[Cob] Humanure *Fecophobes BEWARE*

[Jacob]

As strange as it sounds, I am so excited to hear humanure come up in the discussion. 

My humanure experience is limited to less than a year. My understanding of it is pretty good though although I hold no specialized training or schooling. Just a lot of reading and now practical use. The first source for this information I found was The Humanure Handbook and even if you don't plan to compost humanure it is an excellent read. Changed my worldview in a big way. I am endebted to the author. Read it free here. http://www.weblife.org/humanure/ There are also other sources on the web. 

I have to respond to comments on the public health threat of improper humanure composting. She is right and care should always be taken however it is rather easy to do it properly. The problems associated are mostly limited to proper containment of liquids and proper cover material both of which could be cheaply and easily rectified. To add a bit of perspective, public doorhandles, flushers and faucet handles (the things people have to touch while their hands are still dirty) are a far bigger public health risk than composting human 'non-waste' (I call it that because the REAL waste is not putting it to use). 

Of course, if people are just going on the ground and doing nothing to cover it, like my brother testifies happens all the time in NYC, then there could be problems. In my area there are still homes who use the old mine shafts running under the town for septic. This has been going on for decades. Only in the last few years have they started to make some people hook up to the sewer. No public health problems to speak of but then again the water is so chlorinated by the time it comes out the tap what could survive? And everyone knows better than to eat from the river (what a shame). There is a definite health problem in some parts of the world where 'night soil' is used raw on fields. The people know it spreads cholera and a list of other diseases but the benefits outweight the costs for these people (another shame). 

My own set up is a five gallon bucket. I haven't even built a stool for it. Just the bucket for now. I would recommend a stool for most people. I use grass clippings for cover material. I tried shredded paper but it took a lot of paper for proper cover. I'm going to try chopped straw next. Even without the tight fitting lid there is no odor once it is covered. I empty it onto a large compost pile and use more grass clippings, weeds, et al to cover. I keep a pile of cover material next to the compost pile. The bucket is washed and emptied right on the pile (the moisture is essential for good composting). Everything else compostable goes on the pile too. 

>From my reading and understanding, even if the thermophilic bacteria doesn't generate enough heat to kill human pathogens and parasite eggs(with the pathogens this could be done in a matter of hours once thermophilic composting temperature is reached) sitting in the compost pile for one to two years surely will. These pathogens and parasites are suited for our warm moist bodies. They are competed against and harassed to death by other organisms in the pile and the elements. 

If I used two year old humanure compost AND by some chance some pathogens or parasite eggs happened to survive in the compost AND I used the compost near fruit crops that could come in contact with the soil AND I failed to wash the fruit before eating I could possibly contaminate myself; or you might say re-contaminate myself since it is something that obviously came from me anyway. To be even more cautious you could use the compost in the landscape or on fruit trees. Again, I think I would be much more likely to contaminate myself by shaking hands or picking up a gas nozzle or something. 

I should mention we have a perfectly good septic system at my house and I do forego the bucket sometimes (it is in the cold garage because my brother does not approve) for this system that uses our fresh cistern water to flush away my perfectly good humanure. Btw, I estimate we save over 150 gal. of water a month by me not flushing, not to mention the great nutrient rich compost created. What a system! 

But this system is very unpopluar. Most of my friends think I'm nuts and refuse to hear about the details. I don't bring it up too often anymore. My brother was so dead set against it I basicaly had to hide it from him at first (no smell, he never knew). I don't think any county official would let it fly, not around here anyway. I would recommend seeing what the officials say about a commercial composting toilet (unfortunately, all the moisture is lost in this system). Btw, I have a $1000 commercial composting toilet still new in the box that was intended for a farmhouse I bought years ago. The house was destroyed by fire before the toilet was installed. I plan on doing something eventually with the old site and will keep the commercial composting toilet and install it to appease the officials (and maybe some fecophobe family members) but I will continue to use my bucket humanure composting system. You could install the cheapest septic or composting system you can get away with just
 for show and then compost anyway. Eco-rebel. 

The western world needs to learn what our eastern brethren have understood for milennia, The real waste is in NOT using our humanure. How broken is a system where we use chemicals to grow most of our food then use our fresh water to flush away humanure nutrients that could be used to grow food and then add more chemicals to try to 'treat' the good stuff so it isn't good anymore? In a better system we would eat the food, digest it, compost it and use it to grow more food and eliminate the chemicals used to grow and treat. Therein lies the solution to one of man's greatest environmental dilemmas. 

*steps down from soapbox* 

Thanks for listening, jake (central Illinois)