Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/859801
W EEKLY EDITION AUG 9, 2017 Joke of the Week A man staggered into an emergency room with a concussion, multiple bruises, two black eyes and a 5 iron wrapped around his throat. Naturally, the doctor asked him what happened. "Well, it was like this," says the man. "I was having a quiet round of golf with my wife. At a difficult hole, we both sliced our balls into a pasture of cows. We went to look for them, and while I was rooting around I noticed one of the cows had something white at its rear end. I walked over a nd lifted up the tail, and, sure enough, there was a golf ball with my wife's monogram on it stuck right in the middle of the cow's butt. That's when I made my big mistake." "What did you do?" asked the doctor. "Well, I lifted the cow's tail and yelled to my wife, 'Hey, this looks like yours!' I don't remember much after that." Public Urination Gets a Floral Facelift The city of Paris, France has implemented a pair of urinals that double as flower boxes to keep the public train stations clean New urinals in a Paris railway station are using pee to produce a bit of natural beauty. Two planters boxes filled with flowers are now the perfect place to publicly urinate in the station, as they actually double as urinal troughs. The science behind this restroom option, titled the Uritrottoir, is unique but simple. The side of the box features the urinal trough that empties into a box filled with flowers growing in compost. The bottom half of the box features a bed of straw. The portal of the trough drai ns into the bottom box for the urine to land on it. Apparently, "the nitrogen from urine combines with the carbon from [the] straw to create ric h fertilizer, all while mitigating the smell." See the diagram for details. The flowers were a feature specifica lly added to combat the "foul - smelling urban nuisances associated with nocturnal wild pees in the city centers." Not only do these urinals provide a place to pee other than the ground, but they now provide an option for masking the smell from those who do urinate irresponsibly in the city. The two Uritrottoirs cost the city of Paris "approximately $9,730, and the city pays a sanitation worker $860 a mon th to monitor and empty the waste." Yet it seems to be worth the price paid, because other cities have beg un to reach out to the company across "France, Switzerland, England, and Germany." However, Paris is not the only city combating public urination. Amsterdam has installed "retractable toilets that rise from t he ground." San Francisco, on the other hand, h as repainted their city sidewalks with paint that causes the urine to splash "right back at you" in addition to installing new, open - air urinals. These efforts followed the collapse of a streetlamp "when its base deteriorated due to urine, nearly hitting a driver as it went down." It seems that there will be multiple examples for other cities to follow, thanks to the efforts of those already taking a stand through unique projects. Note: Two separate articles were used to bring you this story. R EAD STORY 1 READ STORY 2 © Portable Sanitation Ass ociation International (PSAI) • 2626 E 82 n d Street, Suite 175 • Bloomi ngton, MN 55425 www.psai.org • 952 - 854 - 8300