Hap-pee new year

In Britain, we are currently in the grip of a hosepipe ban and a water shortage (yes, still) even though it's now winter and pouring with rain more often than not. Go figure. Anyway, since the beginning of the 'drought', the inhabitants of my household have become water nazis, trying to use grey water to water the house plants, and not flushing the loo for only pee. Apparently, this is standard practise in Australia, where they even have a slogan - 'if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down'. Delightful.

It's not so standard here, but it's getting to be that way now that we're all aware of trying to make a difference, however small. Indeed once you get over the slight ick factor of not flushing your loo every time you use it, it begins to seem utterly absurd to use a whole cistern full of clean drinking water to get rid of a cupful of urine. But apparently it's not only shockingly wasteful to do so, it's also counterproductive, as it makes sewage processing more difficult than it should be. Urine is evil. Processing it to remove the high concentrations of nitrogen and phosphates in it wastes vast amounts of energy, and we would actually be much better off not diluting it with so much water when we want to get rid of it.

When we visit our pristine white toilets we may think we are displaying behaviour that shows our evolutionary breeding and separates us from the apes. Not so. We are making a bad situation worse and would be better off peeing onto our flowerbeds. But that might be one green green step too far for me and I suspect for many of you too...

I learned all this from this truly superb article in New Scientist about how your toilet is wrecking the planet. Go read it. (Photo: by me. It's the Mannequin Pis in Brussels)

Comments

[Vicki]

Apparently, this is standard practise in Australia, where they even have a slogan - 'if it's yellow let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down'. Delightful.

O_o I have never heard of this. Of course, it's a big country...

[sara]

I've heard the phrase in the US too -- rumored to come from southern California, where they really do have droughts.

[MDude]

For the excess water use part, I would set up a rain water collector on my roof and hook it up to the toilet.

[Ken]

"the slight ick factor of not flushing your loo every time you use it"

I find it more icky when I lift up the toilet seat lid and find stale urine wafting itself up, especially in the mornings when I'm feeling delicate.

[joebarone]

I almost never flush when I pee, for that reason...
On my travels to Australia and NZ over the summer, i did encounter signs promoting water conservation. But then, The aussies are much more environmentally conscious then most of the world :)

[Carol]

That little ditty was posted in the bathroom of the place where I was living in Vermont around 1972. But Vermont always seemed to be ahead of everyone else on environmental consciousness.

[Brock]

In college, my roommates and I posted a sign in our bathroom above the toilet with that saying on it. We were trying to save money on our utilities bill.

[daniel]

I'd recommend a book called "Cold Sassy Tree." It was a required reading book in school. It's set in 1920's-ish Georgia and the grandfather uses the outhouse to fertilize the garden, a *few* green steps farther than I'm willing to go.

I tried to convince my wife that we should start peeing on the lawn. The dog does it and where she goes it very green. (My wife didn't go for that idea.)

[dd]

I didn't know it costs to flush. I think I will still flush anyway because i hate the smell and look of u know what. eeewww. No what i will flush when it's nessarary.

[dd]

I've heard of that saying but no-one does it.

[HareTrinity]

Urine's pretty good for plants though. I see 2 problems being solved!