Top 10 Odd Environmental Ideas
Environmental experts recently called toilet paper "one of the greatest excesses of our age," leading to suggestions that Americans adopt reusable cloth toilet wipes as an environmentally friendly alternative. Gross? Maybe, but it's just one of a slew of slightly offbeat ways to save the environment. Here's a look at 10 of the most odd, along with TIME's assessment of just how crazy they are.
— Dan Fletcher
The Problems: Batteries are difficult to dispose of and contain harmful heavy-metal compounds that may leach into the soil.
The Solution: Again with the urine. This time, at least it's your own. Scientists in Singapore have figured out a way to harness human urine to create a chemical reaction that powers a rudimentary battery. Add a drop of pee to an assembly of copper chloride, magnesium and copper, and voila — it produces as much power as a AA battery. Scientist hope the small rigs can be used for medical applications like disposable at-home testing kits, but they caution more development is still needed.
Eco Craziness 2/5. Human urine is certainly not in short supply, and this could eventually lead to cheap, ultra-portable medical tests ready at a moment's notice — as long as you're properly hydrated.
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