Okay, that doesn’t sound like the most appetizing thought, since nobody wants bodily fluids going anywhere near food. It all makes sense, however, when you figure out how it works. The Greenhouse project, designed by Joost Bakker, is an example of how a restaurant can become waste-free. Aside from using eco-friendly and recycled materials for the structure–including ECO-ply plywood and soybean-based glue–the electricity of the restaurant is powered by canola oil. So where does the urine come in? The restaurant’s toilets are specially made to collect urine, which is then diluted and then used as fertilizer for the restaurant’s crop of canola. It’s a clever, unusual idea which would be nice if it were done on a wider scale. We can’t help wondering about the state of the toilets, though, and how the urine collection is done or if the process promotes cleanliness in the bathroom.
