Down in the dumps
For Flipside 29 Deborah Black researched everything you ever wanted to know about the many uses of human and animal waste. We ended up with too much to feature in the print article in fact, so here are some choice offcuts…
What you never knew about poo…
The average human adult normally gets rid of waste from their body one or two times a day. Cattle may get rid of waste once every hour. Birds may poo several times in an hour.
Average British daily poo weight: 19 to 280g
Average African daily poo weight: 56 to 430g.
Average elephant daily poo weight: around 100kg.
Average dog daily poo weight: 100 to 200g.
 Poo at the zoo
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, NY, is hoping to supplement its energy needs with power from the poo of its Asian elephants. The elephants’ total waste production can be over 1,000 pounds of dung per day, and the zoo's yearly animal waste costs $10,000 to dispose of. Much of the waste from vegetarian animals at the zoo is indigestible plant fibre – a high energy fuel. Seems the perfect solution!
Also in the US, Memphis Zoo in Tennessee is onto a best-seller with a garden fertiliser made from its animals’ dung. Called Zoo Doo, the company selling the product is making a healthy profit, while Memphis Zoo will save more than $30,000 a year in disposal costs. The compost is made mainly from elephant and rhino dung, plus antelope, camel and water buffalo dung.
Closer to home, Ecological Sciences Ltd in the UK is producer of the famous Zoo Poo garden fertiliser, EcoSci uses dung from elephants, rhinos and giraffes, plus green garden waste, to make its environmentally-friendly product. And Silent Roar Lion Manure is another great zoo product that’s doing a, well, roaring trade! The pellets are soaked in real essence of lion dung and are then dried and sterilised. It makes a great organic fertiliser – with the added bonus for gardeners in that it deters marauding cats from pooing in their garden!
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