Nothing brings you down to earth as quickly as feces. As astronauts know, you can escape gravity, but you can’t escape pooping.
Zoos can’t escape it, either. Years ago, Woodland Park Zoo hit upon an inexpensive way to get rid of its large herbivore (elephants, hippos, giraffes) fecal waste — offer it to Seattle gardeners as composted manure. On sale year-round in two-gallon ($12.95) and one-pint ($4.95) containers, the Zoo Doo is so popular it’s only available in bulk by lottery as part of the zoo’s Spring Fecal Fest. That’s right, you have to win the chance to buy crap.
This year, entries will be accepted March 11 through March 31, 2013, with poop pick-up scheduled for mid- to end-of-April. There’s also a mulch called “Bedspread,” courtesy of the colons of the zoo’s non-primate herbivores, and their bedding. It’s got more wood chips and sawdust in it.
Human waste, on the other hand, is not nearly so prized. A sewage overflow has resulted in the temporary closure of the Lincoln Park beach in West Seattle. The Department of Ecology’s Fecal Matters blog tracks these things for you, and will announce when the beach is open. It’s a little early in the year for swimming, but adventuresome kids should be kept away from wading. Contaminated water is good for developing “gastroenteritis, skin rashes, upper respiratory infections and other illnesses,” notes Ecology.
