An Unusual Classified Ad

Do you think the guy laying out the classifieds section just got bored one day? 

[via Criggo]

An Unusual Classified Ad

On Flushing

Fail Blog does it again. I'd like to extend my thanks to the people making these amazing signs. Wish I'd seen this one myself. 

And can I just say that I'm glad I'm the the only person who whips out a camera in certain restrooms?

[via Fail Blog]

On Flushing

Product: Toto Intelligence Toilet II

Holy moly. This thing does it all.

You hook it up to your computer and it then tracks all sorts of measurements: urine sugar, weight & BMI, blood pressure, and urine temperature. Since it's all sent to your computer, you can then look at the results using graphing tools. 

Innovation like this doesn't come cheap. According to CScout Japan, this toilet goes for $3,500 (Toto currently sells another, standard, toilet for $201). 

Interested in learning more about the hi-tech toilets of Japan? PingMag did an interesting interview with Mariko Shimasaki of Toto.

[Via Gizmodo & CScout Japan]

Product: Toto Intelligence Toilet II

Porta-Potty For Men Only

I was out for a walk the other day, and saw this porta-potty outside of a home that's getting some major renovations. At first I just passed by, but after just a few steps I turned around to take a picture. This particular porta potty is amazing for 2 reasons:

1. Apprently it's a men's room. I've never seen a single, stand-alone porta-potty that was gender specific (at concerts or carnivals they often have groupings of men's and women's porta-potties that are gender specific).
   
   
2. Would you look at that phone number? Ewww! 

Porta-Potty For Men Only

Product: Peepoo Bag

 

My first thought was "weird." But then I read about the Peepoo Bag, and it's  actually a great solution to a huge issue. According to the company's website, 2.6 billion people are living without basic sanitation (in other words, 40%). This leads to contaminated drinking water, infection, disease, and death. 

The Peepoo bag appears to be a simple and affordable solution. It's a biodegradable plastic bag that is used as single use toilet toilet. 

"The inside of the Peepoo bag is coated with a thin film of urea. Urea is the most common fertiliser in the world and is a non-hazardous chemical. It is found, for example, in toothpaste or skin cream often under the name of carbamide. When the urea comes into contact with faeces or urine, an enzymatic breakdown takes place into ammonia and carbonate, driven by enzymes which are naturally occurring in faeces."

After the hygienisanitation process, the biodegradable bag can break down and the contents can be used as a high quality fertilizer. No fresh water is reguired for this process, except that used for hand washing after using the toilet. 

See? It's actually pretty impressive for a little plastic bag, isn't it? For more information, visit the site.

Thanks to Emma for giving me the link to Green Upgrader, which led me to Peepoople!

[images and quote via PeePoople]

Product: Peepoo Bag

Extra Bathrooms

On Sunday, the New York Times had a story about "potty parity" (parity: equality -- why don't they just call it "potty equality"?).  According to the article, the fairness is not about a one to one ratio of toilets for men and women, it's about wait time. This means that women need more toilets. You've all seen it. If you're a woman, you've felt the unfairness. I think most women have waited in a line and considered dashing into the men's room because it was an emergency. In 2005, NYC took action: 

"New York City passed a law in 2005 requiring that all new or significantly renovated places of public assembly — concert halls, arenas, Broadway theaters, stadiums and the like — have two women’s toilet fixtures for every one devoted to men." 

NYC is not alone; it seems that many states have similar laws. But that's old news. The article was written about the increased number of stalls in women's rooms in the new Yankee Stadium, the Mets' Citi Field, and the new (2010) stadium for the Giants and the Jets. Sounds great for the ladies, but since I'm from Boston, that's all I'm going to say about that!

For more information, click here to check out the original article (you proably have to sign in/register).

Don't forget, you could always avoid restrooms completely by using the Stadium Pal/Gal!

Thanks for the link Gramma!

[Story via New York Times - New Ballpark Statistic: Stadium's Toilet Ratio]

Extra Bathrooms

Plunger Lamp

Need a new lamp? Try this one:

It's made out of a plunger. It was designed by Michael Andrulewich for Inhabitat's Spring Greening Design Competition. 

[via Apartment Therapy]

Plunger Lamp