Easily digestible tech news... http://www.techdirt.com/ en-us http://www.techdirt.com/images/td-88x31.gifhttp://www.techdirt.com/ Thu, 31 Jan 2013 17:00:00 PST Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101103/09502711704/dailydirt-not-so-gross-national-products.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101103/09502711704/dailydirt-not-so-gross-national-products.shtml better toilet. Toilet paper could be the next bathroom product that's ripe for disruption, so ponder a few of these articles next time you're on the thinker.

• Toilet paper on a roll was first introduced in the 1890s, and it took several decades before consumers were really comfortable asking for the product by name. Not surprisingly, the US uses more toilet paper than any other country, and the growing use of "TP" is evidence of the rising influence of western marketing.... [url]
• Star Toilet Paper is a startup that puts advertisements on toilet paper. The investor pitch goes something like: "It's like Groupon, but on toilet paper... and everyone has to use the bathroom, so if we can just get 0.0001% conversion..." [url]
• A new toilet paper called "Moka" is partially made from recycled paper products, so it's not the gleaming white most people are accustomed to. Beige toilet paper is more environmentally friendly, but will any bathrooms (other than public restrooms) actually use brown toilet paper? [url]
• Recycled toilet paper relies on the quality of the products it's made from, so if there's less office paper waste -- recycled toilet paper is either going to get more expensive or feel even less like "normal" TP. Seventh Generation says there may be a limit to how soft recycled toilet paper can get, but there may be paper additives that might help (but additives might also reduce the environmentally-friendly aspects). [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

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]]> urls-we-dig-up http://www.techdirt.com/comment_rss.php?sid=20101103/09502711704 Fri, 29 Jul 2011 17:00:00 PDT Michael Ho http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110712/15300715065/dailydirt-spare-square.shtml http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110712/15300715065/dailydirt-spare-square.shtml

Some MIT business students are headed to Nairobi to start a toilet business. The pitch goes something like: "Everyone poops -- if we can just capture a fraction of that market..." [url]

A pocket urinal for guys (which is basically a packet of diaper material) sounds like a great novelty gift. But there's probably an available surplus of NASA astronaut diapers now... why not wear some of those instead? [url]

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is spending $3 million to re-invent the toilet. Hmm. One team for this challenge is going to develop microwave technology to transform human waste into electricity. [url]

To find more interesting stuff on entrepreneurship, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

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