In our world of increasing population, what can we do to recycle a major waste product... namely human manure.

Now we flush this valuable resource down the toilet and don't think of where it goes nor what it is doing to our environment. I recently came by this book and it raised some very interesting and valuable questions with which I am having to come to grips.

1) Why do we urinate in water that has been extensively cleaned and purified for drinking. Isn't this a gross mis-use of limited fresh water resources?

2) Why are flushing away valuable compostable fertilizer and putting it in a landfill, then using environmentally damaging chemical fertilizers to put on our food fields?

To both these questions I say there is no good reason. When done correctly as outlined in the book, composting human manure provides a rich, safe compost free from diseases. This is contrasted to raw human manure use in Asia that contribute to many diseases. The key is to compost the human manure with plenty of other organic matter, such as sawdust, food leftovers, straw, etc. Then let the micro-organisms do what they have done for millions of years. Decay the material into rich humus and let the good organisms out-compete the bad organisms that contribute to human disease. This is already performed in many places in Asia to support cities of millions with fresh vegetables. I think this is a much better use of this valuable (and renewable) resource than flushing it out into a landfill where it may contaminate local surface and ground water systems.