projectpowerplant.com

solonavi 19 March 2008 Technology 3,167 views No Comment Print This Post  Email This Post

Drinkpee

drinkpeedrinkpeedrinkpee is a project about the role our bodies play in larger ecosystems.

The project includes an installation and a diy kit for turning your pee into fertilizer.

:

The project was created by britta riley and rebecca bray, two artists and collaborators who also own a company called submersible design.

What happens when we think of our bodies as their own ecosystems? Are they open or closed ecosystems? Where do we draw the boundaries? Before we take medication, do we ask ourselves how it will affect our internal organs, our friendly bacteria? What is our medication’s future, beyond our bodies, in the sewage system and out in the waterways we swim in and eventually drink? What are the possible futures of our personal waste? What do sentient ecosystems eat and drink?

In this work we can see our urine become a source of overfeeding, mutation, and disease or a fertilizer in a new lifecycle economy. Waste can spur death or growth.

:

We all think of human pee as gross and something that ought to be vigorously “cleaned up” or sanitized. However, human urine is actually sterile (unlike faeces, urine is bacteria-free). This liquid by product of our daily lives can be a rich food source if it gets into the RIGHT part of the right ecosystem.  Now, most human urine travels untreated into the waterways and is a significant cause of eutrophication, a toxic condition caused by harmful algae blooms, in the oceans. The excess Nitrogen and Phosphorus in our urine overfeeds algae (like Red Tide) and effectively suffocates fish. However, a pioneering biological waste treament process being used in Switzerland can extract this phosphorus & nitrogen for use as a fertilizer, leaving the rest of urine almost harmless to aquatic life. This kit gives users the opportunity to replicate the new technique at home and fertilize their plants with their own pee.

:

Waste = Food: Urine to Fertilzer DIY Kit. Derive houseplant fertilizer and ocean-safe water from your pee!