A book about sh*t. Who’d a
thunk it? And not only that, but it’s in it’s third printing…
For a while now, I’ve been leery of
the way we "civilized folk" take care of our body waste. While no
person in their right mind would purposely and willfully defecate into
drinking water, that’s just what we do, collectively about a gabazillion
times a day.
Joseph Jenkins takes us through the
history, mishaps, and misinformation surrounding this basic function of the
human animal, and gives us a truly sensible and personally studied
alternative to flushing it away downstream.
Eminently understandable, highly
illustrated, at times almost TOO technical, and even touting little mascot
“Tommy Turd” giving little helpful hints, this is a fun read in OR out of
the bathroom.
But at the core of the matter is a
tenet that is near and dear to homesteaders - care of and for the planet and
the tiny speck of it we each call "home".
An excerpt:
"The people who care enough about
the earth to recycle their personal by-products do so as an exercise in
humility, not because they’re going to get rich and famous for it.
That makes them better people. Some people go to church on Sunday,
others make compost. Still others do both. Others go to church
on Sunday, then throw all their garbage out into the environment. The
exercising of the human spirit can take many forms, and the simple act of
cleaning up after oneself is one of them. The careless dumping of
waste out into the world is a self-centered act of arrogance - or
ignorance.”
This book provides the nuts and
bolts knowledge to carry out the most basic and important recycling project
any of us could take on.
