0:00:00.691,0:00:02.770
Whenever I get to travel for work,

0:00:02.794,0:00:05.302
I try to find out where my[br]drinking water comes from,

0:00:05.326,0:00:06.993
and where my poop and pee go.

0:00:07.017,0:00:08.861
(Laughter)

0:00:08.885,0:00:11.912
This has earned me the nickname[br]"The Poo Princess" in my family,

0:00:11.936,0:00:15.913
and it's ruined many family vacations,[br]because this is not normal.

0:00:16.612,0:00:21.873
But thinking about where it all goes[br]is the first step in activating

0:00:21.897,0:00:24.712
what are actually superpowers[br]in our poop and pee.

0:00:24.736,0:00:25.812
(Laughter)

0:00:25.836,0:00:26.990
Yeah.

0:00:27.014,0:00:28.172
And if we use them well,

0:00:28.196,0:00:30.347
we can live healthier[br]and more beautifully.

0:00:30.371,0:00:33.992
Check out this landscape[br]in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

0:00:34.771,0:00:37.913
Just notice what kinds of words[br]and feelings come to mind.

0:00:39.588,0:00:43.271
This landscape was watered[br]with treated sewage water.

0:00:43.892,0:00:45.652
Does that change anything for you?

0:00:46.458,0:00:48.716
I imagine it might.

0:00:50.191,0:00:51.482
And that's OK.

0:00:52.897,0:00:55.094
How we feel about this

0:00:55.118,0:00:58.565
is going to determine exactly[br]how innovative we can be.

0:00:58.589,0:01:02.169
And I want to explain how it works,

0:01:02.675,0:01:04.638
but what words do I use?

0:01:05.471,0:01:09.123
I mean, I can use profane words[br]like "shit" and "piss,"

0:01:09.147,0:01:11.427
and then my grandma won't watch the video.

0:01:11.451,0:01:14.831
Or I can use childish words[br]like "poo" and "pee." Eh.

0:01:15.252,0:01:19.970
Or I can use scientific words[br]like "excrement" and "feces." Humph.

0:01:19.994,0:01:21.261
I'll use a mix.

0:01:21.285,0:01:22.625
(Laughter)

0:01:22.649,0:01:25.654
It's all I got. (Laughs)

0:01:25.678,0:01:27.171
So, in this suburb,

0:01:27.195,0:01:31.120
the poo and the pee and the wash water[br]are going to this treatment plant

0:01:31.144,0:01:33.261
right in the middle of the community.

0:01:33.285,0:01:35.946
It looks more like a park[br]than a treatment plant.

0:01:35.970,0:01:39.356
The poo at the very bottom[br]of all those layers of gravel --

0:01:39.380,0:01:40.896
not touching anyone --

0:01:40.920,0:01:43.661
is providing solid food[br]for those marsh plants.

0:01:44.238,0:01:47.519
And the clean, clear water[br]that comes out the other end

0:01:47.543,0:01:51.304
is traveling underground[br]to water each person's yard.

0:01:51.328,0:01:53.023
So even though they're in a desert,

0:01:53.047,0:01:54.904
they get their own personal oasis.

0:01:55.963,0:01:59.175
This approach is called[br]Integrated Water Management,

0:01:59.199,0:02:01.579
or holistic or closed-loop.

0:02:02.071,0:02:03.588
Whatever you want to call it,

0:02:03.612,0:02:07.247
it's in conflict with the status quo[br]of how we think about sanitation,

0:02:07.271,0:02:10.599
which is contain, treat, push it away.

0:02:11.239,0:02:13.585
But in this approach,[br]we're doing one step better.

0:02:13.609,0:02:15.971
We're designing for reuse[br]from the very beginning,

0:02:15.995,0:02:18.563
because everything does get reused,

0:02:18.587,0:02:20.741
only now we're planning for it.

0:02:20.765,0:02:23.397
And often, that makes for[br]really beautiful spaces.

0:02:25.042,0:02:29.107
But the most important thing[br]about this system

0:02:29.131,0:02:31.130
isn't the technicals of how it works.

0:02:31.812,0:02:33.440
It's how you feel about it.

0:02:34.002,0:02:35.995
Do you want this in your yard?

0:02:36.507,0:02:37.705
Why not?

0:02:38.368,0:02:41.087
I got really curious about this question.

0:02:41.111,0:02:44.451
Why don't we see more[br]innovation in sanitation?

0:02:44.475,0:02:46.974
Why isn't that kind of thing[br]the new normal?

0:02:47.610,0:02:49.790
And I care so much about this question,

0:02:49.814,0:02:51.973
that I work for a nonprofit called Recode.

0:02:51.997,0:02:53.901
We want to accelerate adoption

0:02:53.925,0:02:56.697
of sustainable building[br]and development practices.

0:02:56.721,0:02:58.465
We want more innovation.

0:03:00.274,0:03:03.351
But a lot of times,[br]whole categories of innovation --

0:03:03.375,0:03:06.173
ones that can help us[br]live more beautifully --

0:03:06.197,0:03:07.568
turn out to be illegal.

0:03:08.728,0:03:12.180
Today's regulations and codes[br]were written under the assumption

0:03:12.204,0:03:16.218
that best practices[br]would remain best practices,

0:03:16.242,0:03:18.498
with incremental updates forever and ever.

0:03:19.387,0:03:21.736
But innovation isn't always incremental.

0:03:22.285,0:03:25.766
It turns out, how we feel[br]about any particular new technique

0:03:25.790,0:03:27.639
gets into everything we do:

0:03:27.663,0:03:28.933
how we talk about it,

0:03:28.957,0:03:30.783
how we encourage people to study,

0:03:30.807,0:03:32.730
our jokes, our codes ...

0:03:32.754,0:03:35.701
And it ultimately determines[br]how innovative we can be.

0:03:36.503,0:03:40.510
So, that's the first reason[br]we don't innovate in sanitation.

0:03:41.079,0:03:44.392
We're kind of uncomfortable[br]talking about sanitation,

0:03:44.416,0:03:47.118
that's why I've gotten called[br]"The Poo Princess" so much.

0:03:47.142,0:03:48.833
The second reason is:

0:03:48.857,0:03:51.387
we think the problem is solved[br]here in the US.

0:03:51.833,0:03:53.063
But not so.

0:03:53.087,0:03:58.129
Here in the US we still get sick[br]from drinking shit in our sewage water.

0:03:58.699,0:04:00.844
Seven million people get sick every year,

0:04:00.868,0:04:02.639
900 die annually.

0:04:02.663,0:04:05.853
And we're not taking a holistic[br]approach to making it better.

0:04:07.125,0:04:08.782
So we're not solving it.

0:04:09.749,0:04:11.424
Where I live in Portland, Oregon,

0:04:11.448,0:04:14.251
I can't take Echo for a swim[br]during the rainy season,

0:04:14.275,0:04:17.383
because we dump raw sewage[br]sometimes into our river.

0:04:17.905,0:04:21.130
Our rainwater and our sewage[br]go to the same treatment plant.

0:04:21.904,0:04:24.896
Too much rain overflows into the river.

0:04:25.530,0:04:27.545
And Portland is not alone here.

0:04:27.569,0:04:30.659
Forty percent of municipalities self-report

0:04:30.683,0:04:34.512
dumping raw or partially treated[br]sewage into our waterways.

0:04:35.442,0:04:38.600
The other bummer going on here[br]with our status quo

0:04:38.624,0:04:43.181
is that half of all of your poop and pee[br]is going to fertilize farmland.

0:04:43.819,0:04:46.185
The other half is being incinerated

0:04:46.209,0:04:47.423
or land-filled.

0:04:47.447,0:04:48.955
And that's a bummer to me,

0:04:48.979,0:04:51.941
because there are amazing nutrients[br]in your daily doody.

0:04:51.965,0:04:54.131
It is comparable to pig manure;

0:04:54.155,0:04:56.432
we're omnivores, they're omnivores.

0:04:57.240,0:05:00.623
Think of your poo and pee[br]as a health smoothie for a tree.

0:05:00.647,0:05:04.470
(Laughter)

0:05:05.357,0:05:07.166
The other bummer going on here

0:05:07.190,0:05:11.205
is that we're quickly moving[br]all the drugs we take into our waterways.

0:05:11.971,0:05:16.202
The average wastewater treatment plant[br]can remove maybe half of the drugs

0:05:16.226,0:05:17.439
that come in.

0:05:17.910,0:05:20.540
The other half goes[br]right out the other side.

0:05:20.564,0:05:24.020
Consider what a cocktail[br]of pharmaceuticals --

0:05:24.044,0:05:26.065
hormones, steroids, Vicodin --

0:05:26.089,0:05:27.872
does to a fish,

0:05:27.896,0:05:29.118
to a dog,

0:05:29.142,0:05:30.342
to a child.

0:05:32.322,0:05:35.802
But this isn't just some problem[br]that we need to contain.

0:05:36.215,0:05:38.613
If we flip this around,[br]we can create a resource

0:05:38.637,0:05:41.313
that can solve so many[br]of our other problems.

0:05:41.758,0:05:44.138
And I want to get you[br]comfortable with this idea,

0:05:44.162,0:05:48.311
so imagine the things I'm going[br]to show you, these technologies,

0:05:48.335,0:05:50.324
and this attitude that says,

0:05:50.348,0:05:51.696
"We're going to reuse this.

0:05:51.720,0:05:53.934
Let's design to make it beautiful" --

0:05:53.958,0:05:55.491
as advanced potty training.

0:05:55.515,0:05:56.538
(Laughter)

0:05:56.562,0:05:58.288
I think you're ready for it.

0:05:58.312,0:06:01.684
I think we as a culture are ready[br]for advanced potty training.

0:06:02.527,0:06:05.006
And there are three great[br]reasons to enroll today.

0:06:05.030,0:06:06.310
Number one:

0:06:07.094,0:06:08.992
we can fertilize our food.

0:06:09.016,0:06:11.528
Each one of us is pooping[br]and peeing something

0:06:11.552,0:06:14.291
that could fertilize half[br]or maybe all of our food,

0:06:14.315,0:06:15.758
depending on our diet.

0:06:17.060,0:06:20.335
That dark brown poo in the toilet[br]is dark brown because of what?

0:06:20.359,0:06:21.747
Dead stuff, bacteria.

0:06:22.249,0:06:23.400
That's carbon.

0:06:23.424,0:06:25.730
And carbon, if we're getting[br]that into the soil,

0:06:25.754,0:06:28.785
is going to bind to the other minerals[br]and nutrients in there.

0:06:29.187,0:06:31.112
Boom! Healthier food.

0:06:31.443,0:06:33.323
Voilà! Healthier people.

0:06:34.325,0:06:37.866
Chemical fertilizers by definition[br]don't have carbon in them.

0:06:39.221,0:06:44.584
Imagine if we could move our animal manure[br]and our human manure to our soil,

0:06:44.608,0:06:48.414
we might not need to rely[br]on fossil fuel-based fertilizers,

0:06:48.438,0:06:50.409
mine minerals from far away.

0:06:51.395,0:06:53.863
Imagine how much energy we could save.

0:06:55.230,0:06:58.290
Now, some of us are concerned

0:06:58.314,0:07:02.255
about industrial pollutants[br]contaminating this reuse cycle.

0:07:03.322,0:07:04.975
That can be addressed.

0:07:05.445,0:07:10.379
But we need to separate our discomfort[br]about talking about poo and pee

0:07:10.403,0:07:14.767
so we can calmly talk[br]about how we want to reuse it

0:07:14.791,0:07:17.432
and what things we don't want to reuse.

0:07:17.456,0:07:18.612
And get this:

0:07:19.598,0:07:22.393
if we change our approach to sanitation,

0:07:22.417,0:07:25.072
we can start to slow down climate change.

0:07:26.234,0:07:28.136
Remember that carbon in the poop?

0:07:28.800,0:07:30.850
If we can get that into our soil bank,

0:07:31.489,0:07:35.687
it's going to start to absorb[br]carbon dioxide that we put into the air.

0:07:36.154,0:07:38.464
And that could help[br]slow down global warming.

0:07:39.397,0:07:41.904
I want to show you some brave souls

0:07:41.928,0:07:46.234
who've had the courage to embrace[br]this advanced potty training approach.

0:07:47.028,0:07:48.719
So those folks in New Mexico --

0:07:48.743,0:07:50.123
why did they do it?

0:07:50.735,0:07:53.414
'Cause they're in a desert?[br]'Cause they save money? Yeah.

0:07:53.842,0:07:56.833
But more importantly,[br]they felt comfortable

0:07:58.217,0:08:01.060
seeing what was going[br]down the toilet as a resource.

0:08:01.642,0:08:03.738
Here's an average house[br]in Portland, Oregon.

0:08:03.762,0:08:06.699
This house is special[br]because they have a composting toilet

0:08:06.723,0:08:10.840
turning all their poo and pee,[br]over time, into a soil amendment.

0:08:11.547,0:08:14.441
Their wash water, their shower water,[br]is going underground

0:08:14.465,0:08:16.353
to a series of mulch basins,

0:08:17.127,0:08:19.495
and then watering that orchard downhill.

0:08:20.392,0:08:22.247
When they went to get this permitted,

0:08:22.901,0:08:24.564
it wasn't allowed in Oregon.

0:08:25.222,0:08:27.728
But it was allowed[br]in five other states nearby.

0:08:28.322,0:08:32.394
That was Recode's -- my organization's --[br]first code-change campaign.

0:08:34.158,0:08:38.620
Here's a great example where[br]the Integrated Water Management approach

0:08:38.644,0:08:40.084
was the cheapest.

0:08:40.108,0:08:44.704
This is three high-rise residential[br]buildings in downtown Portland,

0:08:44.728,0:08:47.308
and they're not flushing[br]to the sewer system.

0:08:47.332,0:08:48.491
How?

0:08:48.515,0:08:52.437
Well, their wash water[br]is getting reused to flush toilets,

0:08:52.461,0:08:54.128
cool mechanical systems,

0:08:54.152,0:08:55.460
water the landscape.

0:08:56.028,0:08:58.882
And then once the building[br]has thoroughly used everything --

0:08:58.906,0:09:00.429
aka, shat in it --

0:09:00.453,0:09:05.075
it's treated to highest standard[br]right on-site by plants and bacteria,

0:09:05.099,0:09:08.544
and then infiltrated[br]into the groundwater right below.

0:09:09.371,0:09:12.874
And all that was cheaper

0:09:12.898,0:09:15.801
than updating the surrounding[br]sewer infrastructure.

0:09:16.553,0:09:19.091
So that's the last reason[br]we should get really excited

0:09:19.115,0:09:20.607
about doing things differently:

0:09:20.631,0:09:22.826
we can save a lot of money.

0:09:24.085,0:09:26.968
This was the first permit[br]of its kind in Oregon.

0:09:27.597,0:09:31.758
Brave and open-minded people[br]sat down and felt comfortable saying,

0:09:32.410,0:09:33.910
"Yeah, that shit makes sense."

0:09:33.934,0:09:36.402
(Laughter)

0:09:36.426,0:09:37.667
"Let's do it."

0:09:37.691,0:09:38.692
(Applause)

0:09:38.716,0:09:39.867
You know?

0:09:39.891,0:09:42.040
I keep showing examples

0:09:42.064,0:09:44.222
where everyone's reusing[br]everything on-site.

0:09:44.246,0:09:45.397
Why?

0:09:45.421,0:09:48.695
Well, when we look at our aging[br]infrastructure -- and it is old --

0:09:48.719,0:09:50.622
and we look at the cost of updating it,

0:09:50.646,0:09:55.253
three-quarters of that cost is just[br]the pipes snaking through our city.

0:09:55.666,0:09:57.845
So as we build anew, as we renovate,

0:09:57.869,0:10:02.741
it might make more sense[br]to treat and reuse everything on-site.

0:10:03.499,0:10:06.070
San Francisco realized that it made sense

0:10:06.094,0:10:08.768
to invest in rebates for every household

0:10:08.792,0:10:11.325
to reuse their wash water[br]and their rainwater

0:10:11.349,0:10:12.982
to water the backyard,

0:10:13.006,0:10:17.073
because the amount of water they would[br]save as a community would be so big.

0:10:18.261,0:10:20.748
But why were all[br]these projects so innovative?

0:10:21.434,0:10:23.026
The money piece, yeah.

0:10:23.963,0:10:25.614
But more importantly,

0:10:25.638,0:10:28.970
they felt comfortable with this idea[br]of advanced potty training.

0:10:29.572,0:10:34.600
Imagine if we embraced[br]innovation for sanitation

0:10:34.624,0:10:37.922
the way we have for, say, solar power.

0:10:38.565,0:10:42.120
Think about it -- solar power used[br]to be uncommon and unaffordable.

0:10:42.144,0:10:45.697
Now it's more a part[br]of our web of power than ever before.

0:10:45.721,0:10:47.704
And it's creating resiliency.

0:10:48.130,0:10:50.964
We now have sources of power like the sun

0:10:50.988,0:10:53.444
that don't vary with our earthly dramas.

0:10:54.282,0:10:56.443
What's driving all that innovation?

0:10:57.002,0:10:58.376
It's us.

0:10:58.400,0:11:00.423
We're talking about energy.

0:11:00.447,0:11:02.818
It's cool to talk about energy.

0:11:04.032,0:11:06.183
Some folks are even talking[br]about the problems

0:11:06.207,0:11:09.373
with the limited resources[br]where our current energy is coming from.

0:11:09.397,0:11:13.461
We encourage our best and brightest[br]to work on this issue --

0:11:13.485,0:11:16.677
better solar panels,[br]better batteries, everything.

0:11:18.099,0:11:21.209
So let's talk about where[br]our drinking water is coming from,

0:11:21.233,0:11:23.824
where our poo and pee are actually going.

0:11:24.344,0:11:29.284
If we can get over this discomfort[br]with this entire topic,

0:11:29.308,0:11:32.364
we could create something[br]that creates our future goldmine.

0:11:33.158,0:11:34.779
Every time you flush the toilet,

0:11:34.803,0:11:36.422
I want you to think,

0:11:36.446,0:11:38.470
"Where is my poop and pee going?

0:11:38.494,0:11:40.397
Will they be gainfully employed?"

0:11:40.421,0:11:41.673
(Laughter)

0:11:41.697,0:11:44.875
"Or are they going to be wreaking[br]havoc in some waterway?"

0:11:44.899,0:11:46.802
If you don't know, find out.

0:11:46.826,0:11:48.604
And if you don't like the answer,

0:11:48.628,0:11:52.355
figure out how you can communicate[br]to those who can drive this change

0:11:52.379,0:11:56.391
that you have advanced potty training,[br]that you are ready for reuse.

0:11:56.415,0:11:58.842
How all of you feel

0:11:58.866,0:12:02.167
is going to determine exactly[br]how innovative we can be.

0:12:02.191,0:12:03.350
Thank you so much.

0:12:03.374,0:12:08.851
(Applause)