A ship shape and scanty sea shanty

I recently won a lunch and tour of the P&O ship The Pacific Dawn. I'm a huge fan of boats and ships, but up until a few weeks ago the biggest ships I've been on have been car ferries. The ferry from Dover to Calais many years ago was, of course exciting; but it was part of an absolute marathon bus ride I took from Cleethorpes to Zagreb, and the excitement may have been from merely being outside the bloody bus.

Once, from Dubrovnik to Bari, I learned that it is impossible to use a squat toilet on a ferry.




The tour and lunch aboard the Pacific Dawn was to celebrate its first birthday with P & O. The ship itself was painfully, woefully, middle-class, middle-aged, white and straight, and while it was fun for a brief while I don't think I could ever do a whole cruise. Whether by design or good fortune we were seated with the only other gays at the whole event, which made lunch infinitely more tolerable.



The toilets were certainly ship shape, but there was a queue of 4 women in front of me and only 3 cubicles. This was toilet 'rush hour' - between the main and dessert. We had been directed to use these toilets by the banquet staff and I was surprised that they didn't make more toilets available. I can understand that they didn't want people wandering over the ship, but 3 cubicles is pretty measly for a whole banquet hall of people. I wonder how they fare when the ship is full?

Friday Flush 28.Nov.08

Welcome back to The Bog Logger! I've been on a wee hiatus, but I'm back now with news, reviews, and the view from the loo.

Openings

There have been a few exciting toilet openings this week. First of all, the famed Charmin Restrooms have opened for the third year in New York. The 20 luxury toilets are serviced by tuxedoed-attendants after each use. Charmin is a toilet paper manufacturer in the US, and the toilets in Times Square have become quite a holiday tourist attraction.

We may not have tuxedoes, but in Australia we had the opening of the country's highest toilets on Mt Kosciusko, and I think they're really gorgeous.


It looks like they've used local rock to ensure the facility complements the surrounding landscape but without sacrificing function for form.

Residents in Peebles, UK, have decided to combine form and function by opting for single occupancy unisex toilets, believing that they are less likely to encourage anti-social behaviour. I'm not a huge fan of these toilets, but I do understand their purpose. The important thing for the people at Kingsmeadow is that they have adequate, clean facilities.

It seems that the people of Atlanta, USA, have not learned from the mistakes of Seattle and have decided to buy $300,000 apiece spaceship toilets. The comments on the article are generally not favourable to the idea. It makes no sense that councils continue to be fooled into buying those expensive monstrosities which intimidate all but the least reputable people. Portland, USA, has a much better toilet solution proposed.

This eco-toilet comes at a smaller price tag of $140,000, runs on solar energy and has panels which are easily and cheaply changed in case of vandalism. They are designed to be 'privacy-reduced' in order to discourage loitering.

And finally, in the UK, a Plymouth man is taking his very serious campaign for more toilets to the European Court of Human Rights. Eric Johns says that Plymouth used to have 67 toilets in 1984. Now, that number has dwindled to 31. The town of Devonport only has 1 toilet. The Court has accepted his initial submission and will hear his case next year.

State of Flush

Due to sustained movements, The Bog Logger is currently in a state of flush.

In the meantime, please remember that they are trying to scare you.

Women and children

Bog Standard is not just a brilliant name for a campaign - it is a brilliant campaign. Launched in October 2004, Bog Standard aims to improve toilet facilities for school children in the UK, and it has brought the issue of toilets for pupils to the fore. It is headed by ERIC (Education and Resources for Improving Childhood Continence), an organisation primarily concerned with continence issues amongst young people.

Also organised by ERIC is the Water is Cool in School campaign. The adequate provision of water is a crucial element in ensuring good toilet habits, and the two campaigns are inextricably linked. Children and young people have continence and soiling problems for all sorts of reasons, but one major contributor is not drinking enough water. This can lead to a reduced bladder capacity. The Water is Cool in School campaign was launched in 2000 aiming to get drinking water out of the lavs and into the spotlight - and in this health conscious age of tackling childhood obesity it's an important campaign. It has had considerable success in changing the culture of drinking water in schools; a survey in 2003 found that many schools are now permitting or even encouraging drink bottles in the classroom.

But the ERIC team realised that they needed to look a few steps backwards; the reason some children don't drink water at school is so that they can avoid the toilets.

Bad lavs can mean anything from poor provisions, lack of privacy, dirty or vandalised facilities, accessibility issues and the presence of bullies. If children don't feel comfortable going to the toilet or feel rushed they may stop too early, not emptying their bladder completely. Or they may not go at all. Good clean toilets are key to improving toilet habits; but children also need to know that their toilets are free of bullies and smokers, that they have plenty of time and privacy to completely empty their bladder and bowels and to not feel ashamed. They need to know they can go when they need to go. I've never been shy about the toilet, but I can imagine that for some children having to ask the teacher to go to the toilet every hour must be humiliating. ERIC goes so far as to say that the lack of suitable facilities, privacy and time for children to go to the toilet is a breach of their human rights.

In Delhi, a young woman has conducted a survey which found that only 4 percent of the public toilets provided in the city are designed for use by women! From May to July 2008, Shahana Sheikh toured the slums of New Delhi counting up the toilets. As a result of her report, the Delhi High Court has directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to file a status report within four weeks, regarding public toilet provision for women in slum areas.

"What is this mere talk of women empowerment and feminism worth if there is no provision of something as basic as toilet facilities for the poorest of poor women," asks Sheikh.

It seems to me that in this International Year of Sanitation, we need to particularly look at the toilet situation for women and children.

For more information, visit:

http://www.wateriscoolinschool.org.uk/

http://www.eric.org.uk/

http://www.bog-standard.org/

Saturday Skiddie 30.08.08

Hi all and welcome to this week's Friday Flush Saturday Skiddie.

An artist in New York is bringing his style to the streets - toilet stall style. Ricky Syers has been walking around dressed as a janitor carrying a toilet with a man inside. Pretty cool stuff, really. And being an enterprising American chap, he is now selling advertising space on his toilet.



I love it when people find innovative ways to raise money (like the couple who cycled to raise money for a toilet for their church), and in Kansas this week The Flying Pig Studio and Gallery is auctioning 40 decorative toilet seats to raise money for new restrooms.

Plans call for the restroom to be named "Bowl Plaza" with buildings shaped like toilet tanks and entrances resembling a toilet seat. A walkway will look like an unfurling roll of toilet paper.
www.kansas.com

The town of Madrid, New Mexico has unveiled its first public toilets. Up until now, visitors have had to make do with portable toilets. One lucky resident was even presented with a key to the new restroom.



The man who was struck with a toilet cistern lid in Canada last week has unfortunately died. Second-degree murder charges have been laid against the attacker.

New Zealand Olympians have been suspended after photographing a fellow athlete on the toilet. Swimmers Cameron Gibson, Dean Kent and Corney Swanepoel were expelled from the Olympic village and may face further penalties. I think this seems a little harsh - but then again, I haven't seen the photos, and they are supposedly of one of the youngest members of the team.

And finally, New Delhi college student, Shahana Sheikh, has prepared a report highlighting the dearth of toilets for women in the Indian capital, prompting the High Court to take direct action.

"One day during my internship with CCS [Centre for Civil Society] I saw a woman cleaning a public toilet at Yusuf Sarai. It struck me that though she was cleaning the toilet, she herself couldn't use it since it was meant only for men - like most public toilets in Delhi. I decided to find out the real status of public conveniences in the city," Sheikh said. "People talk about feminism all the time but nobody thinks of a need as basic as a toilet for them despite the fact that our chief minister and mayor are both women," she added.

That's a wrap for this week. I'm going to go lay myself down and dream about a walkway unfurling like a roll of toilet paper. *sigh* What happiness.

Eeek!

This week's Friday Flush is going to have to be a Saturday Skiddie, cos I've already had too many beers and I have to get up in a few hours.

See you all tomorrow folks, with plenty of toilet news, including New Zealand Olympians, women's toilets in India, and a toilet seat auction.

Where else can you get your weekly fix of bog news but right here, at The Bog Logger!

Friday Flush 22.08.08

Just a quick flush today cos I'm practically running out the door.

A man in Canada is in a critical condition after being hit with a toilet cistern lid. What an ignoble way to go. Wasn't there some famous general who was killed when he was struck by a roof tile? Does anyone know if that's true? I'm sure I heard it in a history lecture once upon a time.

The hunt is on for New Zealand's finest loo and entries are now open. Toilets are judged on all the usual criteria - cleanliness, signposting, appearance, amenities offered - and also, oddly, car parking.

Americans are apparently multitasking on the toilet; they're checking their emails and listening to music. 88% use at least one electronic device in the bathroom! The survey also found that women tend to spend longer in the bathroom than men. Recent efforts to curb water use in the shower has had little effect, with people spending just as much time in the shower as they did 4 years ago.

An incredible strike across all of Scotland by local government workers has disrupted many services. The strike, over set pay increases being below inflation levels, means that schools, which will be left without janitorial staff, will not open, as well as forcing the closure of art galleries, sporting facilities, cemeteries and public toilets. I encourage you to read the article, and especially the comments that follow it. You'll learn more about Scottish politics in five minutes than you ever thought possible.

And finally in this very brief flush this week, in Macedonia, government ministers who do not provide enough toilet paper for their staff could face fines of up to E1000.

Have a good weekend! I'm off to Sydney on this fine cold rainy day.

The positive side to losing 5 million bucks

It’s old news now, but in case you didn’t know Seattle has finally offloaded its troublesome spaceship toilets (see previous posts here and here and here).

The 5 toilets which sold for $US12,549 cost Seattle $5 million – and most articles are painting it as some spectacular failure. But the $5 million includes more than $500,000 for cancelling the contract early, as well as installation and removal costs. The city did get 4 years of (questionable) service from the facilities so the amount lost isn’t as massive as it first looks, particularly as it will be saving on future contract costs.

It’s now time to look at the positives. The old toilets cost $3.75 per use to run and used 2 to 4 times more water than an ordinary toilet. This is a real opportunity for Seattle to go green and install toilets (or ‘restrooms’ as those Americans quaintly call them) which use solar power, dual flush systems and motion sensors for lighting, like at Michigan State Park.

Now, over in New York (over? Down? Up? My US geography is shite. Is there a map here somewhere?), their spaceship toilets seem to be going along nicely. The fact that they cost 25 cents might help, as might the fact that they’re run and maintained by an advertising mob and are situated in good neighbourhoods with no other facilities. Toilets are all about location, location, location. As the hot dog vendor in the Gothamist article astutely observes, his “neighbourhood is not good for that type of thing”. Bad neighbourhoods is when good toilets go… bad.

Actually, charging a small amount for using toilets is a great idea. I’ve always been a fan, as long as the toilets are up to it. If you’re ever in Zagreb, the toilets at the train station are awesome. Sure, the woman who takes your money is surly as hell, but the toilets are clean, there’s always plenty of loo roll, and the whole experience (except for the surly woman) is really pleasant. Totally worth the 4 Kuna.

As my dad says, give someone something for nothing and they’ll treat it like it’s worth nothing.

Hopefully the man who bought the Seattle loos gets what he paid for.

To Dig, or Not to Dig?

It’s an age old question and one that I often ponder. Do I dig a hole for a toilet? Or do I not dig a hole for a toilet? What to do, what to do…

On the one hand, I might find gold.

On the other, I might get buried alive.

Friday Flush 15.08.08

I recently did a study of female toilet users in pubs, trying to get an idea of what women like and don't like about public toilets. I was surprised that one of the things that came out top of the list was hand dryers - most women prefer hand towels. Dryers often don't work, take too long, and only one person at a time can use them, meaning that most people just dry their hands on their trousers. Dyson New Zealand has possibly addressed some of these problems; they unveiled the Dyson Airblade this week at Auckland airport.

 

 

Dyson claims the dryer (or is it drier?) is the "fastest, most hygienic hand dryer". It works by blasting a "high speed sheet of air, which gently squeegees your hands dry". That sounds kinda sexy. You can see it in all its sexiness at their very sexy website. It took the engineers an incredible 3 years to develop this next step in hand-drying technology. The Airblade was actually released in 2006 but I'm unsure how high the uptake has been. It's certainly the first time I've heard of it.

 

Ho Chi Minh City's attempts to "work towards a civilized urban lifestyle" have been hindered by a lack of suitable sites for public toilets. Residents are concerned about having toilets built in front of their houses - but presumably they don't mind if people urinate in the gutter. The stigma attached to public toilets needs to be mollified by designing buildings that aesthetically complement the districts - but with only a month to build them, I'm not sure if that'll be possible.

 

No such problems finding sites for toilets in Pune, India - they've installed 110 toilets in their homes. Friends of Shelter Associates (USA) has constructed toilets for sex workers, people with disabilities and those living below the poverty line. Another fabulous NGO doing great work in this International Year of Sanitation.

 

It's not very often that I wished I lived in Canada - but OH MY GOD they have a toilet festival! Organised by Oxfam, the festival aims to raise awareness about water and sanitation issues in developing countries.

 

I do however very often wish that I lived in the UK because it's the only place in the world where you could hold a From Looe for a Loo challenge. Bob and Chris May cycled 300 miles from Loo to Dymock to raise £1500 for a toilet at St Mary's church.

 

Toilet blog Where's the Toilet? has given an incredible 9 out of 10 to the toilets at Raffles Beach Singapore. This is a much pleasanter story about toilets than one usually hears about Singapore.

 

And finally tonight, a German toilet collector (that is, a German who is a toilet collector, not a collector of German toilets) spent £1,800 pounds for a rare toilet - only to discover that he had purchased a tiny replica. What do you do with a collection of toilets? Maybe you open a toilet museum. No, too obvious. How about a toilet restaurant?

 

(I never thought I'd add 'food' as a category on The Bog Logger).

 

And that is, folks, The Bog Logger signing off on this gorgeous half-way-through-the-Olympics Friday.