Completing the Food Nutrient Cycle at the Rich Earth Institute

Earlier this summer, a diverse group of curious folks from our community toured the Rich Earth Institute (REI) to learn more about this unique, innovative resource in our community. REI works to complete the food nutrient cycle by turning human urine into fertilizer, supporting sustainable agriculture, and protecting water sources. 

Understandably, the idea of diverting human urine to use as fertilizer makes some people uncomfortable. Because of this, although our group included parents, teachers, school board members, and other community leaders, most people attending were careful to say in the introductions that they were not representing their organization or school but were attending as a curious community member. With that out of the way, this group was free to think creatively about how REI’s approach and technology could someday benefit our community. Ideas ranged from peecycling port-a-potties on school playgrounds and at community events, using urine as fertilizer in gardens and landscapes around town, and installing high-tech urine-diverting toilets in local schools and businesses. 

High-tech urine-diverting toilet at REI offices.

Implementing these ideas is a long way off, as we wait for technology to improve and attitudes and behaviors to change. In the meantime, we were inspired by many of the things we learned! Here are a few highlights:

This map shows the location of REI’s urine donors throughout the region.

• Human urine, which contains high nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations, makes up less than 1% of wastewater. Nitrogen and phosphorus cause harmful algae blooms, which are destructive to aquatic ecosystems. By separating human urine from other wastewater, we can eliminate up to 75% of nitrogen and 55% of phosphorus from our municipal water systems. 

• Human urine is an effective, sustainable, local alternative to commonly used synthetic fertilizers. In fact, the urine produced by one person annually contains enough fertilizer to grow nearly a whole year's supply of food! 

• Currently, around 200 dedicated volunteers in Brattleboro donate their bodily nutrients to Rich Earth’s program—totaling over 10,000 gallons of urine annually! This creates a source of sustainable fertilizer for local farms, reduces downstream nutrient pollution, and conserves over a million gallons of clean, potable water since the program began in 2013.

We're excited to see how the innovative science and research of REI can be shared over time with our schools and community to bring greater health to our farms and aquatic ecosystems. REI planted a research garden this spring which will be available this fall for educators and student groups to tour and learn more.

REI’s newly planted research garden.

Scaffolding Sustainability Education in the Classroom: NewBrook’s Ladder of Responsibility

How can we teach about large-scale problems—such as climate change—without discouraging students? This question vexes many educators as climate change and sustainability become a more integral part of classroom curriculums. Climate change is a big problem, and our initial instinct may be to lay out all the facts and urgency to our students. Not so fast though, if we only arm our students with the knowledge without also building their capacity to act, we may be discouraging future positive actions to address these important problems.

David Sobel, Director of Certificate Programs at Antioch University New England, has a solution to this dilemma—what he calls a Ladder of Environmental Responsibility. The purpose of this tool is to provide students with concrete tasks which demonstrate that their behaviors can have a positive impact on the environment. These tasks should gradually become more difficult as students move through the grades, be tied in with the existing curriculum, and provide students with nature experiences that help connect them to the environment.

As a part of a recent grant from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, Newbrook Elementary’s faculty came together last year to design their own Ladder of Responsibility. They were able to take the principles laid out by Sobel and adapt them to the specific context of their school. Now, Sam Kilmurray, NewBrook’s Garden Educator, is using the ladder as a framework for her Farm to School education. 

In addition to a host of shared tasks, there is now a specific track for students as they move from grade-to-grade. For example, Kindergarten is in charge of the pollinator garden, second grade learns about medinicial gardening, and fifth graders are the school’s waste stewards. Not only does this scaffold environmental education for students, but it can also help teachers incorporate Farm to School education—which for some may feel intimidatingly broad—into their classroom curriculum by providing a defined list of tasks for students to participate in. 

The Ladder of Environmental Responsibility can easily be adapted to fit within your school’s Farm to School program, provide clarity to your curriculum, and—most importantly—help students grow into empowered environmental stewards. If you’re looking for help to develop a Ladder of Environmental Responsibility for your school, feel free to contact Conor, conor@foodconnects.org. 

Student investigates the classroom worm bin. There are six bins in classrooms throughout the school which are a part of the 5th grader’s waste stewardship responsibilities.