'Wild pee': English overwhelmed as public toilets close

In the radius of the unexpected consequences of Covid-19, this one is perhaps even more so

'Wild pee': English overwhelmed as public toilets close

In the radius of the unexpected consequences of Covid-19, this one is perhaps even more so. According to our British colleagues from the Guardian, around 50% of public toilets have disappeared in ten years throughout the United Kingdom. Many were closed during the pandemic and will probably never reopen, especially as English municipalities are cutting back – for many – on the budgets allocated to street cleaning.

Aware of this problem, the authorities have no plans to reopen the toilets that have been closed in recent years or months. She redoubles her ingenuity. Thus, several municipalities are currently testing hydrophobic paints: "so that those who urinate in a corner that they think is discreet, or against a wall somewhere in the city center, have a few splashes on their pants and shoes", details Max Wilkinson , councilor at Cheltenham in Gloucester (England). Paintings that complement a digital campaign and physical posters.

In Belgium or the Netherlands, the authorities have set up planter urinals. These can absorb up to 300 voids each. As with the French initiatives, the volume of urine collected is used as fertilizer for municipal parks. And this, when, in South Africa, it makes it possible to build houses.