August of a long hot summer breaks
with news that a full half of US counties – 1,584 in 32 states – are now designated primary disaster areas. This 2012 drought impacts local, national and international levels: farm communities face economic ruin, struggling America’s families must pay more for food, and hungry people around the world will be hungrier.
Isn’t it time for a broad rethink of priorities in our water use? Can we move beyond unsustainable flush-and-forget practices?
Ecological sanitation – including waterless toilets and the recycling of nutrients in agricultural production – is the way forward. Problems with using fresh water to transport Americans’ feces and urine to revenue-ravenous wastewater treatment plants include
soil contamination,
water pollution,
air quality issues, and
sewage sludge disposal.
We can do so much better. Watch this blog for more on promising research from
Recode Oregon, the
Sustainable Sanitation Alliance,
EcoSanRes and others.
