Roo poo paper proves popular:

"Creative Paper Tasmania's roo poo paper has generated unprecedented interest ahead of its official launch next month.

Papermaker Joanna Gair says they have taken more than 50 bulk orders and 150 individual orders for the paper, which is made from kangaroo dung.

She says it has captured the imagination of people locally, interstate and internationally.

'It's just so funny, as well as it being, the eco-message, which we try to get across as well, there's a real giggle factor,' she said.

'It's made out of poo, but also it's so Aussie.'"

Can American Standard design an uncloggable toilet?

"PISCATAWAY, N.J.--If you think that bathrooms are standardized, low-tech places, walk through American Standard's cavernous 2-year-old design center.


In one room, 12 toilets are flushing as if under ghostly control; an electronic machine is pulling the virtual levers--and manipulating water temperature and pressure as well. In smaller rooms nearby, one man is alternately flushing cylinders of miso paste, wadded-up paper, and as many as 24 golf balls at a time, while another is inspecting different glazes on ceramic tiles."

MDN: News on Japan as it happens: "500 tons of cow urine pollutes river in Hokkaido


SAPPORO -- A blunder by a worker resulted in 500 tons of cow urine overflowing from a reservoir in the Hokkaido village of Tsurui, running into an irrigation channel and polluting a branch of the Kushiro River.

Kushiro officials said the accident occurred in the predawn hours of Thursday, while urine in a concrete reservoir on a farm in Tsurui was being transferred to another reservoir.

Because the concrete reservoir, which has a capacity of 3,000 tons, was full a worker began pumping it into another reservoir with a capacity of only 2,500 tons.

However, the worker went home without turning off the pump and arrived at work at 4 a.m. on Thursday to find that 500 tons of urine had overflowed from the smaller tank.

The urine that spilled from the tank flowed into a nearby irrigation channel, and part of it ran into a river branching off the Kushiro River. This branch river has two spawning points for trout and salmon, but the accident is unlikely to have a direct effect on them because these points are upstream of the place where the irrigation channel meets the river.

However, fears have been raised that the spillage could harm young fish when they are released into the river. Furthermore, downstream the river branches into another river that runs through the Kushiro Marsh, eventually flowing into the Pacific Ocean, and it is possible the urine could affect river and sea fishing, officials said. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, April 15, 2005)"

PoopReport.com: April 15, 2005: Poop For Peace Day

Yahoo! News - Thailand to Host World Toilet Summit: "Thailand to Host World Toilet Summit

BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand plans to upgrade hygiene in its public toilets to meet international standards as it prepares to host the World Toilet Summit next year, a health official said Wednesday.

'Toilets are very important for the country's image in the eyes of visitors,' said Somyos Chareonsak, a senior official of the Public Health Ministry.

The conference is to be held in May 2006.

The first summit, organized by the World Toilet Organization, was held in 2001 in Singapore. China, where toilet facilities are often in need of upgrades, hosted one last year.

Topics discussed at the meetings include toilet design and technology, toilet management and hygiene and energy-saving measures."

Toilets in trains to absorb collision impact- The Times of India: "Toilets in trains to absorb collision impact

LUCKNOW: It is the turn of toilets to come to the rescue of passengers of Indian Railways. Sounds amazing, but it is true, for now the railways is all set to come up with shock absorbing coaches, which will be designed in such a way that the toilets at the end of the coaches will not pass on the impact of collision to the passengers. "

TOTALFARK.com: (1422436) Today's Iron Photoshop ingredient: Toilets. (Link goes to Taiwanese restaurant)