So it’s made of shit, right? And shit is an animal product. But barring a night of drinking or a particularly aggressive burrito, shitting does not harm the shitter; it’s beneficial and required. Also the animals in question can and do consent, does that make it vegan?
Are tomatoes from tomato plants fertilized with manure vegan? It depends on how picky you want to be. The replicators just do it faster.
The replicators use human waste, so I don’t think the ethics of an animal consenting comes into it.
Not just human, to be fair. And they’re still animals. Could I opt my poo out of being recycled on a Federation starship, you think?
But if you do that, what happens to that shit?
They make you keep it in one of those cylindrical luggage bags and take it with you when you leave.
I’m sure they just get an ensign to do it.
“Do people really use it for that?”
“Yeah, it’s mostly that.”
Hah. True, plenty of nonhuman creatures too. But primarily sapient beings.
Maybe, but you’d have to find a way to manage it yourself.