Strange but true...

[Katie0317]

I've known for some time that human urine has been used by some rose growers but it's not something I've ever discussed or cared to know more about. I just shrugged it off as a weird thing.

NOT dog urine but human.

I came across this article in Scientific American...Apparently it's a 'thing' in many parts of the world. I was very surprised to learn how many parts.

It's sterile and high in many nutrients...well, you can read it.

Gee Whiz: Human Urine Is Shown to Be an Effective Agricultural Fertilizer

Researchers say our liquid waste not only promotes plant growth as well as industrial mineral fertilizers, but also would save energy used on sewage treatment

www.scientificamerican.com

 

[canoeguide]

It's also the secret ingredient in butterfly gardens. They love the stuff.

 

[Paradox]

Urine from any animal has a high content of urea which is high in nitrogen and a very common component of many fertilizers. So honestly it makes sense that humans would find a use for their own free fertilizer

 

[Forsoothe!]

According to popular lore in India, Gandhi whitened his teeth in his own whitener!

 

[berzerkules]

According to popular lore in India, Gandhi whitened his teeth in his own whitener!

It goes back farther than that I think. I heard the Romans where into whitening their teeth as well.

You can also make things go BOOM!!!!

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

It's sterile

Contrary to popular belief, urine isn't sterile.
There are a lot of bacteria living in a bladder, all of them harmless, and most of them are hard to culture in a dish and easy to kill.

Culturing of female bladder bacteria reveals an interconnected urogenital microbiota - Nature Communications

The female bladder seems to harbor a poorly characterized indigenous microbiota. Here, the authors isolate and genome-sequence 149 bacterial strains from catheterized urine of 77 women, generating a culture collection representing two thirds of the bacterial diversity within the samples.

www.nature.com

 

[penumbra]

Is this why I have some bright green spots in my lawn?

 

[Potawatomi13]

Is this why I have some bright green spots in my lawn?

Dogs make dead spots. Mine kills Poison Oak.

 

[Shibui]

Watering the lemon tree is common in Australia.
I make good use of urine for both vegetables, fruit trees and the ornamental garden.

Human urine is (or has been) used for a number of other things:
In making cloth and dying
Cleaning (ammonia). It is still used in conserving and cleaning paintings
Soap making

Urine is a valuable source of nutrients so i cannot understand why some of us tip it all down the drain?????

 

[penumbra]

Well into the early 1900s urine was so valuable to tanneries that they went from door to door picking up people's urine and paying for it. If you didn't have enough urine you were considered piss poor. A very poor person didn't have a pot to piss in.

 

[Dzhokar]

Also useful in the compost pile. If you have excess browns (carbon) and not enough greens(nitrogen).

 

[Mapleminx]

Let’s not forget how much it stinks though as it’s fermenting

 

[AlainK]

This is not new : the city of Paris has installed urinals since 2018, the bottom is filled with straw to filter the urine, and the top has plants. I saw a report of a company that gathers the... liquid and treats it so it doesn't smell and can be used as a fertilizer.
Maybe a small step for Paris to get cleaner...

Uritrottoir : des pissotières écolos fleurissent dans Paris

L'uritrottoir permet de vous soulager en pleine rue sur une botte de paille. Ce surprenant dispositif, initié grâce au Budget participatif, est constitué d'un bac-réservoir contenant de la paille, surmonté d’un bac à fleurs.

www.paris.fr

 

[Dzhokar]

No worse than manure though.

 

[Forsoothe!]

Well into the early 1900s urine was so valuable to tanneries that they went from door to door picking up people's urine and paying for it. If you didn't have enough urine you were considered piss poor. A very poor person didn't have a pot to piss in.

...Which is also the origin of the old saw of being so poor that someone didn't have, "...a pot to piss in, or a window to throw it out".

Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids where the Michigan All-State Bonsai Show is held every Mother's Day has urinals that collect pee. I always wondered what they did with it.

 

[Mikecheck123]

for a number of other things

It's pretty reliable for testing to see if an electric fence is working.

 

[Cajunrider]

It does help keep animals away from tender plants This is for rural area only. City slickers need not practice lest po po come visit.

 

[leatherback]

Lets not forget the Romans used to wash their clothes with urine

 

[Dzhokar]

You know... we may need all these tips when the covid pandemic goes into phase 3 and transitions to zombie apocalypse mode.

 

[Cajunrider]

Lets not forget the Romans used to wash their clothes with urine

Since we talk about strange practice. The Chinese use urine of young boys as medicine for certain illness.