Some years ago, there was an episode of the sitcom, Seinfeld, in which the character of George Costanza managed to secure a date with the actress Marisa Tomei, playing herself in a guest role, and then sought to impress her with the following line: “So, anyway, if you think about it, manure is not really that bad a word. I mean, it’s ‘newer’, which is good, and a ‘ma’ in front of it, which is also good. Ma-newer, right?” Amazingly, Marisa was charmed by George’s comment, though she was less amused when she discovered moments later that he was “sort of engaged.” (My friends Elisabeth and Stephanie will no doubt recall this episode with a chuckle.)

In any regard, what brought this scene to mind was the following article from the Associated Press (via the Boston Globe) which, believe it or not, touts a potentially new and exciting use for manure:

Manure: You may be walking on it soon

DETROIT –Home-buyers of tomorrow could find themselves walking across floors made from manure. Researchers at Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture insist it’s no cow pie in the sky dream. They say that fiber from processed and sterilized cow manure could take the place of sawdust in making fiberboard, which is used to make everything from furniture to flooring to store shelves. And the resulting product smells just fine.

The researchers hope it could be part of the solution to the nation’s 1.5-trillion- to 2-trillion pound annual farm waste disposal problem….

As with the wood-based original, the manure-based product is made by combining fibers with a chemical resin, then subjecting the mixture to heat and pressure.

So far, fiberboard made with digester solids seems to match or beat the quality of wood-based products.

“It appears that the fibers interlock with each other better than wood,” said Charles Gould at Michigan State’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “We end up with, I think, a superior material.” [full text]