Humanure compost toilet: A better way to go

Veterans Today | Nov 12, 2014 | Dr. Kevin Barrett

A review of The Humanure Handbook: A Guide to Composting Human Manure by Joe Jenkins 

with a “Fatwa on the Flush Toilet” by Shaykh Imran Hosein

[Buy the book or read a free online version here]

When Obama recently called Netanyahu “chickenshit” most folks understood an insult was intended. But in some cultures, where nitrogen-rich poultry poop makes great fertilizer, somebody may have thought the president was depicting Bibi as a precious ally and a source of growth and nourishment.

Believe it or not, the same misunderstanding is possible when the insult concerns human excrement. Thirty years ago, if you told a Chinese peasant he was full of shit, he might have replied:

“Sank you. Velly nice compriment. Shit velly variable RE-source.”

If you think that was meant as an ethnic joke at the expense of the Chinese peasant, the joke’s on you. Unlike you, the Chinese peasant’s smart enough not to defecate into drinking water.

Today, more and more Chinese people – 64% at last count – are gaining access to “improved” sanitation. Though polluting five gallons of purified drinking water with every flush may be an improvement over spreading raw human excrement a.k.a. “night soil” directly on the fields – though even that is disputable – there is definitely a better way to go. If you really want to improve your sanitation, don’t pony up billions of dollars for porcelain thrones, pipes, septic tanks and sewage treatment facilities. Instead, spend $25 per household building a compost collection toilet. You can find the plans in Joe Jenkins’ Humanure Handbook.

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