Well, If NOT Island Caretaker, How About Toilet Laureate?
Tourism Queensland announced the 50 candidates for the short list. And since I am not shortlisted for the Island Reef caretaker blogging job, I wonder: can I get the City of Ventura or the State of California to hire me as Toilet Laureate?
That’s right: To save the earth and protect the planet I am now running for Poet of the Toilet!
Huh? Why? How?
A week or so ago, I read a blog post by Edward over at Pen Me A Poem where he says a recent Japanese study suggests that poetry in public toilets can cut down the amount of paper used by 20%. The Japan Toilet Labo says that a stanza or two of interesting conservation-themed verse could go a long way to saving the environment.
“We asked ourselves what we could do for the environment in the toilet?” said Ryusuke Nagahara of the Japan Toilet Labo. “The answer is to save toilet paper and save water.”
People use more toilet paper in public bathrooms than they do in their own home because they don’t have to worry about the cost. An increase in the number of public toilets has increased the amount of TP used.
To encourage conservation, the Japanese program uses humour: “That paper will meet you only for a moment,” reads one poem. “Fold the paper over and over and over again,” says another. Or just: “Love the toilet.”
Well no one claimed the poetry was great, although on the remote Scottish island of Shetland, they are trying to raise the bar/d by inviting poets to submit their work to go on display in public toilets. Resident and TS Eliot Prize winner Jen Hadfield says: “I’ve always loved the idea of sneaking poetry into unexpected places, proving that poetry’s place is in the real world, in real time.”
‘Bards in the Bog’ is open to people of all ages and poems can be on any subject as long as they are 12 lines or less. The closing date is Saturday 7th March. Karen Fraser from Shetland Library said: “It should brighten up folks day, and maybe they’ll be inspired to pop into the library and borrow more poetry.”
Anybody around here listening? I’ll give you a good deal!
http://www.penmeapoem.com/2009/02/toilet-poetry-becoming-increasingly-popular
image: http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2009/02/dumping_improper_crap_in_an_ou.php
This reminds me of the “Pooetry” aspect of our Easter Island camp. Remember the “poo-etry” in the Moai?
Sorry you lost your dream job; but we want you in Ventura anyway!