Well, If NOT Island Caretaker, How About Toilet Laureate?

A week or so ago, I read a blog post by Edward over at Pen Me A Poem where he says a recent Japanese study suggests that poetry in public toilets can cut down the amount of paper used by 20%. The Japan Toilet Labo says that a stanza or two of interesting conservation-themed verse could go a long way to saving the environment.

“We asked ourselves what we could do for the environment in the toilet?” said Ryusuke Nagahara of the Japan Toilet Labo. “The answer is to save toilet paper and save water.”

People use more toilet paper in public bathrooms than they do in their own home because they don’t have to worry about the cost. An increase in the number of public toilets has increased the amount of TP used.

To encourage conservation, the Japanese program uses humour: “That paper will meet you only for a moment,” reads one poem. “Fold the paper over and over and over again,” says another. Or just: “Love the toilet.”

Well no one claimed the poetry was great, although on the remote Scottish island of Shetland, they are trying to raise the bar/d by inviting poets to submit their work to go on display in public toilets. Resident and TS Eliot Prize winner Jen Hadfield says: “I’ve always loved the idea of sneaking poetry into unexpected places, proving that poetry’s place is in the real world, in real time.”

‘Bards in the Bog’ is open to people of all ages and poems can be on any subject as long as they are 12 lines or less.  The closing date is Saturday 7th March. Karen Fraser from Shetland Library said: “It should brighten up folks day, and maybe they’ll be inspired to pop into the library and borrow more poetry.”

Anybody around here listening? I’ll give you a good deal!

info found here: Toilet Poetry Becoming Increasingly Popular a blog post by Edward on February 12, 2009 in Poetry News & Articles

http://www.penmeapoem.com/2009/02/toilet-poetry-becoming-increasingly-popular

image: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/02/dumping_improper_crap_in_an_ou.php