Cows produce eighteen gallons of poop a day. (And I thought my flu-induced diarrhea this weekend was bad!) With "Micrology" technology from a company called Environmental Power, cow poop and food waste can be digested to release methane. "One Wisconsin dairy farmer, with 875 cows, has installed a methane digester that produces enough electricity to power about 600 homes."
Adult humans only produce about a half-pound of poop a day. Nevertheless, it adds up quick. The article also discusses options for composting toilets that turn organic matter into fertilizer. The article concludes with a warning that these toilets cost upwards of $2,000; alas, it drops the ball by not mentioning Joseph Jenkins' Humanure system [8], which does a much better job than the fancy composting toilets, uses up a lot less real estate, requires a lot less installation, and can be installed for about 5% of the cost. The gist of his system: you poop in a bucket, cover it with sawdust, and put it in a big pile in the yard to decompose into fertilizer. (And, believe it or not, it's completely odorless!)
Babies produce god knows how much poop every day. The result: 18-20 BILLION diapers entering landfills annually. A company that can solve that problem will make a huge environmental impact indeed. Unfortunately, just because a company is marketing a clever product doesn't mean they're clever marketing people. gDiapers sells a dual diaper system in which the inner layer can be flushed with minimal environmental impact. But when asked what the "g" stands for, some buzzword-guzzling sales shill babbles that it represents "green and genuine, as well as baby-friendly words like giggle and groovy." Corporatespeak like that makes me wonder how well their product works trying to contain a spew of vomit.