The Humanure Handbook - Fourth Edition

Download each chapter PDF:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

1 — Close Encounters of the Turd Kind

2 — The Invisible Beings

3 — Microbes – Friend or Foe?

4 — The War on Microbes

5 — Thermophiles

6 — Deep Shit

7 — A Day in the Life of a Turd

8 — Compost

9 — Compost Nuts and Bolts

10 — Compost Miracles

11 — Compost Myths

12 — Compost Toilets and Dry Toilets

13 — Worms and Disease

14 — The Tao of Compost

15 — Bum Rap

Temperature Conversions

Glossary

References

Index

"Jesus may have turned water into wine, but we turn shit into food." The Pope of Poop

"The act of composting humanure is so radical and revolutionary that people who have spent their lives trying to dispose of the substance can’t quite come to grips with the idea that it can be recycled."

"Americans think of human excrement as “waste” teeming with pathogens. In fact, it is neither. Humanure is an organic resource teeming with beneficial microorganisms. That’s a fact."

"The word “humanure” means human excrement beneficially recycled by feeding it to microbes. There is no waste involved. Because this idea is so radical in today’s world, especially in water toilet cultures, there was no word for such an organic resource. I had to create one. Humanure."

"Where can a large animal like a human being find animal manure? Gee, that’s a tough one. Let’s think really hard about that. Perhaps with a little ‘ingenuity and a thorough search’ we can come up with a source. Where is that mirror, anyway? Might be a clue there."

"We, as a nation, are shit illiterate. Any society that grows up with water toilets seems to have an arrested development when it comes to the recycling of organic material, especially what comes from their own bodies." "On one radio interview, the interviewer asked how I got the turds out of the toilet. Did I use a fish net? I said no, I trained my kids to bob for them like bobbing for apples, with their hands behind their backs. Then I praised their radio station for having similar characteristics to my own endeavors. “Oh, how’s that?” they asked. “Well, we both deal with crap,” I replied. “I compost mine and you broadcast yours.” They hung up on me."

"I was once interviewed on the Howard Stern radio show. During the live interview, I informed them that I had been composting humanure for about 20 years and I had used all the compost for growing food. They censored that... it was much too objectionable for the tender ears of their audience. After the interview, they segued into a nice, wholesome segment about anal intercourse with midgets. No more disgusting talk about recycling turds."