Up For Number One

They say democracy is about choice, and returning residents of three residential Houses found their toilet-draining options doubled when they returned to Cambridge this year: Eliot, Kirkland, and Dunster Houses installed dual-flush handles in an initiative to reduce water waste.

A standard downward push uses a mere 1.6 gallons, a standard amount for a low-flow toilet. But bathroom-goers will be able to save even more water with an upward push on the handle—let’s call it “flush number one”—which is intended for that very purpose, and uses a mere 1.1 gallons of water per dose. Furthermore, the green toilet handles are, according to the new placards, bacteria resistant, so there’s no need to flush with your foot. And at only $15 a pot, it’s not just Mother Earth that will save a little green, Harvard will, too, in long-term water costs.

There may be one disadvantage to the new handles, though. Different flushes mean different noises, and in the cozy river Houses, the whole suite might know the exact nature of your business. But if this is the price of choice, then it seems it’s a price worth paying.