy and sanitation bills can also be cut down as well.
Disadvantages and negatives: The potential negatives though come
from the biological material. Human diseases can be carried in human
waste, so a facility that does not treat the material properly can potentially
cause people to become sick. Also, depending on how the facility is
established, the smell can also leak out which is a negative to some people.
Of course there is still the usual potential for malfunctions in the
facilities themselves causing sewage backups. However, the most important
hurdle is the infrastructure involved. You need buyers for this form of
fertilizer. No buyers means that we end up wasting money on these
conversions of these waste treatment facilities. Thankfully, the green movement
also advocates hydroponics gardens and urban agriculture which could
potentially solve the problem, but that depends on city ordinances which will
have to be changed to accommodate. So a lot of money will need to be
spent first to both alter the facilities to make human waste fertilizer, and
then market it as a cheap alternative to other fertilizers.
Conclusion: So there you have it. Human
waste as a resource for the further development of agriculture and saving the
environment. So does this mean we can all be proud to sit on the toilet
bowl? Well I do not know about that. But if this should come to
pass, we could see a totally different outlook on waste management and
sanitation in the not so far off future.
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