Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Joan Vibert <joan@windwalkerfarm.com>]

Title: Re: [Livingontheland] Using Human Waste

Paul - our thoughts are with you – I feel like we know you from all the emails and comments.  You have given us such valued resources to learn from and with which to continue our sustainable lifestyles.  Thank you and take care.

Joan 
Windwalker Farm
Homewood, Kansas


> From: Tradingpost <tradingpost@lobo.net>
> Reply-To: Healthy soil and sustainable growing 
> <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:17:37 -0600
> To: <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Using Human Waste
> 
> 
> Yes, in normal living we're exposed to pathogens all our lives.
> 
> It's been a rough week with my wife/partner in hospital here, and my daughter 
> taken off life support in FL today leaving a nine month old baby.
> 
> paul tradingpost@lobo.net
> 
> 
> *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
> 
> On 7/22/2010 at 12:33 PM Dieter Brand wrote:
> 
>> I absolutely agree, pathogens are not a problem.  I have used our
>> humanure for nearly 10 years and never had a problem.  I let it compost
>> with dry leaves, saw dust, soil, grass, weeds or whatever is available. 
>> After a few months it turns into crumbly soil that smells as good forest
>> soil (probably because of the leaves).  I usually wait for two years
>> before I use it on root vegetables or things like salads that are eaten
>> raw just to be on the safe side.  I would never use night soil from other
>> households or from the city because people consume all sorts of
>> pharmaceuticals and pour chemicals down the drain.  I even separate the
>> toilet paper because of the bleaching agents.  
>> 
>> The human body and our surroundings contain billions of microbes, most are
>> beneficial, a few are potential pathogens when the conditions are right,
>> but our immune system even needs these potential pathogens to build its
>> defenses.  There is only about half a dozen of dangerous pathogens like
>> tuberculoses that are always harmful, but most of these have been
>> eradicated in the West.
>> 
>> Dieter Brand
>> Portugal
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> --- On Wed, 7/21/10, John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> From: John D'hondt <dhondt@eircom.net>
>>> Subject: Re: [Livingontheland] Using Human Waste
>>> To: "Healthy soil and sustainable growing"
>> <livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org>
>>> Date: Wednesday, July 21, 2010, 10:15 PM
>>> 
>>> In my experience I think that pathogens are not at all a
>>> problem. We have a septic tank overflowing into a small
>>> water purification area. I have seen all kinds of animals
>>> drink from that water at different places and not one sign
>>> of disease has been seen.
>>> Under good circumstances pathogens are eaten out of a
>>> living by an overwhelming mass of non pathogens. The only
>>> way you can select for pathogens is by using man made
>>> chemicals that often kill off the others. And onfortunately
>>> that is the paradigm we have been fed with our mother's
>>> milk. Don't try to kill bacteria for you will fail and don't
>>> be too clean so as to keep plenty of non pathogen species on
>>> standby.
>>> 
>>> The water that comes out of the wetland shows no signs of
>>> nitrate or phosphate loss. It is clear and even in little
>>> pools no algae show up.
>>> 
>>> We harvest plants like comfrey and bullrush there and maybe
>>> 10 more species for animal food. Again never seen a problem
>>> and how could it? Pathogens are not taken up by plants in a
>>> cold swamp to be transported to an edible part. That simply
>>> does not happen.
>>> john
>>> 
>>>> Several people on the list have mentioned the use of
>>> human waste for agricultural purposes. I'm interested in
>>> what peoples experience has been with this and what kinds of
>>> precautions people are taking to break the pathogen-human
>>> cycles in order to avoid disease transmission. The World
>>> health Organization has done a lot of work on this and their
>>> guidelines are available online.
>> http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/wastewater/gsuww/en/index.html
>>>> 
>>>> This appears to me to be one of the crucial linkages
>>> that will have to be established in a steady state economy.
>>> Nutrient recycling is a fundamental ecosystem
>>> function/service which must be integrated in the closed
>>> human-earth system. Of course pathogens have evolved to
>>> exploit this system and we have to assure a reasonable level
>>> of safety.
>>>> 
>>>> Phil Bunch
> 
> 
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