Go Pee Outside and Save the Planet!

I came across the website of Pee Outside Org.

And wouldn’t you know it I missed Pee Outside Day, which was April 19th. But perhaps that was just as well as there was still several feet of snow here then and well, to be frank, peeing outside can be a bit of a risky business during a Canadian winter.

I don’t mean to sound facetious. This site is choc full of some very interesting information, like the fact that the average toilet flush uses 3 gallons of water. Admittedly the water ends up back in the cycle again but I think it’s more the energy used to collect, treat, deliver and dispose of that 3 gallons per flush that is the issue.

There is even advice for those who don’t like to pee outside:

I would rather not pee outside–what are some options?
PO.

We understand that some people just don’t like peeing outside, but every little bit helps! Some approved methods are:

- Pee in a cup/bottle and dispose of it outside.
- Pee down a drain of your choice
- Pee in the shower, only if you are doing something else at the same time.
- Use the old “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down” method.
- Or, just don’t flush every pee.

Just make sure that whatever your alternate method is, you’re conserving water and being legal.

Sound advice.

I am loath to show this site to my two boys as they already relish any opportunity they can get to go “au naturel” when it comes to their bodily functions. (Must be a man thing). I have spent many years trying to dissuade them from watering my rose bush, which doesn’t seem to appreciate their particular brand of organic fertiliser.

But it’s worth considering I suppose – although I lean more towards the brick in the toilet tank, or better still low-flush toilets, myself.

Oh and be sure to check out the photo gallery – yes they do in fact have pics of people peeing – outside!

Which reminds me of a funny story that my sister will kill me for sharing. An avid horseriding enthusiast, she found herself in desperate need of bladder relief whilst at the horse barns one day, and so in the absence of a washroom, she found what she thought was the perfect, discreet spot behind a stack of hay bales. As she assumed the position and commenced going about her business, secure in the knowledge that she was totally surrounded on all four sides by shields of hay, a hang glider floated over her head and gave her a friendly wave.

Pray tell – have you ever been “caught short” and had to take a bathroom break in the great outdoors only to be embarrassed by unexpected onlookers?

What a subject!