Cameron: Say no to flush

Nov. 13: If you thought peeing in public was a complete nuisance, think again. Pick your spot wisely and you may be helping save the world.

So says the National Trust of Britain, which has asked men to urinate outside on their compost heaps to help fertilise their gardens and save on flushing the lavatory.

What this means is that the West must increasingly take to the Indian way of life for its own good and the benefit of mankind.

Only last month, US researchers had advised Americans to eschew mechanical dryers and hang their clothes out to dry — an Indian practice that many consider an embarrassment — to cut greenhouse gas emissions, as reported by The Telegraph.

Urinating outdoors or in the shower has long been advocated by environmental activists, and Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz, as a way of tackling climate change by saving on the water and energy used in flushing the lavatory.

Now the National Trust has added another reason. Peeing on a compost heap activates the composting process, helping produce a ready supply of organic matter, says the philanthropic organisation that campaigns on climate change apart from protecting British heritage and “special places”.

The practice is already being encouraged at stately homes around Britain where “pee bales” have been deposited in secluded areas of National Trust gardens to allow male members of staff to relieve themselves.

Urine can speed up the chemical process in the compost heap, making it a better fertiliser to help grow vegetables and save even more energy in reducing food miles. Male urine is better than female urine because it is slightly less acidic.

At Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, up to 20 male employees are being encouraged to use a straw “pee bale” that is then added to the compost heap and eventually spread on the garden and fields.

Rosemary Hooper, Wimpole Estate’s in-house “master composter”, who provides composting advice to visitors, encourages anyone to urinate on the garden compost heap.

She insists it will not make the compost heap smell any worse and could eventually make sweet-smelling flowers come up better. “Adding a little pee just helps get it all going; it’s totally safe and a bit of fun too,” she said.

Tamzin Phillips, the National Trust’s “compost doctor”, said: “An average flush of the lavatory can use anything from four and a half to nine litres of water each time, but what people may not realise is that this water is treated to the same standard as drinking water and shouldn’t be wasted.”

For Indians, already used to relieving themselves outside, all this means they need to choose the right site for the sake of public hygiene and to avoid wasting their urine.

Wherever you do it, spare the streets of Calcutta, where the act may bring you a fine of Rs 50.

Written with a Daily Telegraph report