Pee and Prosperity: Kim Nace of the Rich Earth Institute

What do you get when you mix 5,000 gallons of urine and 5 acres of hay? It might just be the future of our food. In this episode, Shawn Shafner (The Puru) talks to Kim Nace, co-founder of the Rich Earth Institute in Brattleboro, Vermont, where hundreds of local citizens collect their pee for science. But this is no kids stuff--the Rich Earth Institute is blazing a new trail and quickly gaining the attention of big-name foundations, National Geographic, and even the US Government. Tune in to understand why our pee is polluting the planet, how we can turn that waste into a resource, and what your tax dollars are doing to help. Soon morning tinkle will be music to your ears... Also mentioned in this podcast: Abraham Noe-Hays, poop, pee, World Toilet Day, United Nations, Uzbekistan, Vermont, Rose George, The Big Necessity, waterless sanitation systems, nutrient reclamation, Sanitary revolution, Coney Island, wastewater treatment plant, Brooklyn Historical Society, Clean Water Act 1972, factory farming, depletion of Phosphorous, peak phosphorous, urine nutrient reclamation project, community-scale, pasteurization, wastewater treatment plant discharge, urinals, pissoir, sterility, pathogen-free, urine diverting toilets, vacuum flush toilets, composting dry toilet, ergonomic design, Carol McCreary, PHLUSH, Portland, Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human, primary, secondary, tertiary, toilet to tap, Class A sludge or biosolids, agricultural runoff, algae, algal blooms, stormwater runoff, swale, alienation, manure, ammonia uptake, tile drains, soil, agribusiness, waterlog, human waste, design, infrastructure, pharmaceutical, caffeine, antidepressant, anti-anxiety, volume reduction, Sasha Kramer, SOIL Haiti, Sanergy, bioregion, An Inconvenient Poop, prozac on shrimp, estrogen, nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, Kenya, nutrient flow, topsoil, golden shower, greywater, biodigester, stakeholders, Water Environment Research Foundation, EPA, USDA, National Geographic, liquid gold, Carol Steinfeld, World Health Organization