Green Toilets

Everyone’s got to go sometime. Go to the loo that is – One of the fundamentals of human life (& all other animal life for that matter!) has actually been made a rather wasteful affair, thanks to the design of the modern flushing toilet that hasn’t changed all that significantly since the 19th Century.

Older toilets can use between 3 – 5 gallons of clean water, although newer toilets must use no more than around 1.6 gallons per flush. Considering the average individual probably flushes an average of 5 times a day, the toilet alone can account for over 25% of total water use for a family home.

So what are the more environmentally friendly options?

1.

At the more extreme end of the spectrum, Composting toilets like the Envirolet FlushSmart system (pictured) recycle waste directly into compost using very little water; less than 0.05 gallons per flush according to the Canadian manufacturers’ website.

The thought of storing up all your family number twos might not seem like such a good idea, but composting toilets such as these use ventilation methods to evaporate the water and dehydrate the waste into a dry compost without any smell or unpleasantness. While undoubtedly a very green option, the most suitable system for most UK residencies is likely to be an electronic flush model; one of the most expensive models where the tank can be placed some way away from the toilet. The system costs around EUR3,000 or about £2,900 when shipping is included, so only those with deep pockets are likely to go for this option.

Other manufacturers of composting toilets include Wostman Ecology, although not all the site is yet available in English so I can’t compare details yet.

2.

A less extreme option might be to consider installing a dual-flush or high-efficiency toilet from Toto. Dual-flush is a simple way to let the user select how much water to use for the flush depending on the appropriate..er load, and is now a common feature in many new toilets. Toto’s high efficiency flushing technologies claim to reduce water consumption even further to around 1.28 gallons per flush.

While currently only available across the USA and parts of Asia, a European launch is expected shortly according to their European site.

3.

A third, and very simple option for making your loo a bit greener, perhaps if you rent for example, is to add a drinks bottle full of water or sand in to the tank to reduce water consumption. This works best for non low-flush toilets, but is a quick and easy win for those without the deep pockets to replace the whole toilet. The gallons per flush can be reduced quite significantly for some old loos, without loss of all important performance! – experiment with different size bottles to find the optimum flush size for your own family.

‘Bog’ Standard (sorry)	Composting Toilet	Dual-Flush / High Efficiency
c.£100 – £300	c.£2,900 direct from Envirolet FlushSmart system	c.£150 – £200 but not yet available in the UK (Know differently? Get in touch)
c. 1.6+ gallons per flush	c. 0.04 gallons per flush (+ free compost!)	c. 1.28 gallons per flush