Posted on 06/03/2006 1:35:09 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
As worries about resource conservation and global warming spur growth in environmentally sensitive construction, builders find that one room separates the greens from the traditionalists.
The restroom.
Once the most generic of features in commercial buildings, toilets loom as the earth-friendly builder's final frontier. Eco-friendly toilets -- low-flush, dual-flush or no-flush compost -- conserve water and cut pollution, a double benefit that few other green features can claim.
But try to find one of these toilets. As more builders earn plaudits and save money with geothermal heating and bicycle parking, they remain more likely to plant roof gardens than to install green toilets.
Plumbers say waterless urinals, which use a replaceable cartridge, are unsanitary because they don't wash waste away. Municipalities resist making the changes to plumbing systems that compost toilets require. (In a compost toilet, the high-tech version of an outhouse, accumulated waste decomposes into liquid fertilizer and organic matter.) Users complain that high-efficiency toilets, which use less water than traditional models, require two flushes to do the job.
Behind such objections stands this truth: America remains a flush-oriented society, and the more powerful the flush, the better.
"It was a morale issue," Anja S. Caldwell, green building chief for the Montgomery County public school system, said of initial resistance to the 50 waterless urinals introduced over the past year. "People thought that by taking the flush away, you're taking an entitlement."
Six years after the U.S. Green Building Council established standards governing construction with low environmental impact, buildings certified by the builders' group total 6 percent of construction. The trend is growing. Fifteen states and 49 cities -- including Maryland, Virginia and the District -- have some green building legislation or incentives.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
How do you disable it--I want to do it too?
There is fewer of the 3.5 toilets all the time because people are falling for the water co. rebates but I still change them out.
Anyone in the San Diego area that wants an older one, let me know and i'll save one.
It's too much trouble to try and sell them or store them if I don't have someone that wants it.
You mean the lousy toilets required by lousy California state law?
I pass through the pores of oceans and shores,
I change but I cannot die.
-- Shelley
I am such a sick puke. Your post literally made me laugh out loud.
Yes, those.
Screw the low-flush toilets...when I build my house I'll install a NORMAL toilet...every low-flush I have seen needs TWO flushes to work....
Yeah, I said the same thing when we built our house. But try to FIND a 'normal' one! Thankfully, on the internet I found 'America's best flushing system' by American Standard and paid the extra to get a low volume but EFFICIENT toilet. Good luck.
They ended up compromising to have some sort of regular plumbing, too, in order to appease the union
LOL - Picture the Democrats at their convention with the plumbers' union bashing the tree-huggers over the head with their plungers. Gotta love those libs!
Tell me you live in Berkeley......?
If you can't do any of the above, keep a plunger next to every toilet and make sure your family and guests know how to work it, because those commie toilets are ALWAYS clogging up.
There IS a solution folks - put these into our new house - do a Google search for 'American Standard Americas Best Flushing System' and click on 'see the Champion in action' and watch them flush lots of little rubber t**ds - it's a hoot but it really does work.
Here I go again - Google 'American Standard Americas Best Flushing System', then click on the 'see the champion in action' and watch the video - put these into my house and they work great.
We had a toilet that was from the 70s lots of water, but my husband has, shall we say extra large and long ones. He was always plugging the toilet and we would have to get the plunger out. We heard about the AMERICAN STANDARD (CHAMPION) very little water and works on some sort of suction mechanism. They demonstrate by flushing a dozen golf balls and a long plastic tube. When we remodeled last year we put one in and there has been no plugged toilet since. YEH!
*There oughta be a law.
I recently stayed in a Hotel (Holiday Inn exp., Isle of Palms, SC) where they had these little plaques on the tank with a plumber in a wetsuit with the caption "Don't make me come up there".
Below it said something like. "These low water usage toilets clog easily, so flush early and flush often."
Now tell me how this is green? These crappers probably, in the long run, end up using more water than the old un-green jobs.
I couple of years ago I was on a trip and stopped at a Motel 6 that had the water pressurized low flush toilets. The one I had worked very well, no complaints, but was quite surprising to use. When I flushed it there was a sound like a firecracker going off, the handle jumped back in my hand, and all the waste vanished. A contractor friend of mine later told me those units cost about $400 apiece, compared to about $100 for a conventional toilet.
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