What is Mankind's Greatest Invention?

[Speaker to Animals]

I suck at compost for some reason. I really need to find a better way to do it.

There are organic composts you can get too.

Using "biosolids" should be avoided at all costs. That's not safe at all.

[Speaker to Animals]

Oh shit..

Wikipedia's page on vermicompost says large scale operations sometimes use brewery waste to feed the things. That could be really easy to get where I live.

[Speaker to Animals]

[Montegriffo]

I looked it up since I posted. Each time the FDA never really figured it out but concluded it had to be improper use of rainwater.

That might account for some of it, but only in localized spots linked to whatever farm was hosing down lettuce with non-potable water.

A more centralized cause, and the reason it hit industrial farming brands, I think is the fertilizer. That human shit fertilizer is heavily subsidized because the local governments otherwise have to pay to store it in landfills. The FDA is not a neutral investigator here.

Independent researchers have found all sorts of pathogens and toxic substances in that shit as well.

It's such a stupid fucking idea when you think about it.

Look up “Milorganite”. On sale now, at Home Depot.

You could also make compost for free (safely).




For the love of Jesus don't use human shit for fertilizer.

We have about 5 camps a year which use composting toilets. Handfuls of sawdust and chaff from the threshing are added after each use. It takes a couple of seasons to fill the 1000 Ltr containers we collect it in.
When they are full they get taken away and left for a couple of years. Then they get put on the muck pile from the cattle shed a regulation distance from the nearest ditch (30m I think) the heap is covered with a tarp, so the rain doesn't leach out any ammonia, and left for another 2 or 3 years before spreading on the fields before cattle feed wheat and barley are grown. The farm is regularly visited by agricultural regulators who monitor the heaps to ensure compliance.
A great low tech solution to the problem of hundreds of people needing toilets which turns into a positive benefit for the soil on the farm.
Fewer chemical fertilizers are sprayed on the crops as a result.
No danger to human health at all and unlike the alternative chemical toilets the compost loos never smell.
The only real problem is flies if the toilet lid is left open.
Urine is collected separately and added to the muck heaps which are made up of cow shit and bedding straw.
All works really well and uses zero water.

[Speaker to Animals]

What you are describing is a shitty operation.

Organic farms do not use human shit. Human shit should not be used in the composting process. It is unsafe.

It's not even that good for compost anyway.

If you are going to become a small farmer, you should consider going organic.

[Montegriffo]

Farmer Paul is one of the greenest men I know and he really respects the land which has been passed down through the generations and you're an engineer. He has no concerns about it.
That's plenty good enough for me.

[Speaker to Animals]

It's actually a very dangerous practice.

That would exclude you from being labeled organic as well.

If you are so excited about using shit, then go get some cow manure.

[Montegriffo]

The farm is not trying to be organic.
There is no demand for organic thatching straw.
It is sprayed but only when necessary as it's expensive and Farmer Paul is as tight as a nun's chuff.

[Speaker to Animals]

It's not even just about being organic. It's inherently an unsafe practice. You should definitely not use human shit in food production in any capacity. There are human pathogens involved. Human shit is packed with heavy metals, toxins, and pharmaceuticals.

You can get cow and horse shit for free from local ranches and dairy farms.

Using your table scraps is fine too. It's not organic, but it's not so dangerous.

[Fife]

It seems about right that on the MHF we would need to measure "mankind's greatest invention" in courics.