On Saturday, tailgaters at the Michigan State University-University of Michigan football game in Ann Arbor will be sought not for their fandom but for what they can produce.
Wastewater research scientists from both schools are hosting a competitive "Piss Off" at the Big House to see who can collect the most urine during game day.
Two yurts will be available at the Ann Arbor Golf Club, with volunteers directing fans, tailgaters and passersby to relieve themselves according to their loyalties, said MSU Associate Professor of Sociology Stephen Gasteyer. At this time, collections can only be made from people who stand up to pee. Collections will begin at noon and continue until 8 p.m.
The urine will be collected and turned into a nutrient-rich fertilizer for horticultural crops, a process called "peecycling." The event is being funded in part by a University Research Council Grant awarded to Gasteyer and Sociology Assistant Professor Saleh Amed. Also working on the project is Sociology PhD student Autumn Bland.
"There are two reasons for the event," Gasteyer said. "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.
