Paris, the capital city of France, is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Millions of people travel there every year to enjoy its world-famous landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, amazing food and even romance, for Paris is also known as the City of Love. Despite the sights, the food and the love, an argument has recently started which has hit the world’s news headlines. It’s an argument all about men’s toilets.

Like many cities, Paris has a problem where people empty their bladders in the street rather than finding a toilet. Perhaps there are not enough public toilets? Whatever the case, many local Parisians have complained about people doing this and the horrible smell it causes.

Peeing in public has always been a big problem in Paris and urinals have been placed in its streets for over 150 years. A whole novel was written about such a problem in a book called ‘Clochemerle’ in 1934. It was so popular, it was later turned into a TV series.

The local government found a solution to today’s problem with something called a ‘Uritrottoir’. The name means a sidewalk urinal. They are made for men, not women, and are environmentally friendly. From a distance, they look a little bit like a litter box. Men are able to urinate into one. There is no real privacy and the Uritrottoirs have been placed in very public places including a railway station and next to the famous River Seine that passes through Paris.

On top of the Uritrottoir is a box filled with flowers. Inside is straw and sawdust. This soaks up the urine and when it is full, after about 200 uses, an electronic message is sent to an attendant who will come and replace the box. The contents of the old box are poured onto gardens to help the flowers grow.

There have been many complaints. Lots of them. People do not like to see others peeing in the street. The local government says that this is a solution to a problem. The Uritrottoirs prevent smells and are environmentally friendly.

The Uritrottoir debate will go on for some time. The one thing we observe is that today’s Uritrottoirs, at US$5,000 each, are much more expensive than the older solutions – except for using a tree, of course. And we are still left with the question of what women will do.

Question:

Watch a news report on the Utitrottoir:

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