The differences, including toilets

(It's an awkward title, I know, but I wanted to throw the word "toilets" in there to grab Stace's attention when she next checks in on the blog sometime in 2012.)

I've commented in the past about differences between the Swiss and the Americans that I notice each time I come back to the States. (We weigh a lot more than the Europeans, there's lots more free parking, stuff is lots cheaper, that sort of thing.)

This time, my mind has drifted to the theme of water conservation. Here are three examples:

1. Toilets here use tons of water. European toilets have just a little water at the bottom of the bowl. People in the U.S. say that low-flow toilets don't work, but I've never had a European toilet back up on me. American toilets always have a couple of gallons sitting in the bowl and more in the tank.

2. The shower at my hotel sends out approximately 5,000 barrels of water per minute. The pressure is high enough to scour off several layers of skin. I can control the temperature, but I can't control the flow. That's typical of most American hotels I've visited lately. A European would be horrified at the amount of water that my shower uses. (Larry Wood feels the same way, to judge from all of the low-flow shower heads that he installed in our old house in Provo.)

3. This was the real kicker: Rather than staying in typical hotels, I've started staying in residence-type places with a fridge, an oven, dishes, and so forth. At some places, they only come in to straighten up twice a week, which is just fine with me. The place I'm at right now comes in every day unless you tell them otherwise. I got here on Thursday night. By the time I left my room on Friday morning, I had used one spoon, one small plate, and one glass. When I got back to my room Friday night, I discovered, to my dismay, that they had lovingly placed those three dishes in the dishwasher and then run the dishwasher through a full cycle. For three puny dishes!! I told them not to clean my room over the weekend. I didn't want them doing that again. I guess it takes less time for them to just run things through the dishwasher than to wash even a few dishes by hand, but still, it's a huge waste of water and energy.