The Mundane.

In their profile, the Joker-to-the-Thief team said that their fascination for French and American cultures included 'exploring the mundane'. Well, here's something mundane for you - something that concerns all of us, men, women, people of all colors and ages or sizes...

Today's topic - the flushing toilet, something way too often ignored although obviously widely used in both countries (who said we did not have much in common). One great technological advancement in France, even better than the TGV (High Speed Train) or the Minitel, is the dual flushing system.
As you may be able to see in this picture, the system actually has two buttons (or sometimes it is a specialized handle) for flushing, using a full flush for solids or half-flush for liquids.

For most dual-flush toilets, the half flush uses 3 litres (0.8 gallons) of water, which is half the water used in most standard low-flush toilets. The full flush uses 6 litres (or1.6 gallons) of water. The dual flush toilet saves about 30% over a regular flush toilet, or about 12.800 liters (or 3,400 gallons) of water per year.

Can you imagine what a little button can do?! Unfortunately, whereas this system is fairly common in French homes, it has yet to be widespread in the U.S. , even though it seems like a fairly painless way of saving water. In fact, I have personally never seen it in American homes, have you?

Incidently, (and to finish on a cultural note), I have since then learnt that the first flushing toilet is said to have been invented by Sir John Harington in 1596 for Queen Elizabeth I but his design was ridiculed in England, and was adopted (therefore?) in France under the name Angrez. The design had a flush valve to let water out of the tank, and a wash-down design to empty the bowl. This system would not be in use on a large scale for another 182 years though.
So many generations sacrificed!