Permaculture Man - Blog Post: Compost

Compost... What is it?

Compost, by definition, has three components:

(1) Human management;

(2) The generation of internal biological heat; and

(3) Aerobic organisms that thrive in the presence of oxygen.

If all three of these conditions don't exist simultaneously at some point in the process, then it's not composting, and the end product should not be referred to as "compost."

MOST OF THIS ARTICLE IS DERIVED FROM FOLLOWING SOURCES:
'The Compost Toilet Handbook' & 'The Humanure Handbook' to which all credits are due.

Compost, like agriculture, is a human creation. You will not find compost in nature unless humans created it. To make compost, humans pile ORGANIC MATERIAL, such as plant products and manures, aboveground in such a manner that MICROSCOPIC ORGANISMS consume them. The finished material is sometimes referred to as "humus," "earth," or "soil," but the correct term is "compost."

The process that converts the material into compost requires internal heat generated by BACTERIA inside the compost pile. These microscopic organisms live in the presence of OXYGEN and are classified as "aerobic." If dumped into a pit, the organic material is likely to become inundated by water and to bcome "anaerobic," or without oxygen. Anaerobic organisms do not make compost.

In 2018, the US Composting Council defined compost as the product manufactured through the controlled aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegradable materials, which have undergone internal biological heating, thereby significantly reducing the viability of pathogens (disease-causing organisms) and weed seeds, while stabilizing the finished product such that it is beneficial to plant growth.

We humans are peculiar in that we are the only land animals that intentionally defecates in water. Water toilet users will seek out drinkable water to poop in even when there is little water to be found, such as during severe drought conditions. Drinkable water is arguably our most precious resource; without it we would soon die.
Because very little water is used or required during the operation of compost toilets, human excrement is kept out of our water supplies and out of our environment. When we consider that 97 percent of the Earth's water is salt water and that two-thirds of the fresh water is locked up in ice, we realize that less than one percent of the water on planet Earth is available as drinkable water. This then leads us to the following question,

"Why do we shit in it?"

To learn more about compost and humanure, be sure to visit

The Humanure Handbook's Official Website.