Synthetic fertilizers are a big problem for our environment, but one Vermont-based agency has begun to promote a pretty outside-the-box method of doing away with them: by replacing them with human urine, the Middletown Press reported.
The Rich Earth Institute, a urine fertilizer advocacy group, was founded in 2011 and has spent the past decade-plus trying to convince people that the practice is viable and necessary.
Synthetic fertilizers play a big role in helping American farmers to grow the crops that feed us — however, they are also massively overapplied, causing far-reaching negative environmental impacts as runoffs contaminate nearby water sources, causing algae blooms and more that threaten native wildlife.
The Rich Earth Institute argues that urine contains the same nutrients necessary for plant growth, but without the drawbacks from synthetic, chemical-based fertilizers — and, best of all, it's free.
"This is a resource we are flushing down the toilet," said Connecticut River Conservancy River Steward Rhea Drozdenko.
One of the hurdles that the Institute has to overcome is that people are often grossed out by the idea of reclaiming urine, diverting it from the sewer system and into the fields where it will make contact with crops that people are eventually going to eat. This "ick factor" makes total sense, until you remember that crops have relied on manure as a fertilizer for all of human history.
Using urine as a fertilizer could, paradoxically, create a circular, waste-free system for farmers. "Our waste can be a resource, and the more we can normalize that concept, it goes a long way towards helping sow the seeds of change for the future," Rich Earth Education Director Julia Cavicchi said.
While the companies that produce chemical synthetic fertilizers are likely not on board with this solution (the global fertilizer industry is currently valued at over $200 billion), the Rich Earth Institute's ideas could be a simple way to reduce both waste and pollution while saving farmers money at the same time.
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