{"id":2685,"date":"2008-07-15T15:27:00","date_gmt":"2008-07-15T15:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=2685"},"modified":"2008-07-15T15:27:00","modified_gmt":"2008-07-15T15:27:00","slug":"shit-happens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/shit-happens\/","title":{"rendered":"Shit Happens…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"toilet<\/a>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<\/a> and Sarah Smarsh join us as guest contributors, and share with you their series on the surprising journeys of everyday things.\u00a0 They will be posting previews on Green Options before launching the posts on Huffington Post.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a sneak peek at bathroom fun.<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u2019s take the journey from toilet to tap, shall we? Oui oui. (We\u2019re affecting French here for a touch of sophistication in a post centering on fecal matter.)<\/p>\n

Americans use about 70 gallons of water indoors, every day.\u00a0 About three-quarters of that is used in the toilette\u2014shower, bath, sink, crapper\u2014and over one-quarter is used whisking away our waste<\/a>.\u00a0 You can cut this water usage by making sure your toilet isn\u2019t leaking<\/a>, using a composting or low-flow toilet<\/a> or even displacing the water in the tank with a brick or container filled with sand<\/a> .\u00a0 Your toilet is not a trashcan, so save cigarette butts, tissues and used condoms for the basket, not the bowl.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t want to bum you out, but cutting water usage means a lot in an era when more than a billion people lack access to safe drinking water.\u00a0 According to Claudia McMurray<\/a>, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, \u201cOn any given day, approximately 50% of the world\u2019s hospital beds are filled with patients suffering from water and sanitation related diseases. Each year 1.8 million children in developing countries die from diarrheal disease – the second leading cause of death after pneumonia.”<\/p>\n

When aiming for more equitable water usage, hippie wisdom comes in handy: If it\u2019s brown flush it down; if it\u2019s yellow, let it mellow.\u00a0 S\u2019il vous plait. (Our hippie is French.)<\/p>\n

The crapper journals continue on Huffington Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the University of Kansas School of Journalism<\/a> and Lacey Johnston for research assistance. <\/em><\/p>\n

Photo credit: gemsling at Flickr<\/a> under a Creative Commons license<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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.\u00a0 They will be posting previews on Green Options […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":145,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[10235,12149,12165,13699,15998,20491,21102,21214,27981,31392,31395,31567,35322,35325,37618,37718],"spectra_custom_meta":{"social_buttons":["digg,reddit"],"tweet_this_url":["getnew"],"dsq_thread_id":["145089463"],"_oembed_aa20535cb8511d381766a04c2f7b642f":["