Kim Nace is the Co-Founder and CEO (from 2011 to 2021) of the Rich Earth Institute, a research institution in Battleboro, Vermont. Their vision is of a world with clean water and fertile soil achieved by reclaiming the nutrients from our bodies as elements in a life sustaining cycle. Does this mean you are flushing liquid gold down your toilet? It is possible… listen and read to find out what you can do! For more information visit their website, https://richearthinstitute.org/

Kim Nace holds an M.A. in International Administration from World Learning and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Keene State College. She was a Peace Corps volunteer in Botswana and has taught children of all ages. She coordinated research funded by the MacArthur Foundation and later served as an Elementary School Principal in rural Vermont and in Chennai, India. She has been passionate about sustainable sanitation alternatives ever since creating an educational video about composting toilets for her 1989 master’s thesis project.

[2:00] Urine fertilizer – taboo or just an ascribed attitude? [4:40] Urea fertilizer shortages [8:50] Kimmerly Nace’s story: school principal, Peace Corps, entrepreneur [12:45] “The Big Necessity” by Rose George; this is a large, very contextual problem [14:20] New York City and Detroit centralized sewage systems [18:00] Wastewater, nutrient reclamation, space toilets, cleanliness [24:30] Decentralized sewer systems [31:45] Context, soils, composting systems vs. pipes and sewers, climate resilience [34:45] The paradigm shift: waste to resource, hydroponics, algal blooms [35:45] “The Facts” and saving 11,000 gallons of water per year [42:45] How the Rich Earth Institute's system works [47:00] Research trials: urine versus conventional fertilizer [53:00] Where does your fertilizer come from? [59:00] “Waste is just a resource out of place” [1:01:00] Rich Earth Summit, Policy, Dr. Nancy Love, Tove Larson [1:10:00] What will happen if we don’t transition to a productive sanitation model? [1:16:00] Efficiency [1:30:00] Entrepreneurship [1:38:00] If you have an idea about anything that will make the planet work better, don’t wait for somebody else to do it