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How Do You Use Urine?
HOW DO YOU USE URINE?
Composting toilets are a great thing. They take what has become a problem in modern systems—human excrement—and make it into something useful: rich compost. Despite simple and effective ways of making composting toilets, humanure does still bring about some controversy with those who are worried about pathogens. Confident composters won’t hesitate to put a well-rotted humanure compost in vegetable gardens, whereas less trusting composters opt for applying it to fruit trees. The important thing about either type of composter, however, is that we start making the most of cycling the waste rather than contaminating our water sources.
With all of that said, urine is a completely different excretion, one that really doesn’t need to set off the same alarm bells. Most basic composting toilets are anti-urine, concerned about the high moisture levels, though some argue this needn’t be the case, that the moisture is actually good for the thunderbox. Nevertheless, the idea remains that urine is something else we should be thinking about. Unlike solid waste, urine applied to gardens doesn’t come with the risk of pathogens; rather, it is just, some would say, pure gold. In fact, it can be used in many different ways for boosting production.
MAKE WEE FOR THE GARDEN?
Urine is very high in nitrogen, so much so that it should be diluted a minimum ratio of 1:10 with water before being used on plants. The wee of one person is said to be rich enough to fertilize a tenth of an acre of vegetable garden for the year. Once diluted the micturition mixture, or tinkle tincture if you like, should be applied within twenty-four hours of the urine being expelled. Older urine can become a bacterial issue, and a smelly one at that.
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Humanure is No Laughter Matter, Part 2: The Easy-Does-It Instructions
Humanure is No Laughter Matter, Part 2: The Easy-Does-It Instructions
So, it would seem with one mountain of humanure now behind us—that, without a doubt, we should be composting human feces and urine (and, some would say, will eventually have no real choice in the matter)—it is now time to address exactly how this movement should begin. For those who missed last week’s article, please feel free to hit the pause button for a recap or simply press on knowing that we adequately explained that bathroom composting is a world must-do.
In urban settlements, the cities proper, where back gardens don’t exist and life is more or less walled-in, there are ready-made composting toilets suitable for the run-of-the-mill, high-rise apartment. These are stand alone, often electrically run, designs that deal with excrement right away, typically drying it out and leaving behind but of miniscule fraction of what originally exited. This, of course, works fine and is a viable solution for urban, suburban and even rural situations.
However, this article is meant for those of us who are in less urban circumstances. We are talking the ¼ acre or more crew with compost bins of our own, a penchant for growing edible landscapes, and a realized pursuit, at least in part, of the agricultural side of self-sufficiency. For those folks, missing out on humanure compost is something that can (and should) be remedied ASAP and easily.
THE ONE-PARAGRAPH REVISION OF WHY IT’S THE TIME FOR CHANGE
Human feces and urine are valuable cycles within the natural system. By taking them out of it via flush toilets, we are leaving the land depleted of useful nutrients, essentially taking out the soil-replenishing part of the garden to mouth to soil back to the garden circle. We are also wasting a massive amount of fresh water and seriously polluting our landscapes and water sources, including lakes, rivers, oceans, and underground springs.
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