Biosolids: Embrace the Waste

Biosolids is the name given to our recycled waste. Yes, that's right. Our poop, and what is it being used for? Well it's being used as fertilizer to grow our foods. Now at first, this may appear to most of you as extremely disgusting. This makes sense, since we are taught from birth that certain things are just unsanitary and must be avoided, like poop. But maybe this is actually more natural than we think.

The first thing that came to my head was cows. When cows are allowed to graze the fields and eat grass, they'll poop all over the grass. However, farmers expect their cows to poop on the fields, because cow poop is an excellent fertilizer. Now, if this applies to cows, wouldn't it make sense for it to apply to humans too? Financially, biosolids are great. They are essentially low cost to free fertilizer. This low cost fertilizer would encourage more farming as well. The production of the biosolids would create jobs, meaning an even better financial situation. Also, it would mean recycling instead of land-filling, which in turn means less pollution since the transportation to the landfills would have been eliminated. These are all excellent reasons for biosolids to become a regular thing.

However, the health issue arises. People are worried that this is not safe. That the composition of the biosolids is uncertain, and that it could be potentially harmful. Now this would be a good argument, however, there is clear evidence that proves this theory wrong. To start, the treatment facilities of the waste are so thorough that there is no real proof of the biosolids being dangerous. There is real proof, however, that biosolids are completely harmless. In fact, in 2001, there was a study done proving the fact that biosolids would have little to no effect on human health. However, even though there is overwhelming evidence as to why biosolids are a good choice, there are still those who disagree.

It is true, however, that there is a smell in certain biosolids. This can mean that the usage of biosolids can greatly reduce property value in the area applied. However, the smell can be covered and it is not a good reason to be against the idea of biosolids, when they would promote more jobs and reduce pollution. There are actually very strict regulatory laws that concern biosolids, so health issues are not at all a concern when it comes to this concept. The main problem people tend to have is simply that they're uncomfortable knowing their own poop is being used to fertilize foods. But that was the way nature intended it, as examples like the cows show us. We need to stop being so influenced by the world around us and EMBRACE THE WASTE!

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