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76 points rntn | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.215s | source
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amarant ◴[] No.45086858[source]
Why is human fecal matter worse for the environment than animal fecal matter?

Something in our diets?

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SR2Z ◴[] No.45086925[source]
We are apex predators, and our shit contains the condensed toxins from all of the lower rungs on the food chain. The other extreme would be an animal like a cow, which shits basically smellier grass.

That's basically it. A human being that's only eaten plants has much less devastating poops.

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dmurray ◴[] No.45087200[source]
I don't think this last conclusion is true. It's really about harmful bacteria, not "toxins". Even vegetarians have a complex digestive system that can harbour pathogens. Perhaps their faeces are safer to use as manure than those from a meat-eating human, but much closer to that than to a cow.
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SR2Z ◴[] No.45088602[source]
I have heard that it's unusually nutrient rich - maybe not toxins, but human shit definitely causes algal blooms.
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1. leksak ◴[] No.45089849[source]
And human urine