This is not that unusual. In the third world, a lot of folks use human waste as fertilizer. Unfortunately for them, this is a horrible practice because it spreads diseases like wildfire. It has taken charity organizations decades to halt this practice.

But these scientists are suggesting human urine as a fertilizer. Apparently urine is a pollutant that gets into rivers and such, but it contains a lot of what you would need in a good fertilizer. And not quite as infectious as feces (but still…).

Hmmm. First you have to sterilize it to make sure you are not spreading diseases. Rather costly I would think. And you can do this with feces if you want, so why not include it. Probably the same cost, but a bit more volume.

Then of course you would have to realize that we perhaps do not produce enough urine to make a dent in our fertilizer use.

I was raised a farm boy, I have no problem with using the likes of cow and pig manure as fertilizer. But they produce a lot and it is still not enough to fertilize a good sized field.

But my impression of these people, obsessed with using my pee, is that they are creepy and they have likely never been on a farm.

Submitted for your approval.

Can pee help feed the world?