www.RogerWendell.com
Roger J. Wendell
Defending 3.8 Billion Years of Organic Evolution^SM

Toilet Matters Squatty Potties and Good Health! ("WC", outside the U.S., is a common designation for "water Closet" or flush toilet - you'll occassionally see it used on this page..)

Click Here for a YouTube video of an in-flight flush at 32,000 feet...

Click Here for a YouTube video of a train's toilet in India...

Rember to always consult your physician before undertaking any
kind of dietery, physical, or medical change - regardless whether
it's described on my pages or anywhere else on the Internet!

What's natural?

"The ideal posture for defecation is the squatting position, with the thighs flexed upon the abdomen. In this way the capacity of the abdominal cavity is greatly diminished and intra-abdominal pressure increased, thus encouraging the expulsion of the fecal mass. The modern toilet seat in many instances is too high even for some adults. The practice of having young children use adult toilet seats is to be deplored." - Bockus, Gastro-Enterology, p. 511.

The following drawings provided courtesy Nature's Platform where they note, "The ancient Romans used the posture shown below. (Togas were easier to deal with than trousers, and provided some degree of privacy) The last picture shows a typical tourist. He might be surprised to learn that, except for royalty and the disabled, everyone used the squatting position until the second half of the 19th century..."

In 2001 I took a great trip throughout the Silk Road and China - it was there that I discovered "Squatty Potty" toilets, despite their lack of cleanliness, to be much more healthful than what we're accustomed to in the Western world. This is because a "squatting" position is required that places natural pressure on our intestines in addition to protecting our bottom's from having to sit on or touch anything! This bit of pressure, from squatting, is what helps move things along quickly and efficiently in addition to reducing clean-up and paperwork afterwards.

I don't think the term "Squatty Potty" is generally used to describe these toilets. Nevertheless, I use the term here because it's pretty darn descriptive. I first heard the term from Tina, our American friend in Western China, but can't say I've heard it used much since then...

Anyway, in addition to China I've been fortunate to visit various other places around the world, including Africa, where the squatty potty is the norm. And, it appears to me that most of the world has us beat when it comes to toilets in this regard. Clearly, the squatty is quicker, cleaner, and much more natural than sitting on a huge porcelain insulator. Squatties also use a lot less resources and are much easier to construct and maintain.

During my trips through China and India I found the "squatty potty" to be in full use everywhere - including their trains!

Platforms?

Some folks have constructed a platform around their existing toilet. This flat surface, at the traditional level of the toilet seat, allows the user to squat over the existing porcelain structure. Also, if you look around the Internet a bit you'll see there are some suppliers and manufacturers selling "Nature," "Lillipad," "In-Lieu," and "Squat" platforms. Although I haven't tried any of these commercial ones I do have lots of personal experience everywhere else and can assure you that squatting is quick, easy, efficient and healthful - I hope you'll give it a try!

- Roger J. Wendell
Golden, Colorado

If every household in the U.S. replaced just one roll of 1,000 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissues with 100% recycled ones, we could save: 373,000 trees, 1.48 million cubic feet of landfill space, and 155 million gallons of water. Seventh Generation Co.

Other Toilets, Facilities, and Supplies: (Displayed here just for the fun of it!)   In September '08 Colleen R. wrote me to say; "I was very shocked to see your photo of a "typical African toilet" as I live in Africa & have never seen such a degrading loo! Another shocker was the toilet found in Australia! They love pointing fingers at (South) Africa - I'm so pleased "our toilet" appears to be a slightly more updated model than theirs. Interesting photos."

Click Here for a YouTube video of an airport restoom...

Here's one of the toilets we used on Mt. Rainier...	USS Pampanito 09/09/05 WWII Submarine Toilet	The other USS Pampanito WWII Submarine Toilet	Toilet in Ecuador Climbers' Hut at 16,000 feet! (4,877 m)	Also discovered in Ecuador
Reading...	Tanzania toilet	Typical African toilet...	Climbers' toilet on Mt. Kenya	Found this one in Australia...
Bathroom Art!	Roger in Grand Canyon	Monument Creek toilet	Me on the Monument toilet	Three Grand Canyon toilets...
Me visiting Four Corners in '92	Montezuma, Colorado	Me and a French pay toilet!	Condoms at Calais, France	Making payment in Calais, France
Outhouse For Sale, Nevada	Virginia City, Nevada	Dover, England, UK	Hygiene Monitor, UK	Harrods Department Store, London
Urinals, UK	Urinal candy, UK	Police toilet China	Public toilet Xinjiang, China	Public toilet Xinjiang, China
Mining toilet in Tombstone	Private toilet Nogales, MX	Tanzania Toilet Paper	Kenya Toilet Paper*	Earth First Toilet Paper

Above: In June 2007 I was on business in Tucson and took a tour of the "Good Enough Mine" in Tombstone, Arizona. Far left is the miner's toilet on display there. A few days earlier I was a bit further south, into Mexico, and asked a family if I could photograph their private toilet after they so graciously allowed me to use it! - Roger

* Toilet tissue insert

Left and Above: I found this advertising insert inside the roll of toilet tissue I purchased in Kenya (above). It's pretty serious business as it explains how proceeds from the sale help keep parents employed and kids in school - what a fantastic idea!

Dachau	Dachau	Dachau	Austria WC	Bidet - Wolkenstein, Italy
Mauna Kea observatory	Arches National Park	Portable camp toilet	San Francisco street toilet	Aluminum siding in Boulder

India Toilets

The toilets of India deserve a space of their own, not because they're so different, but because the country is so large (population-wise), and diverse - even when it comes to toilet matters! We visited India at the end of 2008 and really enjoyed it there. So, don't misunderstand, this section of photos is not poking fun at India, but, rather, reflects the diversity we found throughout their wonderful country!

Oh, throughout much of India, especially in tourist areas, it's common for attendants to receive a tip after you've used their restroom (actually, I've seen this practiced in other parts of the world, as well). Also, a very common sight throughout India is people (usually men) urinating alongside a road, sidewalk, or on a wall. In one of my photographs, below, you can see an open, outside urinal adjacent a busy street...

Train push-button flush	Train toilet and my foot...	Pay toilets	Hybrid toilet	Typical "squatty"
Street urinal	Condoms	Me and a sign in Sanskrit	Bidet & toilet	Bidet & toilet
Indian toilet tissue	No tips please!	Western style!	"He" - Ranthambhore	"She"

Click Here for my page about India...

Garderobes were medieval toilets in large public buildings and castles.
They were often holes in the outer walls which dropped into cess pits or moats.
Tami and I photographed a few while on a visit to the United Kingdom in October '06:

Tower of London

Dover Castle

Garderobe entrance

Escape the smell!

Groom of the Stool

Me at Dover Castle's garderobe

Click Here for my page about the United Kingdom...

World Toilet Association
CNN.com/Technology (AP) Friday, November 23, 2007

"The World Toilet Association kicked off its inaugural conference Thursday, hoping to spark a sanitation revolution that will save lives through better hygiene and break taboos about what happens behind closed bathroom doors."

"2.6 billion people worldwide lack access to proper restroom facilities."

"Dr. Shigeru Omi, western Pacific director of the World Health Organization, said 1.8 million people die annually due to diseases related to inadequate sanitation, 90 percent of them children younger than 5."

"Providing healthy bathroom facilities worldwide would cost some $10 billion a year -- equal to 1 percent of world military spending or what Europeans annually spend on ice cream, he said. The new association aims to provide toilet facilities to impoverished countries, provide for urgent sanitation needs after natural disasters and spread information and technology for improving toilets."

Water Conservation New toilets-- drive 'em to believe 'em KOHLER, Wisconsin (AP), November 27, 2007

"With droughts parching the nation's Southeast and chronic water shortages drying out the West Coast, water utilities across the country say they're grateful for recent advances in the toilet industry, and a number of state governments are moving toward mandating the use of the water-saving commodes."

Toilets built 30 years ago guzzled 5 or more gallons of water per flush, but in the early 1980s manufacturers designed new models that needed only 31/2 gallons per flush. Congress emphasized further conservation in 1992 when it passed the Energy Policy Act, which mandated that regular toilets made starting in 1994 use 1.6 gallons."

"Consumers weren't pleased with those early low-flow models. The first flush didn't always clear the bowl, and subsequent flushes negated any water savings."

"But the newest generation of high-efficiency toilets -- developed in the last two to seven years -- does the job on the first try and uses only 1.3 gallons per flush, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

"'The technology is ready, it's been tested, and it's receiving rave reviews from customers,' EPA spokesman Benjamin Grumbles said. 'There's real enthusiasm for high-efficiency toilets. Water conservation is really the wave of the future.'"

"The future is now in thirsty California. Last month Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill mandating that 50 percent of toilets offered for sale in 2010 meet the high-efficiency standards, ramping up to 100 percent by 2014."

"Conservation groups hailed the law as an easy way for people to help the environment."

"'With these new toilets, it's not changing anyone's lifestyle to conserve water,' said Jim Metropulos, a legislative representative for Sierra Club California. 'It's an easy and cheap way to help.'"

"Other states, including Georgia, are considering similar measures."

"The EPA isn't specifically pushing for federal legislation, but Grumbles said his agency is providing Congress information linking water efficiency and energy efficiency. Less water flushed means less energy used by treatment plants."

"One high-efficiency model that's gaining in popularity is the dual-flush toilet, in which users press one button to flush liquid waste with 0.8 or 0.9 gallon of water, or an adjacent button to flush solid waste with 1.6 gallons."

"The flushes amount to an average of about 1.3 gallons, complying with the EPA's definition of a high-efficiency toilet."

"While a water-friendly toilet can be several times more expensive than a standard one, which typically costs less than $100, consumers can expect to recoup the cost within about two years after water savings and possible rebates from the local water company."

Fluffy Toilet Paper Said to Be Worse for Environment Than Hummers FoxNews.com - Friday, February 27, 2009

"That super-soft toilet paper you're fond of using? It's an ecological disaster, environmentalists say.

"Millions of trees are harvested throughout the Americas - including rare old-growth forests in Canada - to sustain the United States' obsession with quilted, ultra-soft, multi-ply toilet paper, the New York Times reported.

"Although toilet paper manufacturers could produce products from recycled materials at a similar cost, the newspaper reported, the fiber taken from standing trees are necessary to help give the tissue its fluffy feel.

"'No forest of any kind should be used to make toilet paper,' said Dr. Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist and waste expert with the Natural Resource Defense Council told the Times.

"The United States is the largest market for toilet paper in the world, the newspaper reported, but tissue from 100 percent recycled fibers makes up less than 2 percent of sales for at-home use among conventional and premium brands. People from other countries throughout Europe and Latin America are far less picky about what they use to wipe.

"'This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous,' Hershkowitz told the Guardian newspaper, which cited the chemicals used in pulp manufacturing and process of cutting down forests.

"'Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age,' Hershkowitz said. 'Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.'

Revolutionary corn-based toilet paper
Cleaning and Maintenance Management Online - Thursday, March 26, 2009

"The winners of this year's Purdue Corn Innovation Contest successfully developed usable toilet paper from the cellulose of corn, according to HoosierAgToday.com." "The winning team, Nature's Silk, consists of Dave Jaroch, Jessamine Osborne and Janie Stine, the story stated." "Stine says: 'We actually use waste cellulose from the fields that's not being used for anything else. It's not going to be used for food product, or fabric or anything else." "Osborne said: 'Right now, toilet paper is made from wood. You have to use virgin lumber and the world is becoming more environmentally friendly. The gasoline to carry the trees from the forest to the plants is becoming more of an issue. What we have here is 74 million tons of waste not used every year. We can take that waste and farmers can give it to factories that are already present and use it to make our product.'"

Literature: Fertile Waste (Managing your domestic sewage) by Peter Harper - Copyright 1997 Improving on the World's Greatest Invention (A Healthy Addition!) by Wallace Bowles - Copyright 1999

• Colon Health Handbook (New Health Through Colon Rejuvenation) by Robert Gray - Copyright 1980
• The Master Cleanser (with Special Needs and Problems) by Stanley Burroughs - Copyright 1976

Links:

 :

 :

Back to Roger J. Wendell's Home Page...

Abbey | About | Blog | Contacting Me | Copyright | Disclaimer | Donate | Guest Book | Home | Site Index | Solutions | Terms, Conditions and Fair Use
Copyright © 1955 -