“This is a resource that we flush down the toilet”

Synthetic fertilizers are a big problem for our environment, but one Vermont agency has begun promoting a rather unconventional method of eliminating them: by replacing them with human urine, the Middletown Press reports.

The Rich Earth Institutea urine fertilizer advocacy group, was founded in 2011 and has spent the past decade trying to convince people that the practice is viable and necessary.

Synthetic fertilizers play an important role in helping American farmers grow the crops that feed us, but they also massive overusecausing far-reaching negative effects on the environment as the runoff pollutes nearby water sources, causing algal blooms, etc., which threaten local wildlife.

The Rich Earth Institute claims that urine contains the same nutrients that plants need to grow, but without the drawbacks of synthetic chemical fertilizers — and best of all, it’s free.

“This is a resource that we flush down the toilet,” said Connecticut River Preserve River steward Ray Drozdenko.

One of the hurdles the Institute has to overcome is that people are often confused by the idea of ​​repurposing urine, diverting it from the sewage system to fields where it will come into contact with crops that people will eventually eat. This “ick factor” makes perfect sense until you remember that crops have relied on manure as fertilizer throughout human history.

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Using urine as fertilizer can, paradoxically, create a cyclical zero-waste system for farmers. “Our waste can be a resource, and the more we can normalize this concept, the more we can help plant the seeds of change for the future,” Rich Earth Education Director Julia Cavicki said.

Although companies that produce chemical synthetic fertilizers are unlikely to support this decision (the global fertilizer industry is currently being evaluated worth more than $200 billion), the Rich Earth Institute’s ideas could be a simple way to reduce waste and pollution while saving farmers money.

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