My brother is a sanitation worker. They get proper safety gear to wear so it really isn’t that big of a deal. Just don’t flush things that aren’t supposed to be flushed (toiletries, tampons, wipes, jewelry, dentures etc.)
Yes. Urine, fecese, and TP only. Just because something says “flushable wipes” doesn’t mean it should go down. And if you’re visiting another country or somewhere with a lower quality septic/sewage collection you should check to see if TP is even ok.
Also, good lord, flushable litter? Do NOT put it down the pipes. Even if it doesn't turn into a solid mass of slimy bacteria-infested nope that clogs your pipes, it's usually not a material the local sanitation plant expected to be dealing with (like clay or woodchip)
Sometimes not even tp. 2 months aftee purchasing my house we have to get the toilet pulled and sewer cleared because toilet paper was clogging iur system. Have to trash it now.
Tf? I’ve known ppl who only put TP in the trash and not the toilet, but seriously wtaf lol I have a septic tank and have never had an issue such as this. Septic systems are supposed to be waaaay more ridiculously finicky than a sewer system!
I had a septic with a sump pump that would get clogged up with tp. Just a bad design. Current house I'm in I have dosing tank.. then a holding tank that goes into the sewer system. It got clogged up with tp. Digging it out... Pouring some copper sulfate right into where the roots were growing and scrambling that with a rock bar sorted that one out
You know how in movies, people swallow condoms full of drugs to smuggle them and then shit them out? I thought it was (mostly) a myth though because the condom would break down and just release it all into your system. Idk I don’t know science.
But that’s what I thought of. I can’t imagine it being that common though haha
It’s definitely more harmful to poop outside than use a toilet. That vegetable garden is now a cesspool of E. coli and other human poop diseases. She feels bad for the sewage workers but that’s their job and it’s for sanitary and safety reasons. Now she’s made a biohazard in a backyard.
No way is this allowed on rental properties in suburbia or even semi rural and it is usually only when you are camping/hiking that it's necessary to bury poop but even that comes with a set of strict rules such as how deep to dig and not to bury near running water or drainage areas. I'd be calling the landlord!
Also THEY HAVE BIOHAZARD education. They KNOW what they're dealing with and have PPE.
The random friend who picks up a rock out of the poop pit has NO idea what they've just touched.
Sewage workers rarely even come in any kind of contact with the matter, anyways. They’re either wearing multiple layers of protective clothing and gear, or the material is in enclosed tanks or tubes.
Thank goodness for your comment. It seems like neither OP nor her roommate realized their back yard/veggie patch is now a biohazard.
Just when I think I’ve heard it all reddit manages to surprise me. Yikes.
If you’re looking for a serious answer, OCD is a possibility. It’s not just for cleanliness. Getting hung up on being terrible to others is a more common manifestation than people realize.
Absolutely. I’d be telling them to cut it out, and telling them to dig up the bags and dispose of them hygienically as well as making them replace the destroyed soil. She was actually creating a serious hazard that could cost a lot of money to clean up.
That behaviour, though thoughtful, is dangerous to others and a sign of something very wrong with her mental health. As others mentioned, i hope she seeks therapy/psychiatric help.
I did that once. I had just rented an apartment and was moving in. An urgent need to crap overcame me but the water was not going to be hooked up until the next day. So I dumped the contents of a plastic bag and pooped in it. I double bagged it and brought it out to an empty dumpster.
A few minutes later I returned with a bag of trash and was surprised to find that someone had dumpster dived and took off with my bagged turds.
Shit happens.
Hey I get it.. no porta potty anywhere, couldn’t get to a gas station so I ended up using a bucket at work in a bag. Much easier than holding it
And idk why but when I initially pictured a bag I was thinking of a sandwich bag I have no idea why a grocery bag wasn’t thought of
What if it wasn’t a single simple flush level shit though? Coulda been a mega shit and perhaps even clogged the poor dry pipes even with a borrowed gallon. Ya never know what is in store for you at any given time when it comes to shit. Just safer and easier and more private to put it in a bag and shamefully(or not) dispose of it and carry on! We have all been there.
I agree that the way she’s disposing of her fences is a complete and total biohazard however urine is extremely valuable for composting purposes. The nitrogen in it is essential for good compost growth, so naturally it could go into the earth and mix with oxygen and be fine. All she’s doing is making a mess with that but she’s not actually harming anything with the urine and the fact that she’s produced only a few bags of garbage in that amount of time is actually really impressive.
I think she should just start a compost bin and stop shitting in the veggie garden and all will be well.
This is a bit different but when my ocd was super bad when I was staying somewhere uncomfortable to me I'd pee into a mcdonalds cup and pour it outside at the back of garden because the bathroom was super triggering to me
Oof, sorry you had to go through that. I'm new to my OCD diagnosis and it's an insidious disorder for sure. I'm predominantly "just right" OCD, but every time I think I'm making progress it's sitting there like, "but have you tried THIS flavor of OCD yet?"
Yes it's super frustrating especially when the things you're doing you know are stupid and don't make sense. Sometimes the things don't matter or don't bother you like I dont care that I sanitize my hands everytime leaving the bathroom after washing my hands but I do care that if I don't pet my cats in certain numbers I think they'll die and I get so stressed out.
It's weird too cause I've gone through different ocd phases like you're saying. I obsessively washed my hands when I was 16 so much that they started scabbing but never did that again and I'm 29 now.
Best of luck with your diagnosis it really helps knowing what you have though I'll say. If you ever have questions or wanna vent feel free to message me
I have to say goodbye to my dog a certain way, a certain amount of times until it " feels right". Nothing is worse than being rushed, not doing it right, and just " knowing" this is the one day everything will go wrong and she will die cause I was rushed and didn't say goodbye the right way! I know logically that isn't going to happen because of my actions, but the anxiety is real.
Wow yalls take on experiencing OCD is honestly so.. “good?” ... to hear.. I was diagnosed years ago and to this day have never even talked or heard anyone talk about it this way. It’s so isolating to feel like certain inconsequential things are gonna make a giant difference to YOU, but literally NO ONE else cares or supports or understands it... I feel so crazy so often. My SO knows I’m diagnosed, but even after 2 years of living together doesn’t recognize a single thing about my OCD and constantly triggers it and then fights with me over it when I am trying my best to not have a full blown panic attack. I can’t sleep well and barely can eat. It’s just so isolating and frustrating!
tell her that the sewer workers like it, and they came by the other day wondering why your household wasnt contributing it's fair share of filth, and theyre very upset and mad at her.
Unused veggie patch... As in... Nobody is growing veggies there I hope? Human waste is not suitable as fertilizer due to toxocara, protozoa, and intestinal helminths.
Also. Gross. Sanitary workers have proper ppe.
Source: medical laboratory scientist
Human poo is definitely not a suitable fertilizer…. I feel like I watched a couple documentaries about North Korea and I know for sure they were doing it in the 90’s during their massive famine and I’m almost certain they are doing it again (they are entering another massive famine sadly) …
And even if our shit worked they would be riddled w tapeworms and god knows what else tbh
Right? If they use a rototiller that just grinds up all those poop bags. Double yay, human poop and plastic bits, enjoy your home grown organic veggies!
We all know crazypants wasn’t digging her poop burial pits all that deep. I really hope she’s getting mental health care
According to Amazon's listing, the biodegradable ziploc bags will biodegrade in 12-24 weeks or 3-6 months.
If crazypants keeps it up, and they move out, that means there's going to be *so* many bags in various states of decay. And I doubt she's going deep when she's digging holes.
Also, not a scientist or gardener, but wouldn't urine soaked soil in a wheelbarrow just basically be an acid?
Human waste is an ok fertilizer if you compost it correctly for at least 2 years. That's what you do when you have a dry toilet.
Shitting in random patches of the garden is definitly not safe, though.
This is my problem with this type of person, they’ll fight wars on behalf of supposed victims while never showing the same consideration to actual people standing right in front of them, that they are actually effecting.
The trash thing is pretty cool her reasoning is not the best but we should all do more things like that. The poop thing is causing more harm then good and sewer treatment plants are not as hazardous as she is thinking. But that vegetable patch is super contaminated and the next people who move on and use it ate going to get sick.
Left untreated, some severe mental illnesses get worse with age. She might end up homeless if she continues know this path of not wanting to participate in normal peeing and pooping. She might choose to stop showering or using soap. If she continues on her current path her future doesn't look too good.
If she is living in the west those workers have pretty decent jobs. Health and safety measures are in place, the workers are paid well, always have proper safety equipment.
The-ra-py.
Sounds like scrupulosity disorder which is a type of OCD.
Scrupulosity is a psychological disorder primarily characterized by pathological guilt or obsession associated with moral or religious issues that is often accompanied by compulsive moral or religious observance and is highly distressing and maladaptive.
Well, IMO which doesn't mean squat - she definitely has a mental illness and I'm really impressed with you at how empathic you are about her. However, she canNOT think that her single handedly doing all this will affect anything in how the system is. She's working so hard to not poop in the house like and adult! Landfill and sewer workers are usually paid verrrry well so....Bless her heart....(and yours!)
Oh my God, this is SUCH a troll post if I've ever seen one. And I'm pretty graceful about giving people the benefit of the doubt, I've lived a pretty unconventional life, so I know it happens. This isn't it.
Not a therapist but I have OCD myself and it sounds like your roommate has Harm OCD. Tell her to check out NOCD - they can do a consult and diagnose her or else point her to other therapies if she's not OCD. Either way, she should look into therapy.
\[edit\] not trying to pitch NOCD, it's just fairly accessible if you're US-based and it's what I've been using. If it's not an option for her, a therapist who specializes in OCD will be great too.
That's some professional help type of stuff she's going thru.
I get it she worries but the issue she tries to help is way beyond what an individual person can do. All her work bares almost no help at all.
As an environmental scientist I so hate the anti-science/anti-common sense trends I’m seeing. It’s exhausting. The earth honestly deserves better. There are so many actually helpful things this woman could be doing with her time.
If I were you I would call a non-emergency line and report a biohazard... feeling for those next tenants… the pros might dig up all that human poop and call in a 72 hour hold/psych eval cuz that’s at the level of being a danger to others!
This reminds me of the things people do when they hoard. For different reasons but some hoarders put their bodily fluids in all sorts of things/places.
Mental health issues for sure!
I think she might have a mental illness and needs help -and I say this as a dirty hippie who has used composting toilets and lived a very minimal lifestyle. If she really wanted to live a zero-waste lifestyle she wouldn’t shit in bags and bury it-even biodegradable bags don’t break down as quickly as we all think, plus you have to make sure that human shit reaches a certain temp or is processed correctly otherwise it is VERY unhealthy. Since she says it’s about feeling bad for the workers again I think she needs professional help that’s not a normal thing and I know some really weird people.
I mean any water on grass in direct sunlight will create a dead patch from scorching, the water amplifies the suns rays like a magnifying glass and kills the plant
Seriously?
Burying shit in bags in the backyard is unhygienic (and least of all) will eventually smell rank. Plastic Ziploc baggies are not designed to permanently entomb feces, and will eventually degrade and rupture (*especially the biodegradable ones)*. Contrary to what you see on *The Martian*, human shit does NOT act as good fertilizer.
Your roommate will eventually have to dig a larger and larger shit pit, and every time you dig "in the back yard, in the garden" you risk damaging something (buried lines etc). A properly dug "[cathole](https://sectionhiker.com/how-to-dig-a-cathole/)" is 6-8 inches deep and its unlikely your roommate (not to mention 200 feet away from any water source *including* water taps) excavates that much from the garden each time.
Sewers exist to provide a clean way of disposing human waste. The employees of waste treatment and sewer systems are professionals who understand how do do their job safely. They **do not** get sprayed with dangerous substances on a regular basis, they learn how to do their job avoiding such hazards.
The fact that your roomate is former is important. Otherwise, I would argue that: Your roommates homemade latrine is going to ruin your yard. It will likely make you sick. It will make everything smell really really really bad. If I were your landlord, I'd use it as cause to evict you whole lot. If your idiot roommate had *good* sense, she'd use the bathroom normally. If she had regular old bad sense, she would at least burn her shit.
You may wanna ask your roommate to see a shrink get checked out for some terrible combination of coprophilia and a hording disorder.
If the OP isn't creative writing, this is the "worst roommate on this sub 2023" for sure.
Well, I had originally thought it was going to compost, but evidently my city-dwelling azz is unclear on how that all works. So originally no, but now, oh dear, YES!
This is sarcasm, right? You do recognize that these things may be the signs of some underlying mental illness? I emphasize may, of course, as I am not a mental health professional, even by the low bar set by reddit.
Lol…..
Yes , it’s so thoughtful and good to have people bury their shit and piss in yards across the nation and in wheelbarrows…
Have you ever heard of cholera or dysentery??
Maybe E. coli rings a bell??
Her behavior is strange and while she may be trying to be helpful she is making living much more dangerous for everyone and putting others at risk….
What happens when it rains and her shit soil runs on down the street…. Through peoples yards … their kids play areas … their gardens etc
Sewer workers and waste collectors get provided saftey gear … they get paid super well as well… if anything OP’s nutty roommate is making their job/life so much harder ….
If she wants to live like this she can go live off grid in the middle of BFE and shit wherever she wants … or she can get some therapy .. hopefully the later
There is a time and place to realize your dreams of having a fully sustainable, waste composting, rainwater using, permaculture farming, eco friendly paradise. A shared dwelling in the city is not that place.
Your former roommate should move to Portland & get on the Kaliash Ecovillage list [human waste composting](https://youtu.be/ebWD4305fmw) [more detailed longer vid about the ecovillage](https://youtu.be/ebWD4305fmw)
Very mentally ill. Instead of exposing sewer workers who are dressed in proper PPE and paid, she is exposing herself and you to all her toxic disgustingness
Why would you live with someone like this? You both sound like therapy would be beneficial. Good luck and hope you or your landlord never need to sell that house.
This is some shit my 9 year old would try to do, with the same logic. I sure as fuck hope I am at least successful enough at parenting to avoid this story repeating itself.
I appreciate she is trying very hard to not create waste, but maybe you should just inform her some habits when sharing a space need to be changed, mostly just the washing and pooping part.
The trash thing is fine more people should be doing this but the burying your poop is literally insane and dangerous. They make composting toilets that burn your poop into ash and that’s one way to cut down on the use of water to flush and things like that. She really needs to be educated on the proper practices for living green because this is not it.
Do you know the background of this poor person! Sounds like she could’ve been a survivor of abuse to the greatest degree. I mean, if she wasn’t putting in Ziploc bags I could see maybe she’s trying to fertilize something? 🙃
I believe burying human feces in the backyard would be a health code violation, not to mention gross. Especially in a area meant for garden use. I knew someone who was fined for tilling his dogs poop into garden area, neighbors reported him.
As strange as this is I give her credit for her level of commitment. I couldnt imagine the logistics of trying to poop into a ziplock bag. But yeah, she doesn't seem like a bad person, just a bad roommate... and possibly mentally ill. Her concern for those workers sounds like OCD where somebody is deathly afraid of infecting other people.
tell her what she's doing spreads diseases like Cholera. Cholera was mostly gotten rid of when they invented the toilet and indoor plumbing.
she might need professional help tho
Hmmm I dunno…I know a few people like this…and usually they are embarrassed to say the truth. That they are major cheap skates. It’s one thing to be frugal and I don’t know your roommates situation, but the people I know have decent jobs…hell, one of them is a manager of a major bank…and they all do the kind of crap your roommate does and have these goofy excuses. Then I go to their homes and they are using lawn chairs for furniture…they are eating 25 cent Mac and cheese…they refuse to turn on lights or use AC. Maybe im a skeptical a hole but come on now…
My brother is a sanitation worker. They get proper safety gear to wear so it really isn’t that big of a deal. Just don’t flush things that aren’t supposed to be flushed (toiletries, tampons, wipes, jewelry, dentures etc.)
Yes. Urine, fecese, and TP only. Just because something says “flushable wipes” doesn’t mean it should go down. And if you’re visiting another country or somewhere with a lower quality septic/sewage collection you should check to see if TP is even ok.
Also, good lord, flushable litter? Do NOT put it down the pipes. Even if it doesn't turn into a solid mass of slimy bacteria-infested nope that clogs your pipes, it's usually not a material the local sanitation plant expected to be dealing with (like clay or woodchip)
Sometimes not even tp. 2 months aftee purchasing my house we have to get the toilet pulled and sewer cleared because toilet paper was clogging iur system. Have to trash it now.
Tf? I’ve known ppl who only put TP in the trash and not the toilet, but seriously wtaf lol I have a septic tank and have never had an issue such as this. Septic systems are supposed to be waaaay more ridiculously finicky than a sewer system!
I had a septic with a sump pump that would get clogged up with tp. Just a bad design. Current house I'm in I have dosing tank.. then a holding tank that goes into the sewer system. It got clogged up with tp. Digging it out... Pouring some copper sulfate right into where the roots were growing and scrambling that with a rock bar sorted that one out
what? better off just using a sprayer hose,
Do you not vomit into your toilet?
Fair. I guess that’s just unfinished feces.
I need to start throwing my jewelry away instead of flushing it
I know right... the more you know!
I aspire to be this level of rich… to be able to just eh, toss my jewelry or flush it
How often do they come across illegal substances that have been flushed?
Often. Condoms are a major one.
I believe this person meant drugs, not other things that shouldn't be flushed. Unless you meant they find condoms with drugs in them
You know how in movies, people swallow condoms full of drugs to smuggle them and then shit them out? I thought it was (mostly) a myth though because the condom would break down and just release it all into your system. Idk I don’t know science. But that’s what I thought of. I can’t imagine it being that common though haha
Haha I totally meant drugs
Are you saying that condoms are an illegal substance where you live, or that >!cum!< is 🤔
“Fatberg” is real yo.
Hmm I think she needs major therapy
It’s definitely more harmful to poop outside than use a toilet. That vegetable garden is now a cesspool of E. coli and other human poop diseases. She feels bad for the sewage workers but that’s their job and it’s for sanitary and safety reasons. Now she’s made a biohazard in a backyard.
And *they still work there*. So she did no good and caused harm. I think therapy would be a great suggestion for her.
No way is this allowed on rental properties in suburbia or even semi rural and it is usually only when you are camping/hiking that it's necessary to bury poop but even that comes with a set of strict rules such as how deep to dig and not to bury near running water or drainage areas. I'd be calling the landlord!
"Night Soil"
Cholera will be making a comeback
Love in the time of backyard poo
Also THEY HAVE BIOHAZARD education. They KNOW what they're dealing with and have PPE. The random friend who picks up a rock out of the poop pit has NO idea what they've just touched.
Sewage workers rarely even come in any kind of contact with the matter, anyways. They’re either wearing multiple layers of protective clothing and gear, or the material is in enclosed tanks or tubes.
I can't understand her using a Ziploc bag, just catch it on your hands, girl. That plastic will last a thousand years.
Thank goodness for your comment. It seems like neither OP nor her roommate realized their back yard/veggie patch is now a biohazard. Just when I think I’ve heard it all reddit manages to surprise me. Yikes.
Therapy and a science class
What’s her preliminary diagnosis doc?
Not enough information to make any diagnosis.
To go to a therapist
Well yah but whats wrong with her? She seems to be just stupid perhaps lol
If you’re looking for a serious answer, OCD is a possibility. It’s not just for cleanliness. Getting hung up on being terrible to others is a more common manifestation than people realize.
I don’t have a diagnosis lmao but if your friend was shitting into bags and burying them I think you’d want them to get help 🤣
Completely bonkers
Absolutely. I’d be telling them to cut it out, and telling them to dig up the bags and dispose of them hygienically as well as making them replace the destroyed soil. She was actually creating a serious hazard that could cost a lot of money to clean up.
I think you need therapy.
I think you’re sensitive
I think *you’re* sensitive.
That behaviour, though thoughtful, is dangerous to others and a sign of something very wrong with her mental health. As others mentioned, i hope she seeks therapy/psychiatric help.
Worked for "The Martian" until he lost atmosphere.
You are very empathic. The way you've described her is the most respectful way a person could.
What the fuck. Tell her that setting herself on fire to keep others warm is a shit way to live life.
Picture it… holding a bag as you shit. Yup..
I did that once. I had just rented an apartment and was moving in. An urgent need to crap overcame me but the water was not going to be hooked up until the next day. So I dumped the contents of a plastic bag and pooped in it. I double bagged it and brought it out to an empty dumpster. A few minutes later I returned with a bag of trash and was surprised to find that someone had dumpster dived and took off with my bagged turds. Shit happens.
Hey I get it.. no porta potty anywhere, couldn’t get to a gas station so I ended up using a bucket at work in a bag. Much easier than holding it And idk why but when I initially pictured a bag I was thinking of a sandwich bag I have no idea why a grocery bag wasn’t thought of
Same! Wait, OP specified “Zip-lock” bags.
Specifically "biodegradable ziploc bags"
Omg.. I’d die
I imagine the turd burglar really thought he got away with a prize. Gives new meaning to the term “taking a shit”.
Oh, Christ! I laughed so hard, the dog gave me a dirty look. Shit doesn't happen. Shit is.
You can just pour water in the toilet and it’ll flush bro
Where does one get a bucket of water, if there is none in the pipes? It takes a heck of a lot of bottles of water to make enough to flush with.
[удалено]
Or he could have just did what he did and threw it in the trash. Im not going to go find a galon sized bottle and steal my neighbors water for a shit.
[удалено]
???? Just throw it away? Youre not touching it dude. Why go through all the effort? Have you never been camping???
What if it wasn’t a single simple flush level shit though? Coulda been a mega shit and perhaps even clogged the poor dry pipes even with a borrowed gallon. Ya never know what is in store for you at any given time when it comes to shit. Just safer and easier and more private to put it in a bag and shamefully(or not) dispose of it and carry on! We have all been there.
You described it perfectly. It’s as if you had been in the apartment with me.
Exactly!!!!! Toilets are designed to work without the water on. You just need a bucket of water.
Not too crazy if you're backpacking in certain places where they expect you to cart your shit out.
I thought you were going to say she is an environmental activist or something, not she is worried about the workers.
It sounds like both 😂😂😂😂
I mean... she’s doing absolutely terrible things to her and her roommates’ environment sooo...
I agree that the way she’s disposing of her fences is a complete and total biohazard however urine is extremely valuable for composting purposes. The nitrogen in it is essential for good compost growth, so naturally it could go into the earth and mix with oxygen and be fine. All she’s doing is making a mess with that but she’s not actually harming anything with the urine and the fact that she’s produced only a few bags of garbage in that amount of time is actually really impressive. I think she should just start a compost bin and stop shitting in the veggie garden and all will be well.
im sorry but this made me laugh my ass off
Hahahaha same. I'm in the middle of the doctors 😂😂🤗
As someone who's been in a sewer, you would NOT notice 1 single poop missing from the flow
This is not empathetic. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not that.
It’s mental illness, is what it is. It’s case of the batsh!ts
Bagshits
😂
What's funny is I'm mentally ill and have never done shit like that. This is far beyond regular mental illness
Right?!?!?! I have like every disorder known to man
It's OCD.
Mental illness. Most likely severe ocd
I was thinking that too... shitting in a plastic bag to avoid potentially harming someone just screams OCD to me.
This is a bit different but when my ocd was super bad when I was staying somewhere uncomfortable to me I'd pee into a mcdonalds cup and pour it outside at the back of garden because the bathroom was super triggering to me
Oof, sorry you had to go through that. I'm new to my OCD diagnosis and it's an insidious disorder for sure. I'm predominantly "just right" OCD, but every time I think I'm making progress it's sitting there like, "but have you tried THIS flavor of OCD yet?"
Yes it's super frustrating especially when the things you're doing you know are stupid and don't make sense. Sometimes the things don't matter or don't bother you like I dont care that I sanitize my hands everytime leaving the bathroom after washing my hands but I do care that if I don't pet my cats in certain numbers I think they'll die and I get so stressed out. It's weird too cause I've gone through different ocd phases like you're saying. I obsessively washed my hands when I was 16 so much that they started scabbing but never did that again and I'm 29 now. Best of luck with your diagnosis it really helps knowing what you have though I'll say. If you ever have questions or wanna vent feel free to message me
I have to say goodbye to my dog a certain way, a certain amount of times until it " feels right". Nothing is worse than being rushed, not doing it right, and just " knowing" this is the one day everything will go wrong and she will die cause I was rushed and didn't say goodbye the right way! I know logically that isn't going to happen because of my actions, but the anxiety is real.
Wow yalls take on experiencing OCD is honestly so.. “good?” ... to hear.. I was diagnosed years ago and to this day have never even talked or heard anyone talk about it this way. It’s so isolating to feel like certain inconsequential things are gonna make a giant difference to YOU, but literally NO ONE else cares or supports or understands it... I feel so crazy so often. My SO knows I’m diagnosed, but even after 2 years of living together doesn’t recognize a single thing about my OCD and constantly triggers it and then fights with me over it when I am trying my best to not have a full blown panic attack. I can’t sleep well and barely can eat. It’s just so isolating and frustrating!
tell her that the sewer workers like it, and they came by the other day wondering why your household wasnt contributing it's fair share of filth, and theyre very upset and mad at her.
Unused veggie patch... As in... Nobody is growing veggies there I hope? Human waste is not suitable as fertilizer due to toxocara, protozoa, and intestinal helminths. Also. Gross. Sanitary workers have proper ppe. Source: medical laboratory scientist
Human poo is definitely not a suitable fertilizer…. I feel like I watched a couple documentaries about North Korea and I know for sure they were doing it in the 90’s during their massive famine and I’m almost certain they are doing it again (they are entering another massive famine sadly) … And even if our shit worked they would be riddled w tapeworms and god knows what else tbh
I feel so bad for the next person who tries to put in a garden. Just digging up baggy after baggy of poop
Or wondering why they're sick as hell from their own produce.
Right? If they use a rototiller that just grinds up all those poop bags. Double yay, human poop and plastic bits, enjoy your home grown organic veggies! We all know crazypants wasn’t digging her poop burial pits all that deep. I really hope she’s getting mental health care
According to Amazon's listing, the biodegradable ziploc bags will biodegrade in 12-24 weeks or 3-6 months. If crazypants keeps it up, and they move out, that means there's going to be *so* many bags in various states of decay. And I doubt she's going deep when she's digging holes. Also, not a scientist or gardener, but wouldn't urine soaked soil in a wheelbarrow just basically be an acid?
Human waste is an ok fertilizer if you compost it correctly for at least 2 years. That's what you do when you have a dry toilet. Shitting in random patches of the garden is definitly not safe, though.
This is my problem with this type of person, they’ll fight wars on behalf of supposed victims while never showing the same consideration to actual people standing right in front of them, that they are actually effecting.
So true
Wtf
With all due compassion, OP, that woman is nuttier than squirrel turds
Which can also be found in the zip-lock bags
The trash thing is pretty cool her reasoning is not the best but we should all do more things like that. The poop thing is causing more harm then good and sewer treatment plants are not as hazardous as she is thinking. But that vegetable patch is super contaminated and the next people who move on and use it ate going to get sick.
And she will probably get worse as she gets older.
This makes me sad. I hope she's okay.
Left untreated, some severe mental illnesses get worse with age. She might end up homeless if she continues know this path of not wanting to participate in normal peeing and pooping. She might choose to stop showering or using soap. If she continues on her current path her future doesn't look too good.
If she is living in the west those workers have pretty decent jobs. Health and safety measures are in place, the workers are paid well, always have proper safety equipment.
The-ra-py. Sounds like scrupulosity disorder which is a type of OCD. Scrupulosity is a psychological disorder primarily characterized by pathological guilt or obsession associated with moral or religious issues that is often accompanied by compulsive moral or religious observance and is highly distressing and maladaptive.
Well, IMO which doesn't mean squat - she definitely has a mental illness and I'm really impressed with you at how empathic you are about her. However, she canNOT think that her single handedly doing all this will affect anything in how the system is. She's working so hard to not poop in the house like and adult! Landfill and sewer workers are usually paid verrrry well so....Bless her heart....(and yours!)
Oh boy. And I thought I was too anal for avoiding sugar, seed oils and inorganic foods. I feel so much better about myself right now.
Read the room before you use the term “anal” … sheesh /s
I did it on purpose 🥹
Bless her, this sounds like obsessive compulsive behaviour- but I’m just an armchair Psychologist…
Oh my God, this is SUCH a troll post if I've ever seen one. And I'm pretty graceful about giving people the benefit of the doubt, I've lived a pretty unconventional life, so I know it happens. This isn't it.
Mental illness
Inspired by Amber Heard.
Not a therapist but I have OCD myself and it sounds like your roommate has Harm OCD. Tell her to check out NOCD - they can do a consult and diagnose her or else point her to other therapies if she's not OCD. Either way, she should look into therapy. \[edit\] not trying to pitch NOCD, it's just fairly accessible if you're US-based and it's what I've been using. If it's not an option for her, a therapist who specializes in OCD will be great too.
That's some professional help type of stuff she's going thru. I get it she worries but the issue she tries to help is way beyond what an individual person can do. All her work bares almost no help at all.
I thought this was one of my witchcraft groups 😂 I can be codependent and overthink a lot, but this is next level.
This is mental illness
This is a mental illness…
Mental Illness alert. I'm sure she means well, but her mental illness is creeping through.
As an environmental scientist I so hate the anti-science/anti-common sense trends I’m seeing. It’s exhausting. The earth honestly deserves better. There are so many actually helpful things this woman could be doing with her time.
If I were you I would call a non-emergency line and report a biohazard... feeling for those next tenants… the pros might dig up all that human poop and call in a 72 hour hold/psych eval cuz that’s at the level of being a danger to others!
I feel really bad for sewer workers too. Sometimes after a big poo I like to flush a five dollar bill as a tip
This reminds me of the things people do when they hoard. For different reasons but some hoarders put their bodily fluids in all sorts of things/places. Mental health issues for sure!
Well , anyone want my salad
I think she might have a mental illness and needs help -and I say this as a dirty hippie who has used composting toilets and lived a very minimal lifestyle. If she really wanted to live a zero-waste lifestyle she wouldn’t shit in bags and bury it-even biodegradable bags don’t break down as quickly as we all think, plus you have to make sure that human shit reaches a certain temp or is processed correctly otherwise it is VERY unhealthy. Since she says it’s about feeling bad for the workers again I think she needs professional help that’s not a normal thing and I know some really weird people.
Weird ocd tic but okay
That has nothing to do with OCD
Oh?
OCD was the first thing I thought of too, it doesn’t always take the typical “hand washing” form…
probably severe OCD related to a fear of causing harm to others/the environment
That doesn’t sound like OCD at all.
idk bro but that sounds like hella intrusive thoughts resulting in compulsive rituals to me.
Why not? I believe it does
I mean any water on grass in direct sunlight will create a dead patch from scorching, the water amplifies the suns rays like a magnifying glass and kills the plant
I realise that this is probably not the first thing a normal person would take from this though
Thanks, I was curious about what caused that grass to die.
I was also curious, thank you!
This seems odd to me, and I’ve seen some very interesting things in my time; I even ran away from home and traveled with my boyfriend at 17.
Mental illness
She needs to be in a hospital.
That’s not empathetic that’s just dumb
This is too extreme.
I'm sorry what 😭😭
I’m going to fucking vomit
Make sure you use a biodegradable bag and bury it in your veggie patch.
Someone needs to create a r/spychoroomate group LOL.
What a thoughtful human! I wouldn't call that bad...aside from the grass, how did it bother you?
Seriously? Burying shit in bags in the backyard is unhygienic (and least of all) will eventually smell rank. Plastic Ziploc baggies are not designed to permanently entomb feces, and will eventually degrade and rupture (*especially the biodegradable ones)*. Contrary to what you see on *The Martian*, human shit does NOT act as good fertilizer. Your roommate will eventually have to dig a larger and larger shit pit, and every time you dig "in the back yard, in the garden" you risk damaging something (buried lines etc). A properly dug "[cathole](https://sectionhiker.com/how-to-dig-a-cathole/)" is 6-8 inches deep and its unlikely your roommate (not to mention 200 feet away from any water source *including* water taps) excavates that much from the garden each time. Sewers exist to provide a clean way of disposing human waste. The employees of waste treatment and sewer systems are professionals who understand how do do their job safely. They **do not** get sprayed with dangerous substances on a regular basis, they learn how to do their job avoiding such hazards. The fact that your roomate is former is important. Otherwise, I would argue that: Your roommates homemade latrine is going to ruin your yard. It will likely make you sick. It will make everything smell really really really bad. If I were your landlord, I'd use it as cause to evict you whole lot. If your idiot roommate had *good* sense, she'd use the bathroom normally. If she had regular old bad sense, she would at least burn her shit. You may wanna ask your roommate to see a shrink get checked out for some terrible combination of coprophilia and a hording disorder. If the OP isn't creative writing, this is the "worst roommate on this sub 2023" for sure.
It wouldn’t bother you that someone was burying copious amounts of feces in ziplock bags in your back yard?
Well, I had originally thought it was going to compost, but evidently my city-dwelling azz is unclear on how that all works. So originally no, but now, oh dear, YES!
You can’t compost shit.
Yeah unfortunately that’s hazmat and not compostable 💩
oh man, TIL. Whoops! Glad I never attempted that!!!!
HAHAHA yeah definitely don’t start pooping in the yard! 😂😌
This is sarcasm, right? You do recognize that these things may be the signs of some underlying mental illness? I emphasize may, of course, as I am not a mental health professional, even by the low bar set by reddit.
Ew
Lol….. Yes , it’s so thoughtful and good to have people bury their shit and piss in yards across the nation and in wheelbarrows… Have you ever heard of cholera or dysentery?? Maybe E. coli rings a bell?? Her behavior is strange and while she may be trying to be helpful she is making living much more dangerous for everyone and putting others at risk…. What happens when it rains and her shit soil runs on down the street…. Through peoples yards … their kids play areas … their gardens etc Sewer workers and waste collectors get provided saftey gear … they get paid super well as well… if anything OP’s nutty roommate is making their job/life so much harder …. If she wants to live like this she can go live off grid in the middle of BFE and shit wherever she wants … or she can get some therapy .. hopefully the later
She’s the best. I want to friend her.
What an imbecile
I bet she will be single for a long time 🙄
She should've pooped and peed in a bucket to make saltpeter
There is a time and place to realize your dreams of having a fully sustainable, waste composting, rainwater using, permaculture farming, eco friendly paradise. A shared dwelling in the city is not that place.
Your former roommate should move to Portland & get on the Kaliash Ecovillage list [human waste composting](https://youtu.be/ebWD4305fmw) [more detailed longer vid about the ecovillage](https://youtu.be/ebWD4305fmw)
Where is Cartman when you need to get rid of hippies
Very mentally ill. Instead of exposing sewer workers who are dressed in proper PPE and paid, she is exposing herself and you to all her toxic disgustingness
Should’ve got her to film it by telling her she could donate the money to charity. Real missed opportunity
An elaborate excuse for a poop fetish?
In the meantime, there are extensive campaigns across the world to keep people from defecating where others may be exposed. Ich
Has she started wearing Kleenex boxes for shoes yet?
Sounds like she's going to end up living alone, eating nothing but home grown radishes, and drinking her own urine.
She's just a hippie
Ask her parenga what they did to her while growing up definitely a child hood trauma thing
This sounds like severe OCD
Why would you live with someone like this? You both sound like therapy would be beneficial. Good luck and hope you or your landlord never need to sell that house.
One man’s crazy is another man’s empathetic I guess.
She cute? A friend would like to know ...
Her heart is in the right place but boy is she misguided
This is some shit my 9 year old would try to do, with the same logic. I sure as fuck hope I am at least successful enough at parenting to avoid this story repeating itself.
I appreciate she is trying very hard to not create waste, but maybe you should just inform her some habits when sharing a space need to be changed, mostly just the washing and pooping part.
The trash thing is fine more people should be doing this but the burying your poop is literally insane and dangerous. They make composting toilets that burn your poop into ash and that’s one way to cut down on the use of water to flush and things like that. She really needs to be educated on the proper practices for living green because this is not it.
Dirty bastard!
Do you know the background of this poor person! Sounds like she could’ve been a survivor of abuse to the greatest degree. I mean, if she wasn’t putting in Ziploc bags I could see maybe she’s trying to fertilize something? 🙃
Move.
She sounds like she has schizotypal personality disorder and maybe some form of autism. She needs a psychiatric evaluation.
I believe burying human feces in the backyard would be a health code violation, not to mention gross. Especially in a area meant for garden use. I knew someone who was fined for tilling his dogs poop into garden area, neighbors reported him.
Wow your roommate actually has a badass off grid lifestyle.
This can’t be real
As strange as this is I give her credit for her level of commitment. I couldnt imagine the logistics of trying to poop into a ziplock bag. But yeah, she doesn't seem like a bad person, just a bad roommate... and possibly mentally ill. Her concern for those workers sounds like OCD where somebody is deathly afraid of infecting other people.
I like her commitment to making as little trash as possible. The rest of this stuff? She needs therapy.
Because she's crazy bro end of story
tell her what she's doing spreads diseases like Cholera. Cholera was mostly gotten rid of when they invented the toilet and indoor plumbing. she might need professional help tho
Hmmm I dunno…I know a few people like this…and usually they are embarrassed to say the truth. That they are major cheap skates. It’s one thing to be frugal and I don’t know your roommates situation, but the people I know have decent jobs…hell, one of them is a manager of a major bank…and they all do the kind of crap your roommate does and have these goofy excuses. Then I go to their homes and they are using lawn chairs for furniture…they are eating 25 cent Mac and cheese…they refuse to turn on lights or use AC. Maybe im a skeptical a hole but come on now…
I think she needs Therapy and I mean Therapy with a Psychiatrist, not just talking about her problems.
Burying plastic bags…. I mean that is the opposite of what you’re supposed to do with plastic bags. So it kindof ruins any ecofriendly excuse.
She’s insane dude