Other Dark Matter: The Science and Business of Turning Waste Into Wealth and Health

"In the world today, we face considerable challenges, and while new ones pile on, the old standbys of fossil fuel overuse, greenhouse gas emissions, resource scarcity, food security, and weather and water extremes like droughts and floods remain. Fortunately, scientists are studying myriad ways human waste can help. Science journalist Lina Zeldovich argues in The Other Dark Matter that human excrement is a resource, cheap and widely available, that can be converted into a sustainable energy source, act as an organic fertilizer, provide effective medicinal therapy for resistant bacterial infection, and much more. Zeldovich profiles the pioneers of this repurposing, including startups in remote African villages and those in American cities that convert sewage into crude oil and collect specimens from volunteers to treat patients battling superbugs. The Other Dark Matter begins with a broad overview of our history of excrement disposal. The author's vignettes touch on ancient Roman sewage systems, Medieval latrines, and other methods used around the world to distance people from their excrement. Today's immense, computerized treatment plants are only the latest in a long line of engineering marvels that have distanced us from disease, she shows, but, importantly, they have also caused considerable damage to our earth's ecology. Zeldovich explains the massive redistribution of nutrients and sanitation inequities across the globe, drawing on her research and many interviews"--
Grossly ambitious and rooted in scientific scholarship, The Other Dark Matter shows how human excrement can be a life-saving, money-making resource&;if we make better use of it. The average person produces about four hundred pounds of excrement a year. More than seven billion people live on this planet. Holy crap! Because of the diseases it spreads, we have learned to distance ourselves from our waste, but the long line of engineering marvels we&;ve created to do so&;from Roman sewage systems and medieval latrines to the immense, computerized treatment plants we use today&;has also done considerable damage to the earth&;s ecology. Now scientists tell us: we&;ve been wasting our waste. When recycled correctly, this resource, cheap and widely available, can be converted into a sustainable energy source, act as an organic fertilizer, provide effective medicinal therapy for antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection, and much more. In clear and engaging prose that draws on her extensive research and interviews, Lina Zeldovich documents the massive redistribution of nutrients and sanitation inequities across the globe. She profiles the pioneers of poop upcycling, from startups in African villages to innovators in American cities that convert sewage into fertilizer, biogas, crude oil, and even life-saving medicine. She breaks taboos surrounding sewage disposal and shows how hygienic waste repurposing can help battle climate change, reduce acid rain, and eliminate toxic algal blooms. Ultimately, she implores us to use our innate organic power for the greater good. Don&;t just sit there and let it go to waste.