natural fertilizer - Is this safe?
- Thread starter NovaKart
- Start date
Narz
keeping it real
Well, humans have been using humanure as fertilizer for thousands of years, of course you have to be more careful using it than with animal fertilizer. An ecovillage I used to live at had composting toilets & eventually used the offerings in certain locations.
It's safe when done right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost#.22Humanure.22
It's safe when done right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compost#.22Humanure.22
I'd eat her fruits but probably not her veggies.
It's been a standard fertilizing technique for millenia. As to the safety, pooing directly onto your garden is riskier than composting your poo.
Yeah. Eating peppers would probably be fine. Eating tubers or leaves... not so much.
Yeah. Eating peppers would probably be fine. Eating tubers or leaves... not so much.
ParkCungHee
Deity
- Joined
- Aug 13, 2006
- Messages
- 12,921
This sounds like a safe idea, so long as you do it right the first time. If you're the type to "figure it out on your own" it's risky.
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
Crapping on your vegetables is not okay. Compost it and it's fine.
AL_DA_GREAT
amour absinthe révolution
At my summerhouse we have an outhouse and have done this since the early 60s. The previous owners did so as well. Unfortunately it is only 80% finished in a year.
holy king
Deity
jeez, get a cow to crap on your vegetables like everybody else.
IAM
Emperor
i would eat her peaches
The dangerous part of human waste is the human-specific bacteria. We poop out stuff that has evolved to thrive in our gut, so that's where the risk is. The goal, then, is to completely kill the bacteria. This is actually quite easy to do, because the bacteria has evolved to thrive in you. If you expose this bacteria to 'wild' dirt bacteria and then compost the waste long enough, the wild bacteria will kill and eat the poop bacteria. The waste is still nutrient-rich, which is good for your soil.
I would be hesitant to eat their food, if only because human poop is kinda gross biochemically. We eat a lot of pesticides (etc.) and I'm worried about bio-accumulation.
I would be hesitant to eat their food, if only because human poop is kinda gross biochemically. We eat a lot of pesticides (etc.) and I'm worried about bio-accumulation.
J-man
Deity
No, I don't think so. Think about e-coli, or salmonella. Present in the human gut and waste but can make you sick. Or even human parasites for that matter.
LucyDuke
staring at the clock
Is it really worse than what the cows eat, or what gets sprayed in the factory fields?
I have no idea, and suspect that it's not actually worse.
AL_DA_GREAT
amour absinthe révolution
It takes a year for it to composte. After a winter and all those months outside parasites can not survive. Also the composte is no longer poop, it is regular soil. Most of the dirt outside has been poop.
Disgustipated
Deity
Doesn't cow poop also have e-coli? How is that manure not harmful. I admit I don't know a lot about manure.
edit: I see the question appears to have been answered in the post right above me. Although I really don't think dirt is the same of poop. Is it? Makes me want to not eat dirt again.
. And take my shoes off before entering the house.
And where is the barf smiley when you need it.
edit: I see the question appears to have been answered in the post right above me. Although I really don't think dirt is the same of poop. Is it? Makes me want to not eat dirt again.
. And take my shoes off before entering the house. And where is the barf smiley when you need it.
BvBPL
Pour Decision Maker
I'd be concerned that human spore would attract feral animals.
Composting the "nightsoil" should make it Ok to use anywhere. Composted human waste, in my opinion, is much better than the chemicals found n fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
IIRC, many cities and towns sell WWTP sludge to farmers for use on their fields.
IIRC, many cities and towns sell WWTP sludge to farmers for use on their fields.
