As prices soar, Japan returns to human waste fertilizer

Perhaps human composting will be next. It’s already legal in the U.S. states of California, Colorado, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.

https://www.webmd.com/balance/what-is-human-composting

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/human-composting-the-rising-interest-in-natural-burial/

Good news but may be the article should be in the environment section.

We have a compost toilet and people are always amazed how normal looking the compost looks and smells.

Other than upcycling waste, compost toilets also save huge amounts of water which is otherwise wasted with regular toilets.

Solent green, here we come

This is very good. Its both environmental and helps to cut costs. Also, hopefully, as more of these plants are used, it will lead to more jobs.

Cremations are also a source of fertiliser

There are potential dangers from human pathogens (diseases being passed on), parasites and biomedical residue if human waste is used on crops. It is not a good idea, not least because some folk will attempt it on the cheap, with a lot less 'processing'. But if it is officially sanctioned, any resulting issues will presumably be hushed up. What you don't know about, you won't worry about.

I guess you know when it really hits the fan when they are starting to do the same thing that North Korea has been doing for years.

In Nagano, for 10 years, we had a hole in the floor tank toilet when the honeypot wagon came once a month to empty it. We would go away on that day. Sometimes, if they couldn't make it I had to empty it myself in a hole in the ground and a bag of lime.

I looked into this when I was planning an off-grid lifestyle and what I found was turning human waste into safe fertilizer is a long process, recommended to take 12-18 months and then only recommended for plants that are harvested off the ground. If that lettuce farmer has strong odor fertilizer and growing lettuces, I would be concerned about chances of getting e-coli or other bacteria in my salads..

North Koreans have been using human waste for fertiliser and have a high rate of intestinal worms.

There are potential dangers from human pathogens (diseases being passed on), parasites and biomedical residue if human waste is used on crops. 

As long as the waste is processed (not used raw) and some simple vigilance is kept, the risk is not higher than what would be using waste from other mammals.

But if it is officially sanctioned, any resulting issues will presumably be hushed up.

If it is officially sanctioned it would be much more rational to think it would be treated to avoid the complications instead of hiding them, after all the process is already cheap enough to make it profitable at a fraction of the price of other fertilizers.

It can also be much more ecological, avoiding the contamination of water that happens with artificial fertilizer, which in turn would reduce the health risks for the people.

Return??? I didn't know it was there in the first place!

I know that they used human excrement as fertilizer for fruit trees in the Old Country for over a thousand years. Of course, one should never put it on leaves or fruit.

Archeologists have determined that the Vikings had a lot of parasites. Perhaps their misuse of fertilizers was the reason.

This story is just full of it !

North Koreans have been using human waste for fertiliser and have a high rate of intestinal worms.

Correlation is not causation

I remember reading an account of the travels of a westerner in Japan during the Meiji era and one of the observations was that the countryside looked nice, but it stank everywhere due to night soil and you couldn't get away from the smell.

A great way to spread hepatitis from human waste Google Hepatitis Human Waste Fertilizer

Also, you have to spread four or five times the volume that you use with regular chemical fertilizers," he explained.

so actually it’s half price..as it’s a tenth of the price but you have to spread 5 times as much…which is still good but I would want it tested for heavy metals and other nasties just to be sure as I bet the removal at the sewage plant isn’t 100%

Correlation is not causation

North Korean defector found to have 'enormous parasites'

The soldier's food may have been contaminated because the North still uses human faeces as fertiliser, known as "night soil".

Lee Min-bok, a North Korean agriculture expert, told Reuters: "Chemical fertiliser was supplied by the state until the 1970s. By the 1990s, the state could not supply it any more, so farmers started to use a lot of night soil instead."

If these faeces are untreated and fertilise vegetables that are later eaten uncooked, the parasites get into the mouth and the intestines of the person.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42021373

So we get to the stage where people think it’s ok to use human poo poo as fertiliser. Human race Ain’t gonna last too long at this rate. Is this what is known as progress?

So we get to the stage where people think it’s ok to use human poo poo as fertiliser.

Why would it not be okay to use as fertiliser? All other things being equal, what distinguishes our excrement from those of other animals?

Is this what is known as progress?

Not wasting resources just because the Countess of Nambarough regards it as "yucky wucky"? Yes, that's progress.

Why would it not be okay to use as fertiliser? All other things being equal, what distinguishes our excrement from those of other animals?

The things we as humans eat.

We have viruses and parasites not found in other animals.

We have viruses and parasites not found in other animals

Exactly, that’s one reason why so many people in North Korea and Mexico often get diseases like cholera.

Soylent Green is poopie! It's poopieeeeeeeeeee!!!

The serial entrepreneurs living and working at Anandwan in the Indian State of Maharashtra are reaping awesome success in their "mission recycling". Like the incredibly innovative Japanese soil scientists, the Anandwan think-tank for decades together have been deriving their cooking gas requirements and soil fertilizing ingredients from the heady mixture of cow dung, kitchen waste, and human waste. Even the waste water plays a vital role in providing rich ingredients for growing their animal fodder. The liquid nourishment for grass is termed "Vitamin Shi".