814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 12, 1992
Novel Idea Launches ‘Entrei
PooPet Sculptures For Lawn, Garden, Potted Plants
LOU ANN GOOD
Lancaster Farming Staff
BIRD-IN-HAND (Lancaster
Co.) Manure is smelly, dirty,
and ugly unless John Rothman
gets his hands on it. The New
Jersey businessman turns manure
into cute, clean, whisimical figur
ines that have a function in addi
tion to decorum—provide fertiliz
er to lawn, garden, and potted
plants.
Rothman, who has a pharmacol
ogy background, left his job as for
mer senior director of clincal drug
development for a major pharma
ceutical company, with the idea of
turning manure into a profitable
business.
About three months ago, Roth
man got the idea for self-fertilizing
sculptures when he watched an
artist sculpting with manure in
Cape Cod. Rothman decided if he
could make the sculptures cheap
enough and sell them forabout $lO
each, the organic little creatures
would appeal to upscale clientel
who are interested in earth-
.«,oeans for eyes,. .ie
and cottage cheese white wash, PooPets are advertized to
be the safe, natural, organic, biodegradeable, the finest fer
tilizer available.
John Rothman presses manure ~Bhk a
Rooßet. Rothman, a former director of a pharmatuclal com
pany, said his idea for making the manure figurines is simi
lar to making bricks from manure.
friendly products.
Rothman’s original idea was an
oversimplification of the process
needed to turn manure into a viable
product, but through hard work,
determination, and the help of Sam
Fisher of Gap, Rothman has
launched a line of PooPets under
the imprint of Tewksbury
Gardens.
The chemical aspect of the fig
urines allows them to retain their
form while the fertilizer is leeched
out from high humidity or as it is
watered or rained upon. Although
the fertilizer leeches out, the fiber
retains the shape of the figure that
is of stone-like texture.
Rothman, who lives in New
Jersey, chose Lancaster County as
the appropriate place to launch a
business based on manure,
because he questioned, “What area
has more manure than Lancaster
County?”
What Rothman did not reali/.e
until he began experimenting with
the project is that all manure is not
created equal. The manure of a
remanureshiD’
Sam Fisher, production manager, and John Rothman, president of Tewksbu jr
dens that manufactures manure figurines, hold one of the seif-fertilizing sculpture, a
turtle, which serves as a planter.
cow depends on the metabolic
state of the animal, the environ
ment, and the feed. Manure from a
lactating cow is too messy, too
fibrous. Manure from a non
lactating cow that is fed grain, not
hay, has possibilities after it is pro
cessed in a cement mixer. The
cement mixer kneads and mixes
the manure while drying it. The
drying process also helps rid the
manure of insects that feed on
manure,
The idea for using a cement
mixer originated with Sam Fisher
of Gap.
“Sam has added as much to this
project as I have,” Rothman said.
Consequently, Rothman appointed
Fisher production manager.
Although it is a part-time position
for Fisher, he shares Rothman’s
enthusiasm for the project
Fisher said that as soon as he had
read an ad Rothman had placed in
Lancaster Farming requesting peo
ple to mold figurines, he under
stood the concept.
“I grew up working in my
father’s greenhouse so I as soon as
I read the ad, I figured he was using
the concept of diffusion through
water for slow fertilization. When
fertilizer is released in a controlled
method over a period of time, it
doesn’t bum the plant.”
Fisher’s background in con
struction also proved beneficial,
for he immediately thought of
using a cement mixer to knead and
dry the manure.
When the manure is the proper
consistency, it is placed in covered
buckets until it ready to be formed
into molds.
The molds that Rothman first
used were not suitable. “As the fig
urines dried, they became smaller
and smaller,” he said. A turtle that
takes 3'/i pounds of manure to
mold dries to a weight of .8 pound.
Rothman’s wife, a trained stu
dio artist who had no background
in mold making, began experi
menting with mold making. “Our
basement now looks like the North
Pole with plaster of Paris every
where,” Rothman said.
Her efforts have produced
usable molds to shape turtle, quail,
rabbit, and frog.
By using the molds, Rothman
estimates that he can form a
PooPet in three to seven minutes.
Beans are used for eyes and a mix
ture of cottage cheese and lime is
(Turn to Pag* B 15)
The manure Is prepared for sculpting by Sam Fisher, who
-..•■tinayi
tlllzatlon. Water over PooPet, which will last for years if kept
outdoors, forever if kept indoors.
A
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