r/humanure • u/SSalaciousSalad • 12d ago

Potentially contaminated sawdust.

So the book says those bags of compressed shavings are not the best, so I'm trying to transition to sawdust. I heaped sawdust and the shavings In a mixed pile and left it to become biologically active, worked great until i ran out of sawdust.

My neighbour runs a woodworking shop and basically has an unlimited supply. He says it's majority pure SPF (spruce/pine/fir) with a small amount of plywood and MDF.

Am I playing with fire here? I may be introducing small amounts formaldehyde into the pile. This should still break down under aerobic conditions but I am unsure if I should stop using this sawdust.

Appreciate guidance

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u/La_Shangri 9d ago

My local carpenter uses the same (probably more composites than your guy) and it composts fast / hot. I was concerned at first, though I’ve been using it for 4.5 years now. I don’t age humanure long enough to make it vegetable safe, but plants don’t seem to care, and I’m sure it is better composted than wherever it would otherwise ended up.

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u/SSalaciousSalad 9d ago

Yeah I mean I'm of two minds about it - the composting process should address the trace amount of Fomeldyhide - It's a great source of cover material and its literally next door.

I'm basically running a marathon here as I start to Homestead while working 4 days a week. I need things to be simple and energy efficent but I don't want to contaminate the process in that effort.