Undercover Sludge

On Sunday night I found myself watching the World's Friendliest Boss or whatever it's called on CBS. I can imagine the pitch to the companies, in fact, I can imagine that the companies are beating down the door to sign up for this program. It paints CEOs as ordinary people with problems too (but not too many), sensitive to the workers and their issues, and the workers are generally swell, deserving of more, and working 110 percent. But the real reason companies want to sign up for the show is the enormous amount of free advertising built into the program.  This week's company was Synagro, a producer of "compelling new modes." From their website:

"Synagro works with commercial and community partners to design and execute smart, efficient and integrated solutions to their unique waste capture and conversion needs. Our extraordinary team of technical and regulatory experts leads the field in pioneering systems that redirect the byproducts of civic and industrial growth into compelling new modes for achieving sustainable balance"

Characters in this past episode had at least two times made mention of Synagro's product, the 'new mode,' and that they use it at home on trees and plants and wouldn't you know it -the plants love it. What is their product? They make 'compost' out of the solid residues found at the bottom of municipal and industrial wastewater treatment facilities.

We already know that this product is used to fertilize farm fields in the United States and probably abroad as well. But what it leads me to wonder is just this: If we are already eating food grown with a composted "everything that gets dumped down a residential toilet, sink, industrial catch basin, and institutional trough," then why are we unwilling to use composting toilets at home and spread the wealth on our own gardens?

At least we could control much of what's in it.