What Is This Crap? City Wastewater Agency Wants Help Naming New Fertilizer

By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2016 7:29PM

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Our friends at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District have apparently not learned the lesson of Boaty McBoatface—or, actually, they’ve probably learned it all too well. The agency is looking for a new term for the fertilizer product currently known as “biosolids;” and, since this is 2016, they’re crowdsourcing to find the perfect handle and garner publicity.

For the waste laypeople out there, a biosolid is treated sewer matter that is recycled for agricultural uses. (The process was made legal in Illinois last year.) So that naturally opens the voting to some, uh, shall we say potty humor? The MWRD plainly sees such potential and is asking contestants to be “appropriate but creative.” Although given the context, “biosolids” sounds damn near NSFW as it is. Blech.

“We encourage the public to enter the contest today and have fun knowing they are part of this most interesting and unusual cycle of life,” said MWRD President Mariyana Spyropoulos, clearly overflowing with fun, in the release. Along with plenty of very G-rated ideas, some votes shared with Chicagoist by MWRD include Poop de Loop, TURDILIZER and 2 Good. May we humbly suggest Shitty of Big Shoulders?

“Name That Biosolid” runs through Sept. 30. Submissions can be entered to public.affairs@mwrd.org or through the district’s Facebook and Twitter accounts (#NameThatBiosolid).

In true Dan Savage/Santorum fashion, more than one voter has tied his ballot to an unpopular politician.

[H/T Tribune]