Dr. Doo-Doolittle

If you’ve ever escorted a young child to the zoo, you know that it is not the impossibly cantilevered necks of the giraffes that awe them; nor is it grace and variety of the tropical birds or the imposing majesty of the elephants. No, what impresses a small child confronted by all of this uncensored nature is poop -- LOTS of poop -- in all shapes and sizes, hitting the ground everywhere they look. It’s a four-year-old’s dream made real.

All of that poop has to go somewhere. Why not put it to good use? Such is the thought behind the composting project launched by the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, which bills itself as “the greenest zoo in America.” The zoo has partnered with Marvin's Organic Gardens in Lebanon, Ohio, to compost bedding material and manure from the zoo’s herbivores into ultra-rich compost (carnivore dung is not suitable for composting). The move diverts a substantial amount of waste from the landfill and saves the zoo $5,000 in waste disposal costs.

They could probably also sell tickets for kids eager to see it scooped up into the World’s Biggest Dung Pile.

Source: The Cincinnati Enquirer