Credit: Betty Jenewin/Rich Earth Institute
How many times did you flush a toilet today?
It’s a query most of us never consider. Going to the bathroom is a frequent enough exercise that it tends to be void of any distinguishing memory. But it’s a surprisingly important question for two important reasons: Water is a natural resource that is being rapidly depleted, and nutrients that are flushed down the toilet contribute to water pollution.
Abraham Noe-Hays and Kim Nace are co-founders of the Rich Earth Institute, a pioneer in developing ways to convert human urine into plant fertilizer. The Institute runs the country’s first community-scale urine-diversion-to-soil-fertilizer program.
