Urine or not? A different kind of MSU-U of M rivals contest

You know those Calvin stickers on the backs of cars? A cartoon kid peeing on random things, like a team you hate?

Real-ass wastewater scientists from the two universities are asking people to join a “Piss Off” at the Big House in Ann Arbor to determine which team is more full of piss and get some science out of the deal too.

There will be yurts – this is not a permission slip to pee willy-nilly around A2 – for taking care of number one at the Ann Arbor Golf & Outing Course, with volunteers (we have questions) who will direct fans, along with anyone else who is interested in peeing for bragging rights.

Collections will only be allowed, at this time, from people who stand up to pee, according to a release from the Department of Sociology and the College of Social Science. Collections begin at noon and will continue until 8 p.m., so drink up.

The urine will be collected and turned into a nutrient-rich fertilizer for horticultural crops, a process called “peecycling,” according to the release, authored by Karessa Weir.

https://sociology.msu.edu/news/pissoff11426.html

The event is being funded in part by a University Research Council Grant awarded to Gasteyer and Sociology Assistant Professor Saleh Ahmed. Also working on the project is Sociology PhD student Autumn Bland.  

“There are two reasons for the event,” Gasteyer said, according to Weir. “One is to actually collect the urine which can be used to produce the fertilizer but the other is to educate people that what comes out of our bodies naturally provides nutrients that can help things grow.  

“The way we currently treat urine involves a lot of energy and resources and we end up disposing of those nutrients when the entire process could be much more beneficial to the whole world.” 

U.S. regulations restrict the use of urine on food crops but it can be used widely on horticultural crops such as grass lawns and flower fields both commercially and personally, Gasteyer said.  

“It will provide you with truly beautiful peonies in the front of your house,” he said.  

The urine-to-fertilizer production is the life’s work of Dr. Nancy Love, civil and environmental engineer at University of Michigan.

Her lab needs the raw product to better scale up the process of converting urine to fertilizer and make it available for household uses. It is modeled off Vermont’s Rich Earth Institute’s annual “Piss Off” competition, which is also collaborating on this project. 

“Our department is home to the nation’s first university-based end-to-end peecycling demo system. And that includes a new toilet designed to separate out urine for both seated and standing users which is targeted to hit the market later this year,” Love said. 
  
The finished product will be used in both UM and MSU agricultural fields including at MSU’s Kellogg Biological Center and UM’s Matthaei Botanical Gardens. 

For full details on how the Piss Off works, please go to this link: https://pissoff.engin.umich.edu/