The Best Five Toilets in the United States

Analysis by Trace Dominguez 

From: http://news.discovery.com/

When you go to the restroom to take care of business, you might not be thinking about the room itself, unless it's bad. Well lucky for you, there are people who care about restrooms. Like many rooms, the comfort of a restroom is in the details, this years top water closets offer toilets for toddlers, and color coded water.
BLOG: 'Toylet' Turns Bathroom into an Arcade

1. Field Museum Chicago
This year's top restroom is located in the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois. The Chicago museum's restroom ceiling has a night sky decor that is said to be, "soothing" and as an added bonus it absorbs sound. The restrooms have 3,500 visitors per day and are cleaned every hour. They offer nursing rooms with their own sink and sofa and family restrooms with toddler-sized toilets . Picture at top

2. Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel
The second best place to answer the call of nature in 2011, is in Arlington, Virginia at the Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel. This toilet is very different from the one in the Windy City. Created by an architect and interior designer the restroom plays with light and special effects to secure second place. The restroom features, "walls ablaze with sunset tones of orange and gold and the mirrors above feature lit bird silhouettes," says BestRestroom.com. The cleverest feature are the faucets. They're no-touch automatic, and light the water red or blue to indicate hot or cold water.

BLOG: Who Invented the Toilet?
3. Scottsdale Center for Performing Art
Third is a restroom in Scottsdale, Arizona and the Scottsdale Center for Performing Arts. "The loo is sleek and modern with terrazzo flooring, glass-tiled walls and spacious, stainless steel stalls," says BestRestroom. As with the Virginian lavatory, this one has an intricate lighting system continuously shifting the colors of the space from, "cool blues and greens to warm golds and reds."

WATCH VIDEO: What happens to the stuff you flush? Visit a new, high-tech wastewater treatment plant to get the answer.

In fourth and fifth places are Don's Johns luxury washroom trailer and a pot in Huntsville, Utah at the Snowbasin Ski Resort. The luxury trailer is a fully mobile commode, commissioned for the 2009 inauguration ceremony of President Barack Obama. It contains hardwood floors, recessed lighting and an HDTV! It's quite the porta-potty. Though, not one to be outdone by other powder rooms, Snowbasin's water closet's feature, "Italian Carrera marble, Barovier, Tosso & Moscatelli chandeliers crafted from bronze and crystal, floor-to-ceiling commodes, beautifully inlaid African Anegre wood and hand-painted walls," according to BestRestroom.com.

Cintas, sponsors America’s Best Restroom, holds this contest annually. Each year, restrooms are nominated and voted upon online. Any public restroom is eligible. Once nominees are reviewed, a committee announces the ten finalists and online voting begins. The winners are announced in September at which time they are presented with, "the coveted America's Best Restroom plaque of recognition," according to Cintas. Photos & Content: AFP, Cintas' BestRestroom.com

Over or Under? The Great Toilet Paper Debate (Infographic)

brainz.org — Unfortunately, the brilliant engineers who came up with toilet paper left one problem unsolved: the problem of orientation.


Via: Engineering Degree

One Toilet Paper Company Decides to Ditch the Tube

by Stephen Messenger
from http://www.treehugger.com/

In an attempt to cut down on back on consumer waste, one toilet paper manufacturer has unveiled perhaps the biggest change the product has undergone in over a century -- replacing that old cardboard tube with, well, nothing. If the advancement in TP technology seems unremarkable, consider just how much waste it will keep from the landfill. Each year, a million miles worth of cardboard tubing is tossed out -- that's enough to circle the Earth over forty times.

Seinfeld's George Costanza once pointed out how little TP has progressed over the decades. "Do you realize that toilet paper has not changed in my lifetime? It's just paper on a cardboard roll, that's it. And in ten thousand years, it will still be exactly the same because really, what else can they do?" On that last point, he was wrong.

Kimberly-Clark, the company which produces Scotts toilet paper, will begin testing its oddly revolutionary Tube-Free TP next week in Walmarts and Sam's Clubs across the North-eastern US. Depending on how well it's received, soon the trend might spread globally.

According to a report from USA Today, while it may seem fairly innocuous, Americans have been tossing out a lot of those cardboard tubes each year -- and it really adds up.

The 17 billion toilet paper tubes produced annually in the USA account for 160 million pounds of trash, according to Kimberly-Clark estimates, and could stretch more than a million miles placed end-to-end. That's from here to the moon and back -- twice. Most consumers toss, rather than recycle, used tubes, says Doug Daniels, brand manager at Kimberly-Clark.

A consumers demand for less wasteful products is apparently what has driven the toilet paper maker to update a product which has gone without any major improvement since it was invented over 100 years ago. "We found a way to bring innovation to a category as mature as bath tissue," says Daniels.

While the new tubeless rolls won't always be perfectly round, they'll have no problem fitting on standard toilet paper spindles -- and they can be used to the last square. The trick is in the special winding processes, but the company is keeping their technique a secret.

With any luck, soon other toilet paper manufactures will get on board with less wasteful alternatives to the tradition roll, whether it be by using more recycled material or ditching the cardboard tube altogether. And, as consumers demand more eco-friendly products, perhaps more manufacturers will continue to find more ways to cut unnecessary materials from the things they sell.

And who knows, maybe one day people will have conversations like this about us.

St Jarnan footballers celebrate goal with 'human toilet'

Watch another creative goal celebration from the players of Icelandic football club, Stjarnan. This time, the "human toilet".

Toilet Seat Etiquette: Why the Man Is Right

sfweekly.com — Leaving the toilet seat up is simply more efficient

 

Falcon Waterfree Fixtures Wipe Out Halftime Flush at Super Bowl XLIV

By GreenerBuildings Staff

LOS ANGELES, CA — Halftime at the Super Bowl is generally marked by two events, both often characterized by excess: the entertainment program and the rush for restrooms that produces the condition known to public works departments across the country as the halftime flush.

The urinals in the men's rooms at Land Shark Stadium in Miami, the host of Super Bowl XLIV, won't be contributing to that phenomenon, says Falcon Waterfree Technologies LLC, the maker of 220 waterless urinals at the site formerly known as Dolphin Stadium.

It's the second Super Bowl challenge in Miami for Falcon. Its fixtures were in place at the stadium for Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

The company says its products are known as the "Urinal of Champions" because of their use at several major sports venues. They include Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Los Angeles' Staples Center and the University of Michigan's "Big House."

The Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, host of the 96th Rose Bowl Game this past Saturday and the BCS National Championship on January 7, installed 259 Falcon waterfree urinals in 2002 and now saves 10.4 million gallons of water annually, the firm says.

Use of the fixtures at the Rose Bowl Stadium also helps avoid 187,200 pounds of CO2 emissions each year because by eliminating water, no energy is used to treat or transport it.

The waterfree urinals at Land Shark Stadium save an estimated 8.8 million gallons of water a year and avoid 158,400 pounds of CO2 emissions annually.

International sites using Falcon's urinals include the Taj Mahal and London's Heathrow Airport. The company, which is based in Los Angeles, estimates that its products have helped save 22 billion gallons of water worldwide. That's enough to fill about 4.4 million tank trucks, or 33,333 Olympic-size swimming pools or 141 billion "venti-size" coffee cups, the firm says.

Images courtesy of Falcon Waterfree Technologies LLC. Top image taken at Rose Bowl Stadium. Inset taken at Land Shark Stadium.

Stop Using Toilet Paper; Get a The Blue Bidet

by Lloyd Alter, Toronto

People find the idea of going without toilet paper a bit shocking, but lots of people around the world do it, and there are good technologies available now to replace your toilet or add on to it. It is cleaner and healthier, and counterintuitively, saves a lot of water. Making a roll of toilet paper uses 1.5 pounds of wood, 37 gallons of water and 1.3 KWh of of electricity.

A lot of these bidet style toilets are expensive, as are may of the toilet seat add-ons. The Blue Bidet is only US$ 69, C$79 when I saw it at the local Home Show in Toronto.

Peter Gallos explains the Blude Bidet from Lloyd Alter on Vimeo.

Peter Gallos tells me that it can be installed in under half an hour. They make a cold water model that just uses the line that supplies the toilet, and a version that uses hot and cold water but needs a more elaborate installation. I wondered if our 40 degree F water would not be a bit of a jolt to the butt, but he says it is such a short blast that it isn't a problem. TreeHugger Justin tried one earlier and wrote in his post Bidets: Eliminate Toilet Paper, Increase Your Hygiene:

After using a bidet, most people find cold water is fine, and not particularly shocking on one's rear. Occasionally, a few sheets of paper are needed to dry oneself. To avoid this, you could get a air-drying bidet that would eliminate toilet paper entirely.

Interestingly, Blue Bidet does not say that they are eliminating toilet paper, just cutting its use by 75% and using the remainder to dry yourself off. Perhaps it is too hard a sell to say you don't need any. I will give the thing a try and let you know.

More on the Blue BIdet in the USA and in Canada

9 Public Restroom Personalities

by Richard McVey

9. THE READER

He's not about the quick in and out of doing his bathroom business. He likes to hunker down with the newspaper, magazine and/or (heaven help us) a good book. For him, it's the relaxing toilet ride that makes the perfect spot to enjoy the written word. And yes, these are same periodicals that make their way back to the lunch room.

8. THE GRUNTER

Oh, you know him. He's in the stall next to you bellowing like he's about to give birth to a calf. Each grunt is preceded by short gasps for air, and a quick fart. And you know the exact second he's done because the big finale is punctuated with a sigh of relief.

7. THE WORKER

Mr. Multitasker wouldn't dream of not answering his phone, even if he's draining the lizard, or worse, dropping the kids off at the pool. He often tries to disguise his location by mentioning "I'm away from my desk right now," but the stall echoes and sounds of background flushing are unmistakable.

6. THE FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR

He figures what better time to make friends and be chatty than when you're in the restroom. He often intros with "Some weather were having," "How are you doing?" or "Wheeew, sorry about that, I had Mexican last night." No matter how short your response, he keeps—with his dick in his hand—talking to you.

5. THE RIM SHAKER

He's the guy in the stall next to you going one on one with a dingleberry. His ass is rocking back and forth/hopping up and down on the seat in a vain attempt to drop that last hanger-on. The Friendly Neighbor will often root him on. "Stick with it. It'll go!"

4. THE PHOBIAST

He's spraying Lysol, slathering in hand sanitizer and laying down railroad track-sized strips of toilet paper to make sure his ass does not come in contact with any previous asses. After washing up, he must use paper towels to open the door.

3, THE SHOWERER

With his bathroom kit spread out at the sink, he looks like his girlfriend has booted him from the apartment. He's brushing his teeth, splashing water on his face, combing his hair, and frequently changes clothes.

2. THE GAWKER

It's subtle, but he's checking out your package at the urinal.

1. THE FIRE HOSE

He's not using the urinal. Instead he marches into the stall and whips it out without so much of a thought of lifting the lid. With the accuracy of a 4-year-old, he sprays the seat, hoses the backstop, and finishes by shaking it on the floor.

10 Gadgets That Transform Your Bathroom Into a Home Office

By Sean Fallon,

According to a recent survey conducted by Nokia, 53 percent of Americans have taken a work-related call or email in the bathroom. Although the data has been lost, we conducted a survey in the past that found the percentage could be even higher. So what does this all mean? I think the answer is clear...we want to work in the bathroom. Yeah, it sounds gross but consider this: many of us do our best thinking in the bathroom. Our productivity could skyrocket (in more ways than one). So, I say why fight it. Here are some gadgets to help you get started on your own bathroom-based home office.

Boom Arm Starbase Workstation: Okay let's start with the basics. You are going to need a way to mount your laptop so that it is easily accessible from the toilet. This swing arm should do the job nicely—plus it is height adjustable and comes with a built-in cupholder. Yeah, that's right—a cupholder. You're already working in the bathroom, eating and drinking are not far behind. [easychairworkstation via Link]

The Loo Read: Having a full-on desk in there is going to take up too much space, but you still need a flat surface to spread out paperwork now and then. In that case, the Loo Read has you covered. It may even be sturdy enough to support light or ultraportable laptops. [Link]

Fish n' Flush Toilet: As for the throne itself, you are going to need something a little better than your standard toilet. This particular version uses half its reservoir to create a fish tank—which is perfect for reducing stress at work. Although, I would go easy on the coffee and beef for a while. Reducing the amount of available water in the tank means less capacity for flushing. [Fish n' Flush via Link]

Moody Aquarium Sink: If you would prefer, the aquarium concept is also available in a sink version. [Home Click via Link]

Dell Latitude XFR D630: I suppose it goes without saying, but if you are going to work in the bathroom you will need a laptop that can handle the occasional splash of water. The Dell Latitude XFR D630 can do that and much more. In fact, it meets Department of Defense MIL-STD 810F standards for operation in extreme temps, moisture and altitude. Plus, the specs are decent with a Core 2 Duo processor, 14.1-inch / 500nit screen, 802.11n, and high-end thermal management for the processor and RAM running on XP. [Dell via Link]

MarineAV 70-inch LCD TV: If you are going to get a waterproof display, you might as well go all out with Marine AV's 70-inch TV. It features full 1080p resolution, a 1,500:1 contrast ratio, 600cd/m2 brightness, 8ms response time, 178 degree viewing angle, and AV, S-Video, Component, HDMI, PC (VGA) inputs. [MarineAV via Link]

Wall Mirror TV/PC: There are plenty of mirror TVs out there, but manufacturers are also starting to throw PCs in to the mix as well. The "ARCO" falls into this category with an all-in-one PC, TV and LCD embedded behind mirrored glass. [AVING via Link]

Sonim XP1 Cellphone: A waterproof cellphone in another must-have. The Sonim is rugged enough to handle a beer dunking / car mauling quite easily and even being smashed for weeks on end. The XP1 is a Europe-only release, but an American version is already on its way. [Sonim]

Potty Putter: Indoor putting surfaces are a staple of any office, and so it shall be with your bathroom version. The Potty Putter allows you to sink putts and deuces at the same time. [Baron Bob via Link]

Toilet Vacuum: It's always a good idea to have a desk vac around to handle small cleaning jobs around the office, and none would be appropriate than this toilet-shaped version. [Link]

Bonus: If you are looking for a little inspiration on what a home office bathroom should look like, consider the following examples:

Bathroom Office: Here is an example of a basic setup. The equiptment is old school, but the comfy looking executive toilet is a nice touch.

Roto-Rooter's Pimped Out John: Last year Roto-Rooter ran a contest that rewarded the winner with the ultimate bathroom gadget setup. It came complete with an Xbox 360, 20-inch LCD TV, laptop, TiVo, refrigerator with beer tap, bike pedal exerciser and more. [Kotaku]

The Toilet: Our Greatest Health Breakthrough Ever?

By Marco Visscher, Ode.

While scientists may regard penicillin or vaccinations as the greatest medical breakthroughs of all, Jack Sim claims toilets have done more for our health. Sim, founder of the Singapore-based World Toilet Organization, wants everyone to have access to a clean and safe toilet.

Do we really have the toilet to thank for being healthy?

"In the West, the toilet brought an end to epidemics. Toilets and hygiene have been shown to be the best preventive medicine. But London's Great Plague of 1665 showed that the treatment of excreta is equally important. Today, hundreds of millions of people in rural areas and slums around the world still flush sewage directly into rivers."

So health and development organizations must be jumping on the issue to solve this problem?

"Not really. When discussing solving poverty and diseases, experts don't talk about sanitation, because they want to look elegant. After all, diarrhea is not a glamorous disease, so there's no movie star helping people who die because of it. Meanwhile, it kills millions of people every year, including survivors of a famine or natural disaster when there's poor sanitation in the refugee camps. We must understand that going to the toilet is just part of life -- a very important part of life that cannot be underestimated."

But are poor people asking for toilets, or for food, water and shelter?

"Of course they don't ask for toilets! That would be embarrassing. Besides, many generations have defecated openly and their neighbors do it too, so nobody dares to raise the issue. That's why we need to break the taboo. Once people start talking about it, you create demand, so businesses can step in to design, produce and distribute toilets. We could build an entire new economy based on toilets. This way, change can happen very quickly."

What will change?

"Toilets will improve hygiene, and then we can fight common diseases much more easily. If you don't have sanitation, diseases will keep coming back. Really, toilets can save our lives.

Marco Visscher is a Senior Editor at Ode.