The Green

New York City has a new public bathroom for people to use. In Madison Square Garden, there is a paperless Toilet available to everyone. Because saving paper on toilet paper seems like it would be totally green, we thought we would find out all the details on this exciting new technology and how it is making ripples far and wide. In essence, this toilet is nothing more than an automatized bidet. It is always great when a new product is just using a very useful invention from the past with a few new technological upgrades like automated air drying.

Tom Cruise, a professed gadget addict, has picked up a couple paperless toilets for his home. Tom Cruise said "It's a gift from heaven, believe me. People think it's all about suction and that they're going to have their insides removed by this marvel of modern engineering -- but it doesn't suck, it blows." (http://www.sfgate.com)



You can find the paperless toilet from a company called Aspen Bidets [www.aspen-bidets.com]

Now that you have considered this new innovation in the realm of butt-rinsing, the real question is: does the energy used by the toilet result in less greenhouse emissions than the creation of toilet paper for regular toilets? The toilet has a control panel, it has a heated seat and heats air for the butt dryer. I am not convinced that producing toilet paper produces more pollution. Also, something about plugging in my toilet filled with water and my butt attached to it makes me a bit nervous. Well, maybe they have a version with a hand crank that people without electricity in their toilet can use.