By Joe Mohr •
September 16, 2009
It’s true.
I have a zero-gallon/flush toilet! The air in my basement (collected by my 5-gallon dehumidifier) flushes my toilet.
The 5-gallon reservoir in my dehumidifier fills up daily in the summer (I’m in humid St Louis, MO). Then, gravity lends a hand. I pour the 5 gallons into the toilet to flush the “yellow” that we’ve let “mellow” in the first floor bathroom, at the end of the day (for all you [...]
By Derek Markham •
May 29, 2009
People living in slums the world over are dependent on pit latrines as their only recourse for a bathroom. And when those pits get full, they’re usually emptied by hand, with a bucket, and the feces is often deposited in the nearest body of water, spreading disease and contamination even further. But a machine made partly from recycled car parts, the Vacutug, may help stop that process.
By Andrew Williams •
January 28, 2009
A study has revealed that poems in the loo can help tackle global warming, through cutting toilet paper use by up to 20 per cent.
A team of Japanese researchers pasted ‘toilet poems’ at the eye-level of people sitting in cubicles. One poem read, “That paper will meet you only for a moment,” another said, “Fold the paper over and over and over again,” while another read simply, “Love the toilet.”
By Pamela McLeod •
January 22, 2009
Curious about new ways to save water and money? EPA’s WaterSense Program recently unveiled a WaterSense widget that brings monthly water-saving facts and tips directly to your website or social network. Each month, new seasonally-relevant content will be added to help you increase your water efficiency and keep more cash in your wallet.
Why Conserve Water?
With drought conditions throughout many western and southern states in the U.S., the time is ripe for increasing water-saving efforts. More pragmatic than the infamous “Save water - Shower with a friend” campaign of the 1970s, EarthSense focuses on actionable items and tidbits.
By Levi Novey •
October 19, 2008
I recently visited a bathroom in Peru.
Check out the sign I saw.
Not to be rude, but do men from Peru know where to pee in a bathroom?
After snapping my photo and pondering if Peruvian men truly need that much guidance, I left the bathroom and mentioned what I had seen to my wife and mother-in-law.
By Adam Williams •
September 11, 2008
The “Wash Up” is a conceptual design that overlaps water needs. After clothes are washed, the water is held in a reservoir for use in the toilet, reducing water usage. It also is a space-saver in smaller living conditions.
Source: TechEBlog and GadgetLite
By Simran Sethi •
July 15, 2008
Editor’s note: OK, we’re usually not so potty-mouthed, but, as you’ll see, it’s perfectly (and literally) appropriate this time around. We’re pleased to have Simran Sethi and Sarah Smarsh join us as guest contributors, and share with you their series on the surprising journeys of everyday things. They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post. Here’s a sneak peek at bathroom fun.
What you may not realize, cherie, is that whatever you flush down comes back around. Our waste fertilizes our fields and is pumped back into the waterways that are our major sources of drinking water. Let’s take the journey from toilet to tap, shall we? Oui oui. (We’re affecting French here for a touch of sophistication in a post centering on fecal matter.)
Americans use about 70 gallons of water indoors, every day. About three-quarters of that is used in the toilette—shower, bath, sink, crapper—and over one-quarter is used whisking away our waste. You can cut this water usage by making sure your toilet isn’t leaking, using a composting or low-flow toilet or even displacing the water in the tank with a brick or container filled with sand . Your toilet is not a trashcan, so save cigarette butts, tissues and used condoms for the basket, not the bowl.
By Caroline Savery •
June 11, 2008
Picture this. It’s the first day of trying to live 100% environmentally sustainably. You are in a constant hyper-alert state about what you choose to do. You bike to work… doing good. You eat only from sustainable venues… doing great! And then… catastrophe.
The porcelain gods are angry with you.
This is the story of my hard lesson about living sustainably in America in 2008, which has since transformed my approach to the sustainable living project. It came in the form of a toilet.
The World Health Organization recommended in its 2000 report on global water that “at least 20 liters per person per day from a source within one kilometer of the user’s home” be considered the basic measure of rightful access to fresh water[1]. Of course, fresh water natural resources vary from region to region.
By serenity_ii •
September 4, 2007
Whoo-hoo! Seventh Generation now sells chlorine-free training pants! We hope they work as well as the diapers.
By Rebecca Carter •
March 1, 2007
Talk about flushing money and scarce resources down the drain. Toilets are big users of water in the home, but there are ways that we can minimize the waste and improve water conservation.
The first thing you'll want to do is check for leaks. Add a few drops of food coloring into the tank and check the bowl for color over the following 30 minutes. If you do find that water is leaking from the tank
[...]
