It’s not something we talk about in polite company, but waste – human or animal – is not really waste. It’s a resource that, among other things, can be used to generate power, and help make farms – and homes – much more independent of traditional power companies. Think ‘biogas’. Think ‘circular economy’. Think ‘opportunity’ rather than ‘problem’.

I was reminded of this yet again when I was reading a recent IPS story from Argentina, about the Monje Agricultural and Livestock Cooperative, which operates a pig farm of about 200 sows that is located in the northeastern province of Santa Fe. Two hundred pigs produce a lot of manure, which used to be collected in large open ponds that emitted methane – not to mention objectionable smells.