Those who know me – and even those who don’t – can attest to my love of the environment. I'm an Eco-Rep, so the environment and sustainable living is literally my life.
I talk a lot about recycling, reducing energy consumption…and saving water. Many of the bathrooms on campus have automatic flushing, something I’ve been trying to fight against so that excess water isn’t unnecessarily used. I struggled to find alternatives to automatic flushing. Getting it removed is something many students do not want. Getting flushing filters that flush at certain levels of excrement is expensive and a little disgusting.
In a completely unrelated thought bubble, I remembered a conversation a couple of my friends were having. They were disputing whether or not it is O.K. to pee in the shower. It’s clear that people go either one way or another on this issue. It’s either “Why the heck not?!” or “I ain’t doing that!” There is as much middle ground on this issue as there are NU students that hate the Tenderizer at Cheesie’s.
After talking with a friend, it occurred to me that the two ideas above are not as unrelated as I had originally thought. If peeing in the shower means less toilet usage, it also means less water being used to flush those toilets.
It sounds so simple: Peeing in the shower is good for the environment.
Flushing toilets makes up 27 percent of the total water usage in an average US household. Just think about how many times you and your family use your toilets at home, and how much water is wasted there. Now think of all the bathrooms on a college campus. There is so much water waste when using toilets here at NU. Trust me – I hear toilets flushing on repeat like I hear Beyoncé’s “Crazy in Love” on my iPod. DAS A LOT O’ FLUSHES.
And all those excessive toilet flushes, whether self-pressed or automatic, can easily be avoided by not even using a toilet in the first place.
People will obviously say that you don’t shower every time you pee. I’m definitely not saying to take a shower every time you pee. Dear lord. That’s just too much water waste for this environmentally savvy dude to think about.
Other people will say that you don’t pee every time you use a toilet (I’m going to let y’all think about the other options for using a toilet on your own). And even though these two statements are true, even one less toilet flush a day is a step closer to this “Green World” all your tree-hugger friends talk about.
The times that peeing in a urinal or toilet really strike me are when people go right before they take a shower. You are literally right about to step into the small cage that is an NU shower to wash all the filth off your over-worked, sleep-deprived body. Why not get rid of some of that inner filth as well?
Here is a challenge for all of you: When you’re about to shower, in the process of showering or finishing your shower, and you need to pee, don’t be afraid to let loose.
We all, hopefully, want this planet to stay functional. And a little multitasking in the shower will help us with our cause.