Poop for the planet

What's the latest in eco-friendly habits. This just in from Japan, an airline suggests that you deposit your poop in an airport toilet before boarding your flight.

All Nippon Airways, the airliine I flew from Tokyo back to Paris, suggests

"This flight is a so-called 'eFlight.' The idea behind the operation is to think about the Earth in the sky above. Fuel reduction by lightening the weight of the aircraft will lead to restrain the carbon dioxide emission, which is one of the causes of global warming. Thank you for your understanding."

"Asking passengers to go to the toilet (before boarding) is just a small part of the program," said spokeswoman Megumi Tezuka, which includes using recycled paper cups and plastic bottles instead of glass. "We are making these items lighter -- and making the passengers lighter, a little bit," Tezuka said.

Does it help? The airline estimates that if 50 percent of passengers relieved themselves before boarding, it would reduce carbon dioxide by 4.2 tons a month.

Japan seems to have a much better grasp on poop and pooping than I'm used to seeing. Take a look at this high-tech toilet, a common sight in Japan. It has a bum wash option. Pushing the little bum shower button sends a stream of water to wash your bum after pooping, just in case things got messy. If you prefer, you can press the warm water button and voila, the bum wash is nicely heated to body temperature, to eliminate the cool shock you might otherwise feel. Yes, of course I tried it...not bad.

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