public restrooms news stories on Newser

Chicago Museum Boasts 'America's Best Restroom'

Matt Cantor — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:02:52 CDT

If you’re ever in Chicago and you really have to go, stop by the Field Museum—its restrooms are officially the best in the country. The natural history museum’s bathrooms have won the 10th annual “America’s Best Restroom” contest, run by restroom-supply company Cintas. So what’s so great about these...

Toilet Paper Being Rationed in Coney Island Bathrooms

Matt Cantor — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 15:08:05 CDT

New York City’s financial woes seem to be taking a toll on its toilets: Public restroom attendants are rationing toilet paper on the Coney Island boardwalk, the New York Post reports following an on-site investigation. With dispensers left empty, women must form “ration lines” to get their squares, while men’s...

New Sega Games Let You Play With Your Pee

Matt Cantor — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:00:05 CST

The Wii lets us play by moving controllers; with the Kinect, we simply wave our arms; now, Sega’s got a game system controlled by your pee, reports AOL News . “Toylets” will inject a little competition into the public urination experience: a screen installed above select metro-station urinals in Tokyo will...

Fun Facts to Know About Toilets

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 15:29:07 CST

Toilet habits are a taboo subject for most of us, but not for Harvey Molotch. Salon spoke to the sociology professor, who co-edited Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing , about the bathroom fixture. Highlights: We should be using water, not toilet paper, to clean up : It's more eco-friendly,...

Lawmakers Push for 'Potty Parity' in Washington

Kevin Spak — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 09:00:18 CDT

A couple of male lawmakers struck a blow for women's rights yesterday—the right to equality in bathrooms, that is. The “Potty Parity Act,” introduced in the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is the work of chairman Edolphus Town, who says he’s bothered by the “exasperating lines” and generally...

Old Library Gets New, Uh, Reading Room

Rebecca Smith Hurd — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:48:01 CST

The library in Roxbury, Vt., installed wireless Internet ages ago, and last week finally caught up with 20th-century technology by adding indoor plumbing. “I used to say, ‘We’re the Wi-Fi library without a pot to p--- in,’” the library director tells the AP. Since 1934, patrons who needed a...

Toilet Summit Tackles Issue of 'Potty Parity' for Women

Nick McMaster — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:16:03 CST

The World Toilet Summit began in Macau today, as UN agencies, civil-society groups and the World Toilet Organization discuss how to provide sanitation for the 2.5 billion who still lack access to a clean lavatory, LiveScience reports. The summit will also address the issue of “potty parity”—the ratio...