Life of Pee
For example, in addition to being used to tan leather and provide saltpetre to produce gunpowder or preserve meat, it had an interesting role to play in the manufacture of Harris tweed. It softened the material and fixed the dye. Have you ever stood next to someone wearing damp, very old, tweed? Urine is no longer used in modern production, so damp new tweed will not have the same aroma.
In Ancient Rome, urine was used in laundering clothes, the ammonia in it being a natural cleaning agent.
It was also used as an antiseptic in treating wounds.
In 1969, four full urine storage bags were left on the moon, along with other bags of human waste. These were not part of an experiment, but a means of lightening the load in the spacecraft, for its return to Earth.
Modern science uses hormones extracted from urine in fertility treatment, and stem cells from urine have been ‘reprogrammed’ into neurons and used in medical research.
This waste product has been useful in so many ways and is now finding a purpose in medical science. Perhaps we should be doing even more with it!
Urine (especially the extra-strong, first pee of the morning type) can keep critters out of the garden beds. However, in the wild it can attract bears to a campsite.
ReplyDeleteIndigo! That is one reason I have been hesitant to dye indigo. My father in law used to drink pee- said it was gamey in the morning but as the day wore on became better...he was mad.
ReplyDeleteI only knew about the leather tanning. That wasn’t a nice thing to leave on the moon. Ah well. /AC
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