The Wastewater Gardener

Mark Nelson, PhD, takes us on a global expedition to learn how we are wasting the world’s dwindling supply of fresh water by flushing away a very valuable resource, our own human wastes! The author is founding director of the Institute of Ecotechnics and has worked for several decades in closed ecological systems research. As one of eight brave souls enclosed in the pioneering Biosphere 2 experiment, Nelson realized how essential the proper use of human waste is to the health of the planet. This, combined with his lifelong love affair with constructed wetlands, led to the discovery of Wastewater Gardens, an important solution to some of our trickiest global environmental dilemmas. While the problems and case studies covered in this book are indeed quite serious, Mark’s approach to the subject makes for a fun, down-to-earth and very informative read. The foreword is written by renowned British environmentalist Tony Juniper.