Transcript for the Piece Audio version of Toiletbowl Conservation

Script:

[flush]

That?s a sound most of us hear every day. Chance are you are pampered by the presence of the porcelain throne and the massive infrastructure that goes along with it.

[tap water]

Now that?s drinking water from my kitchen sink. It?s the same water used to flush my toilet. Seems like a waste. So why don?t we use collected rainwater? Or filter and re-use the water from our sinks and showers? In some cases that?s exactly what we?re doing. But that infrastructure has not yet reached most of the millions of homes in this country. So what do we do in the meantime?

I am fortunate to work as a sustainability professional at a major university. My job is to help the institution as a whole be environmentally responsible. This means I?m involved in the design of buildings, the consideration of products we buy and waste we create, curriculum design, and strategizing how to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. No two days are the same, and that suits me very well. But getting back to toilets.

Water conservation always comes up in construction design meetings now. When I began this job a few months ago I mentioned what are called dual-flush toilets as a possible water-saving fixture. I got blank stares. When I explained they have a super low-flow flush function for #1 activities, the stares became little grins. Potty talk never fails to lighten things up.

So we installed two to test them out. I went into the bathroom with a co-worker to check it out:

[ Soundbite ]

And it even comes with instructions:

[Soundbite]

Pretty clear. But then someone got analytical on us:

[Soundbite]

Seems simple, but a few interesting points starting coming up. Bathroom etiquette is a complicated business! It seems that most people wouldn?t touch a bathroom handle for anything. Apparently it?s hard to ignore that voice from our childhood that says ?don?t touch it, use your foot?:

[soundbite]

But there are a few brave souls:

[soundbite ]

She is referring to the special green handle, which is described on the instructions as being ?coated to protect against germs?

The dual-flush toilets we?re trying use 1.1 gallons per flush for liquid waste, and 1.6 gallons for solid. If we installed these all over campus and everyone did a #1 twice a day, we could save up to 10,000 gallons each day. You could easily fill a backyard swimming pool with that.

Everyone understands that saving water is a good thing. The trick is finding ways to change our habits that actually work. If we find that most people won?t use the low-flow function because they can?t get the hang of doing that with their foot, or they can?t remember to flush up, then this particular product won?t work. But another will, so we?ll keep testing.

There are so many fun options to try when finding the path toward global sustainability. Our little experiment has gotten people talking, laughing, and having fun.

[soundbite + flush]