I was curious, I have long known that composting your poop works well and it breaks down, but what about urine?
if you pee outside, are you helping or are you hurting? I heard if you pee regularly in the same place you kill the plants (acidity?) but does your urine even contain nutrients like your poop?
this sounds like such an odd question but I am really curious about it because I'm trying to treat my acres with as much care as possible, and anything I can do to give back is better
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Yes, urine is a good source of nitrogen for your compost pile. If you put urine + compost into the Search the Forum Keyword box, you will find a number of threads here about it.
Humanure will make good compost (e.g. in composting toilets), but most people would recommend not using it for food crops, because of the danger of disease and parasites being passed along.
If you have compost that can maintain high temps (you could look it up how much is needed, the particular number depends on how long the temp is sustained for) for a period of time, it is usable.
Of course if you know (FOR SURE) that you and your family have no diseases/ parasites and you are only using your humanure compost for yourselves, it is probably workable.
I did in the past have a composting toilet. Since my partner is pretty cautious/ squeamish, we composted the humanure separate from the regular compost pile and just used it for flower beds. But it makes beautiful compost!
Humanure will make good compost (e.g. in composting toilets), but most people would recommend not using it for food crops, because of the danger of disease and parasites being passed along.
If you have compost that can maintain high temps (you could look it up how much is needed, the particular number depends on how long the temp is sustained for) for a period of time, it is usable.
Of course if you know (FOR SURE) that you and your family have no diseases/ parasites and you are only using your humanure compost for yourselves, it is probably workable.
I did in the past have a composting toilet. Since my partner is pretty cautious/ squeamish, we composted the humanure separate from the regular compost pile and just used it for flower beds. But it makes beautiful compost!
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I don't have much to add to rainbow's excellent summary. There are definitely threads hereabout on both subjects (#1 and #2 that is).
Urine is pretty much pH neutral, so it's not acidity that kills plants. It's either excessive salt or just too darn much nitrogen that does it. So, it's good to spread it around, so to speak. Urine is relatively free of microbes/pathogens compared to poo, so there are no worries there.
Urine is pretty much pH neutral, so it's not acidity that kills plants. It's either excessive salt or just too darn much nitrogen that does it. So, it's good to spread it around, so to speak. Urine is relatively free of microbes/pathogens compared to poo, so there are no worries there.
Last edited by toxcrusadr on Wed Jul 06, 2011 11:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Our 2 boys (11 & 13) are proud to make their contributions to the compost pile! They love to give their "super-pee" credit for the pile's rising temps.
I've been pushing my dh to pee around the garden border to discourage the deer population, who seem to think my beds are a buffet table laid out just for them.
I've been pushing my dh to pee around the garden border to discourage the deer population, who seem to think my beds are a buffet table laid out just for them.
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