By Daniel Brouse
July 18, 2025
Now that many people are finally waking up to the collapse of the climate and social systems, I hope my background as an economist focused on risk management can help illuminate the path forward. Ideally, we would have followed sound risk management decades ago to avoid reaching this crisis point. But here we are, and so we must shift to Plan B: A New Economy.
The Real Sustainability Test
Everyone talks about sustainability, but few understand what it requires at the most basic level: the ability to feed yourself and manage your waste without destroying your ecosystem.
Before we can credibly debate carbon markets, degrowth, or circular economies, we need to prove we can survive a single day in a truly self-sustaining way:
✅ Feed yourself for a day using methods that do not degrade soil, water, or biodiversity and that could scale for years.
✅ Secure clean water in a way that is sustainable long-term, without polluting the source or requiring massive energy inputs.
✅ Dispose of your own waste safely, ensuring you do not contaminate soil or water, or create disease vectors that harm your community or yourself.
The single most important thing you can do: go the distance.
Bury your waste far away from where you live, eat, drink, and grow your food. This simple action protects your water, your soil, and your health—more effectively than any untested high-tech solution.
Sustaining yourself for a day sounds simple until you try it. So, first do it. Once you can do it for a day, you need to scale it to weeks, months, and years—and then to your family, friends, and community.
The Hardest Part: Human Waste
Here’s the hard truth: the most important part of transitioning to a new economy is how you handle your poop.
Everyone wants to talk about electrification, AI, and green jobs, but no one wants to talk about the sanitation systems that prevent us from killing ourselves and our environment. Yet if we cannot manage our waste sustainably, any talk of a “sustainable economy” is hollow.
Before you join debates about transitioning to a post-carbon world, demonstrate you can literally walk the poop before you talk the transition.
Why Indigenous Practices Matter
This is not a new challenge. Indigenous communities across North America managed to live sustainably for millennia, disposing of human waste in ways that protected water sources, preserved soil health, and maintained community health.
They:
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Buried waste away from water sources and habitation areas.
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Moved camps periodically to prevent overloading any one location.
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Used natural cover materials (soil, ash, plant matter) to accelerate decomposition and reduce contamination risks.
These practices were not merely cultural—they were effective, practical risk management strategies rooted in a deep understanding of land stewardship.
A Thought Experiment (That Should Become Reality)
If you think your solutions will save the world, start by proving you can:
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Feed yourself for one day, sustainably.
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Manage your waste for one day, sustainably.
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Scale it to your family and community.
If your solutions fail at this basic level, they will fail at the societal level too. Conversely, if you can solve these fundamental challenges, you will be equipped with the grounded knowledge and humility needed to help design a real transition strategy for a collapsing climate and society.
Indigenous American Indians
Here is a clear, evidence-based overview on how many Indigenous American Indian communities traditionally managed human waste to avoid contaminating soil and water:
1️⃣ General Principles
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Burial at a distance
Waste was typically buried away from camps and water sources, using small personal latrines or digging cat holes, ensuring pathogens did not enter water supplies. -
Site rotation
Camps and waste sites were moved periodically, preventing concentration of waste in one location. -
Choice of location
Latrines were placed:-
Downwind from camps
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Far from streams, springs, or rivers (commonly 100+ feet)
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On higher or well-drained ground to reduce runoff risk.
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2️⃣ Region-Specific Practices
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Plains & Nomadic Tribes (e.g., Lakota, Comanche)
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Dug shallow pits when staying in one place.
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Covered waste with soil and natural materials.
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Moved frequently, allowing the environment to naturally decompose waste.
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Southwest (e.g., Hopi, Pueblo)
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In permanent villages, used designated latrine areas outside the living quarters.
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Some used ash or sand to cover waste, aiding desiccation and reducing odors and flies.
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Pacific Northwest & Woodlands
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Waste was buried away from water sources, critical in forested or riparian zones.
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Camps were often near water, but latrines were carefully sited at a safe distance and covered.
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Arctic & Subarctic (e.g., Inuit)
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In frozen conditions, waste was sometimes frozen and disposed of in designated snow areas.
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In summer, waste was placed far from freshwater sources.
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3️⃣ Why This Protected Soil and Water
✅ Burial with soil isolated pathogens from insects and animals.
✅ Distance from water reduced fecal contamination, protecting drinking and fishing sources.
✅ Organic decomposition in small, distributed quantities allowed soil microbes and sunlight to neutralize pathogens naturally.
✅ Rotation and mobility prevented soil overload and nutrient leaching in a single location.
4️⃣ Important Context
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While Indigenous practices varied widely across regions and tribes, their relationship with land emphasized maintaining the health of water and soil.
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There was no single universal method, but core principles of burial, distance, and rotation were nearly universal.
- The single most important thing you can do: go the distance.
Bury your waste far away from where you live, eat, drink, and grow your food. This simple action protects your water, your soil, and your health—more effectively than any high-tech solution you don’t actually use.