. | . |
China's 'toilet revolution' targets dirty lavatories by Staff Writers Beijing (AFP) May 29, 2017 China is taking care of a pressing need: Authorities have installed or upgraded over 50,000 lavatories in a "national toilet revolution" designed to clean up filthy public restrooms. Relief is coming soon, and by the end of the year China expects to have added or upgraded a total of 71,000 toilets, well exceeding a target initially set in 2015. The plan to fix the country's bad reputation for grimy and smelly facilities has focused on restrooms in tourist sites. In some places, shiny new toilets have replaced unhygienic open pits that offered little privacy. More sanitation workers have also been hired. The National Tourism Administration said in a report on Friday that almost 93 percent of the target has been reached. "At tourist sites, visitors were angered by insufficient toilets, unhygienic conditions and lack of sanitation workers," state news agency Xinhua said. Xinhua said a recent survey showed over 80 percent of tourists now find China's toilets satisfactory, compared to 70 percent in 2015. Facilities tend to be worse in rural areas, where some "were little more than ramshackle shelters surrounded by bunches of cornstalk," Xinhua reported. Additionally, officials are using technological savvy to crack down on toilet paper theft and put a stop to people smuggling out entire rolls in bulging bags. Some sites, including the Temple of Heaven and Olympic Green complexes in Beijing, have introduced facial recognition technology to foil paper bandits. Visitors must approach a machine one by one to get their faces scanned before receiving their portion of loo roll. If caught stealing or misbehaving people could face a ban from the facilities. For years already, urinals in China have featured signs encouraging men to stand closer and aim better, advising: "One small step forward, one giant leap for civilisation".
Salt Lake City UT (SPX) May 28, 2017 In summer 2010, Los Angeles was losing about 100 gallons of water per person per day to the atmosphere through the evaporation and plant uptake of lawns and trees. Lawns accounted for 70 percent of the water loss, while trees accounted for 30 percent, according to a University of Utah study published in Water Resources Research. The results, based on measurements taken before Los Angeles e ... read more Related Links Water News - Science, Technology and Politics
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |