Bernard Jarman (Taken from Star and Furrow Summer 1998 No. 90)

The disposal of sewage around our big cities is becoming a major problem as a result of the very welcome recognition that we cannot continue to pollute our rivers and seas without serious environmental consequences. The efforts expended by water companies and local authorities to find other solutions can only be applauded. The safe reintegration of this material into the ecosystem is clearly the direction to go in.

Organic and biodynamic husbandry techniques can offer expertise and guidance towards finding the most appropriate composting methods as well as suitable

bio-systems for cleansing fluid waste such as reed beds, wetlands and pond systems. In this carefully processed condition, human waste can be assimilated by plants and soil and be rendered harmless.

Even in this nearly inert state however, we believe that composted human waste should not be used directly on crops intended directly or indirectly for human consumption. The biodynamic method is based on an understanding of the inter-relatedness and mutual beneficence of all the life giving organic processes in nature which creates harmony and order in the living world.

The human being is also part of this living world, and yet differs from all other life forms through having the ability to be self-conscious and to be able to develop new thoughts and technologies, which are independent of the natural order. This ability arises from the intangible spiritual principle which is inherent in all nature including the food we eat and is needed to further our free and independent thought life. What is then left behind as human excreta contains none of this spiritual life principle and hence cannot contribute positively towards the health and harmony of the living world.

Human waste falls out of the self-sustaining world ecosystem precisely because the human can act freely and creatively out of his inner power. No other organism is able to rise above nature in this way, nor do its organic processes cause a separation from the interconnected ecosystem.

Human waste should therefore be seen as a unique highly mineralised, lifeless, almost inorganic substance whose nutrients have more kinship with nutrients in artificial fertilisers than with the life giving, fertility building properties of plant and animal composts and manures.

Properly processed and composted, it could be reintegrated into the ecosystem by possibly using it on land where flowers or fuel crops are grown, in woodland, or in motorway verges etc.

The biodynamic approach to farming and gardening specifically prohibits the use of sewage or sewage derivatives as manures or fertilisers in its husbandry system. The Demeter symbol guarantees to the consumer that no human waste has been applied to any plants grown directly or indirectly for food.