Image Source: Wikimedia by Wudumindif CC BY SA 3.0 - No offense meant really! But we all can relate.
As usual, this got my antenna blinking with red. Not a bad red, a good one. I felt it wasn't well deserving that any part of the human self, no matter what it is, should be considered a waste so much so that it defies mentioning in public. And with just a little bit of research, I found out that yes yes yes, our wastes make too much sense to be frowned at.
Bio-gas
This is the most viral use that has been found for our waste products. Imagine being able to generate electricity straight from the toilets. This is possible due to the fact that any form of waste is gaseous in nature. There is some form of gas contained within any waste product you can think of. Based on this knowledge, some Nigerian students, 14 to 15 years of age, worked on and launched a urine powered generator at a fair in Lagos. This generator operated by separating the water in urine from the hydrogen gas contained within. The gas is then used to generate power. Water works fine for this too as it also contains hydrogen. But heck, having to give your splashes of urine some good purpose is mind blowing.
Getting bioenergy from a heap of waste is not limited to the urine generator, however. Methane, a gaseous substance that burns, is a viable source of energy. And our faeces has just enough methane to help generate energy. The methane is so much that it causes the waste to smell (so if you are thinking about why the wastes from your body smells, you might have methane and some other things to blame). With methane collected by a biogas digester, and microbes acting upon it in a oxygen-proof closed container, enough gas can be extracted to generate electricity and cook our food.
Image Source: Wikimedia by SuSanA Secretariat, CC BY SA 2.0.jpg)
Faeces dried in the oven
Several technologies have arisen to make gas extraction from waste possible. For one, Gates Foundation have awarded two toilet prototypes designed to extract gas from waste and immediately convert it to energy. One of the toilet prototypes by Michael Hoffman breaks the human waste into hydrogen gas, while the other is intent on making synthetic gas out of it, that is, a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide.
In relation to this, methane from poops can also be used to fuel rockets (those going to space, yes) as well as for radiation shields.
Food for the belly
Our astronauts sure need a lot of water in their bellies, regardless of the fact that they are in space. But there ain't so much as a dose of pure oxygen when they are up there in the sky, much more a cup of clean water. To combat this impending problem, the science dudes at NASA are working on expensive some space-proof machine that can purify human urine and recycle it into water so that the astronauts can have a good drink. The recycling equipment called Forward Osmosis Pump Syringe, has been tested at a place in middeck Atlantis conveniently thought to minimally equate a situational space simulation.
And yet again, it is possible to use a solar still to purify water. This is especially applicable to a hot, tropical environment. The radiation from the sun causes water from urine to evaporate and condense into any form of container used to collect the condensed liquid.
But you know, astronauts or anyone for that matter do not really need a cumbersome machine to quench their thirst. They can simply drink their urines! Arguably, it has been said that drinking urines have significant health benefits. Also, the proponents of this hypothesis have gone on to say that fresh urines are as clean a liquid as we can get. And while they may just have been coming out of the body, we can drink them back in. But for those who have some illness in their body, pathogens are more likely to get stuck to the urine. Hence, drinking down the urine is like, well, taking back what has always belonged to someone. Please, don't throw shade at me for this. This is science speaking. Lol.
Feed and Fertilizer
Animal manure and processed fertilizers have from, age long, always been a veritable growth input in agriculture. It has been steadily established that by feeding animal wastes to crops, they can attain immeasurable growth. But how often have you heard that feeding faeces to animals can satisfy and save their day? If you haven't heard about that before, well, you are hearing now. The larvae of black soldier fly, an insect belonging to the..... family, feeds solely on faeces, and their diet program includes human faeces. They do not just feast on our faeces, they cause it to decompose, harbour nutrients and become viable feeds for fishes, animals as well as a source of biodiesel. Scientists are trying to leverage on this by hosting lab-kept Black soldier fly larvae, feeding them full with our faeces, extracting the larvae ladened with nutrients and using them to better humanity.
And then, even beyond using processed fertilizers, dry or wet manures to boost plant growth, it has been discovered that human urine can just as well do the job. One Indian Sridevi Govindaraj in establishing a doctoral thesis tested the use of human urine as fertilizer on a banana plantation, and made a quite astonishing discovery. It was possible, human urines could substitute fertilizers through and through. What's more, she estimated that if 40% of Indians saved their urines and poured it out into crops, $26.7 million, an equivalent of about 1 billion rupees, of the money spent on fertilizers could be saved.
Image Source: Wikimedia by Clarity J CC BY SA 2.0
Compost
What's more, agricultural scientists and waste experts like Jason Kass are currently building toilet structures deemed fit to serve agricultural purposes. And guess what, the toilet design is nowhere the fanciful structures we are used to. It's actually a composting latrine, the type where you get to stoop down and pass out waste right into a hole. In order to make the waste serviceable, there will be two of these stoop-down holes. The one to pass out waste, into a structure containing ash, yard clippings and other agricultural wastes, and the other to collect the passed out waste and let it fester, decompose and be acted upon for days before it becomes useful as compost for crops.
You know what I like about the composting latrines, it is how creatively it has been used to combat sanitary issues in under-developed countries. Most of the people from places like the rural parts of Bolivia do not fancy the compost latrines or any toilet facility for that matter. They practice what is called shot put, that is, excreting into a polythene bag, or leaf or some disposable material and flinging the nylon or whatever is used straight into the bush or an enclosed place. Even worse, some of them just stoop down in open fields and down it goes. This poor waste management incurs illnesses into their midst.
To deal with this, some organization makes it a point of duty to make compost from the composting latrines set in strategic places. They spread the compost around Monterrey pine saplings. The richness of the soil around the protective leaves of the pine saplings attract very rare forms of mushrooms and watercresses that make for a source of high income. Money gained, sanitation improved, problems solved.
Image Source: Wikimedia by Susan Secretariat CC BY SA 2.0
Composting toilet in Germany
Medicare
Urine has been attested to as a veritable solution for treating jellyfish sting. Upon pouring it over the burn, it is alleged that the burn will heal. Honestly, this has been discarded as a mere rumor. Another rumor prevalent in my cultural and environmental setting is the fact that drinking urine can cure jaundice or yellowness of the eyes.
I don't know how true this is, but what truth I do know is that urine and human Faeces are used to effectively diagnose illnesses and infections.
And then, you would want to know about what is called faecal transplant, a method of treatment whereby liquefied human Faeces, in its raw form, is passed into a patient through the nose. The human faeces goes into the stomach to restore bacterial balance and kill bugs disrupting the body. Specialists in this field are having a good laugh just seeing the contortions on the faces of patients who have to undergo faecal transplant. After much persuasion, the patients comply to letting the faeces of a relative pass into them.
Trash to treasure
This one is tearing me up. It is possible to make a gold ring out of sewages. No? Well, yes, and not just gold rings, silver watches, copper wires and some other thing from platinum or titanium. In essence, we can actually mine for precious treasures from a community of human faeces. And do not despise their tale of every little metal extracted from wastes, because there are many more where that came from. Even better, if scientists decide how wastes from our body are able to produce those metals, they can actually start dreaming up the possibility of making synthetic gold mines. And oh, did I mention that titanium dioxide are added to the doughnuts we eat.
I didn't? My bad.
Household Uses
You want to add some urinal spice to your household materials? Then opt for a urine disinfectant, eye made out of urine or ink for your stamps. There are plenty other option to consider. But I would rather put a break here because it would appear that I have already given you a lot to think about.