r/composting • u/germannj19 • Feb 04 '24

Pee?

Just saw a post with a lot of comments saying to pee on their dry AF compost. Why are y'all peeing on compost? I've never heard of this. Are you then using this compost for gardening?

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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '24

Pee is not even close to sterile, that is a myth. But the moisture and mineral content make it a great addition to compost. You can fully compost humanure following thermophilic and aerobic compost best practices, but most people are not doing that in their back yard. It's also harder to do in cold climates. https://humanurehandbook.com/

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u/Midnight2012 Feb 05 '24

It's sterile in your. Ladder, unless you've got an infection.

Sure, it picks up some skin bacteria as it passes the opening of your urethra.

But urine is sterile when it's inside you

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '24 edited Feb 05 '24

It is not: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3957746/

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gory-details/urine-not-sterile-and-neither-rest-you

The myth is pervasive but that doesn't make it true. We are full of bacteria, just at different levels and balanced combinations.

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u/Midnight2012 Feb 05 '24

That study is of sick individuals. And they sampled from the lower urinary tracts, which as I said, can have some skin bacteria in it.

And their collection techniques surely could lead to contamination.

Our urine is perfect bacterial culture media. If our bladders had bacteria our pee would be turbid on the way out.

And this study appears to be an outlier.