# Is it more environmentally friendly to pee in the sink? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 10, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591 "2019-10-10T14:03:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/21 "2019-10-10T17:00:59Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Keep in mind that if you pee in the sink, **urine mist** will be deposited all around the sink area. It’s one thing to discuss this from a theoretical standpoint, but in practice it would end up with urine in lots of places that people typically wouldn’t want it. Band name! “Urine Mist is playing at the pub this weekend!” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/22 "2019-10-10T17:18:44Z")
> [@Jim\_Peebles](#): > > If you pee in the toilet, you gotta flush, or else it stinks (smelly pee sitting in a bowl). That “wastes” gallons of water, when/if you flush. Standard flush toilets, many years ago, used to use as much as five gallons per flush. Modern ones use a whole lot less. As Spiderman says, some even have an option to use very little water if there’s only urine in the bowl. > [@Jim\_Peebles](#): > > (Water is everywhere, so is it really " a waste"?) Potable water isn’t everywhere, especially not in the quantities humans use it in. When I use water, I’m moving it over generally about 300 feet for household use-- somewhat more or less if I’m irrigating, but no more than about 3000 feet at most. But that’s because I’ve got an individual house well and septic system; and that well and the irrigation pond are drawing not on a deep aquifer but on the depth of soil that’s recharged annually in this area by rainfall. Most people are using water that’s moved a significant distance, often out of its original watershed entirely and/or out of deep aquifers that don’t recharge anywhere near as fast as they’re being drawn down. And most of the water on the planet isn’t potable or even usable for crops, at least without significant and often expensive treatment. ---
**Author:** ![2Bits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e95f7d/32.png) [@2Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2Bits)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/23 "2019-10-10T17:25:38Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > …ETA, the floor was also sticky, why was that? Diabetics with elevated blood sugar (one possible explanation) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/24 "2019-10-10T17:44:26Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You don’t wanna know. Men’s rooms are disgusting filthy places whether or not the urinals flush. And unless they flush automatically they usually aren’t getting flushed anyway. Men’s rooms tend to be messier, but women’s restrooms are filthier. > **[Are Women Cleaner Than Men? Scientists Look At Germs In Offices, Restrooms,...](https://www.medicaldaily.com/are-women-cleaner-men-scientists-look-germs-offices-restrooms-and-hands-412754)** > > More women than men wash their hands after using the restroom, but that doesn't necessarily make them the cleaner sex. As someone that has held jobs in the past that included cleaning public restrooms, I can say that this is absolutely true. Women’s rooms were always what I dreaded to clean. Picking up paper towels on the floor is easy. But the women’s room was what had me fighting my gag reflex on a regular basis. Women just spend more time in the restroom and do more. They can’t walk in, pee, and leave without sitting down. (Not easily at least.) Men aren’t dealing with menstrual issues. Men are less likely to change a baby in a restroom (though they do on occasion, I’ve done so myself many times). And the superior personal grooming habits of women (washing hands, fixing hair) means counters and sinks are dirtier. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/25 "2019-10-10T17:46:19Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > You don’t wanna know. Men’s rooms are disgusting filthy places whether or not the urinals flush. And unless they flush automatically they usually aren’t getting flushed anyway. [https://www.enviro-master.info/post/2016-12-08-women-vs-men-whos-cleaner-in-the-restroom](https://www.enviro-master.info/post/2016-12-08-women-vs-men-whos-cleaner-in-the-restroom) > **[Are men's or women's bathrooms typically dirtier? Why?](https://www.quora.com/Are-mens-or-womens-bathrooms-typically-dirtier-Why)** > > Answer (1 of 51): Yes as a janitor myself I have to agree that the men’s were always easier to clean, my first stint at it was with my Father, and we clean three of the local pubs, three days of the week, naturally, the weekend was far worse than... > **[Are Women Cleaner Than Men? Scientists Look At Germs In Offices, Restrooms,...](https://www.medicaldaily.com/are-women-cleaner-men-scientists-look-germs-offices-restrooms-and-hands-412754)** > > More women than men wash their hands after using the restroom, but that doesn't necessarily make them the cleaner sex. > **[Battle of the Bathroom Germs: Women's Vs. Men's Bathrooms | MaxLiving](https://maxliving.com/healthy-articles/battle-of-the-bathroom-germs-which-has-more-womens-vs-mens-bathrooms)** That’s probably enough ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/26 "2019-10-10T17:52:29Z")
Pissin’ in the wind Blowin’ on all our friends Makin’ the same mistakes we swear we’ll never make again We’re gonna sit and grin and tell our grandchildren That the answer my friend is pissin’ in the wind, the answer is pissin’ in the sink. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/EZDBXm11WXY/maxresdefault.jpg "Jerry Jeff Walker - Pissin' In The Wind") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZDBXm11WXY) ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/27 "2019-10-10T18:03:27Z")
> [@Jim\_Peebles](#): > > Water is everywhere, so is it really " a waste"? In the Northeast US, water is abundant, if not overabundant. The real shortage is often sewer capacity. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/28 "2019-10-10T20:28:54Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I was kinda desperate once, while on a volunteer thing. Female restroom was locked up for some reason, so me and friend planned for me to go into an empty Male restroom, and her guard the door. As I had no choice I went in. Oh, my freakin’ kidney pain, those waterless urinals smelled so gross. I passed about 20 in a row to get to the stall. It was as gross as well. I’ll pee my pants next time. Mens, y’all be nasty. > ETA, the floor was also sticky, why was that? it depends on where the bathroom is maybe, I janitored for about six months one time at a small electronics factory whilst looking for a better job. The men’s bathrooms always had paper towels all over the damn place, the women’s bathrooms always had drips on the floor in front of the toilets and I always had a look on my face that was a cross between:( and :mad: and :eek: when cleaning them. Womens is the gross ones not men. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/29 "2019-10-10T21:28:03Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Standard flush toilets, many years ago, used to use as much as five gallons per flush. Modern ones use a whole lot less. Back in the late 80s, there was a US law passed requiring toilets to use no more than 1.6 gallons/flush. Before that, the typical toilet tank had 3.2 gallons, and, as you say, some even more. The smaller sized tanks got a bad rep at first, because toilet makers just replaced the tanks without any other changes and they didn’t always flush everything away. Eventually they redesigned the bowls so that the smaller amount of water would adequately flush stuff. I expect this smaller tank size propagated to other countries, even if it wasn’t mandated, so it’s saved a lot of fresh water over the years. > [@](#): > > As Spiderman says, some even have an option to use very little water if there’s only urine in the bowl. I think the two-button flush toilets originated in Australia. At least they use them a lot there and also in NZ, perhaps they’re even required by law. Those were around before the smaller tanks were mandated in the US. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/30 "2019-10-10T22:05:51Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > Womens is the gross ones not men. When I worked at a grocery store in college and sometimes had to clean the bathrooms, this was my experience as well. Often in the women’s room I would find drips of pee all over the seat. Back then I didn’t know that some women “hover” over public toilets, so I was very confused as to how women were peeing all over the toilet seat. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/31 "2019-10-10T23:13:18Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Men’s rooms tend to be messier, but women’s restrooms are filthier. > [Are Women Cleaner Than Men? Scientists Look At Germs In Offices, Restrooms, And On Hands](https://www.medicaldaily.com/are-women-cleaner-men-scientists-look-germs-offices-restrooms-and-hands-412754) > As someone that has held jobs in the past that included cleaning public restrooms, I can say that this is absolutely true. Women’s rooms were always what I dreaded to clean. Picking up paper towels on the floor is easy. But the women’s room was what had me fighting my gag reflex on a regular basis. That’s not the sense of “dirtier” that the article you linked to used - they were using dirty only to mean the amount of bacteria on surfaces, saying > [@](#): > > This was a surprise to the researchers as men had messier restrooms, and left behind more paper towels and worse smells. The study authors believe it’s due to the fact that women typically bring germ-laden children with them inside the restroom. Women’s restrooms also receive more traffic than men’s. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/32 "2019-10-10T23:54:58Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > it depends on where the bathroom is maybe, I janitored for about six months one time at a small electronics factory whilst looking for a better job. The men’s bathrooms always had paper towels all over the damn place, the women’s bathrooms always had drips on the floor in front of the toilets and I always had a look on my face that was a cross between:( and :mad: and :eek: when cleaning them. Womens is the gross ones not men. You so funny:) ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/33 "2019-10-11T00:57:37Z")
> [@DorkVader](#): > > it depends on where the bathroom is maybe, I janitored for about six months one time at a small electronics factory whilst looking for a better job. The men’s bathrooms always had paper towels all over the damn place, the women’s bathrooms always had drips on the floor in front of the toilets and I always had a look on my face that was a cross between:( and :mad: and :eek: when cleaning them. Womens is the gross ones not men. > [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You so funny:) It’s been a few years, but I’ve had multiple jobs in multiple cities where cleaning restrooms was part of my job. That includes movie theaters, restaurants, department stores, etc. Without exception, the women’s rooms were more disgusting than the men’s. And everyone I’ve ever known, male or female, who has had similar jobs has told me the same thing. Without exception. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/34 "2019-10-11T01:10:28Z")
Yeah? That sticky floor tells me something different. I agree woman’s restrooms have thier own brand of nastiness. My germaphobia is not alleviated by these facts. Ewwwww just Ewwwww! ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/35 "2019-10-11T01:22:37Z")
> [@Jim\_Peebles](#): > > If you pee in the toilet, you gotta flush, or else it stinks (smelly pee sitting in a bowl). Am I really the first person to challenge this assumption? Does the phrase “let the yellow mellow” mean nothing to you all (with great respect)? At this point, I must disclose some… not embarrassing, but relevant medical information. My sense of smell is basically nonexistent. It’s a terrible, debilitating condition (;)), and as a consequence I honestly don’t know if urine in the bowl leaves a lingering odor that will fill the room. Has anyone ever experimented with that, preferably in a controlled study? Even if the answer is that yes in fact it does stink up the room, is that still a better choice than putting one’s… “fireman” on the counter to piss into a sink? Subjectively, I’d say no to the last question, but then, well, nose-blind, so… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/36 "2019-10-11T01:31:26Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > That’s not the sense of “dirtier” that the article you linked to used - they were using dirty only to mean the amount of bacteria on surfaces That’s exactly what I posted. I even differentiated men’s rooms being “messy” with women’s rooms being “filthy”. Men tend to be careless and leave trash scattered around, which as I said wasn’t a big deal; you pick it up and throw it away. Women who were conscientious, throwing away their paper towels, not leaving unused toilet paper scraps on the floor, and (I assume) spending time washing their hands and doing hair, makeup, and so on. But that extra time left the room filthy. It usually smelled much worse, and I never saw that sort of biological mess (of all sorts) in the men’s room. I’m not going into details but it was really gross. Sorry about the hijack but I wanted to dispel a myth about public restrooms (both from personal experience and from a documented study). ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/37 "2019-10-11T01:55:53Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Am I really the first person to challenge this assumption? Does the phrase “let the yellow mellow” mean nothing to you all (with great respect)? > > At this point, I must disclose some… not embarrassing, but relevant medical information. My sense of smell is basically nonexistent. It’s a terrible, debilitating condition (;)), and as a consequence I honestly don’t know if urine in the bowl leaves a lingering odor that will fill the room. Has anyone ever experimented with that, preferably in a controlled study? Even if the answer is that yes in fact it does stink up the room, is that still a better choice than putting one’s… “fireman” on the counter to piss into a sink? > > Subjectively, I’d say no to the last question, but then, well, nose-blind, so… 😕 Yes, pee in a toilet stinks up the joint. I mostly assoiate this with Mr.Wrekker as I don’t usually go into men’s public restrooms (except that one time). Mr.Wrekker does flush, but like most men occasionally errant pee gets on the floor or seat of the toilet. If he’s had a busy/late night of poker and the drinking of adult beverages he’s less than fastidious in his aim. Let me tell you a man of his age, diet and habits the pee is rank. And jeebus he can pee copiously on those nights. ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/38 "2019-10-11T04:52:10Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Yes, pee in a toilet stinks up the joint. Hmmm… Well, in the absence of an actual study, I suppose I’ll take your word for it. As the saying goes, in the land of the nose-blind, the one-nostriled man is… probably losing his mind. Seriously, can you imagine how awful the stench hanging over such a land must be, all the refuse allowed to pile up just out of sight because no one is around to smell it? I mean, I can’t, but you… Well, needless to say I pity the man (or woman) who is cursed with the fifth, most wicked sense of smell. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/39 "2019-10-11T13:10:20Z")
Fresh urine doesn’t have much smell. And in a typical household, you’re probably going to have an “if it’s brown” before too long, so letting the yellow mellow won’t be too much of a problem. But as urine ages, it does indeed start to stink, and even if you don’t have need to flush solid waste, you’ll still want to flush a toilet full of urine eventually. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591/40 "2019-10-11T13:53:35Z")
> [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > Am I really the first person to challenge this assumption? Does the phrase “let the yellow mellow” mean nothing to you all (with great respect)? > [@Chronos](#): > > Fresh urine doesn’t have much smell. And in a typical household, you’re probably going to have an “if it’s brown” before too long, so letting the yellow mellow won’t be too much of a problem. But as urine ages, it does indeed start to stink Anecdote not study, but agreeing with Chronos. The downside of using water sources replenished annually by rain is that, yes even in the wet Northeast, there’s an occasional year when there isn’t enough rain to do so. In such dry years I’ve had some experience with ‘if it’s yellow let it mellow’; and even with the lid shut the stink will eventually build up in the bathroom, especially if there aren’t a lot of people in the house. – presuming that at least some of the people are female, however, it’s necessary to flush occasionally to deal with toilet paper. > [@ASL\_v2.0](#): > > needless to say I pity the man (or woman) who is cursed with the fifth, most wicked sense of smell. We more than make up for it. Not only is smell a very useful alarm system for a lot of different things that can go wrong; but most of the flavor of food is in the sense of smell. Ask any normally-nosed person about the difference when they’ve got a bad cold, and find everything nearly tasteless because the nose is stopped up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-pee-in-the-sink/841591.md?page=3)