Environmental Toilet Pays Students Digital Currency

An environmentally friendly toilet pays university students in digital currency for providing material used to power campus facilities and fertilize the gardens, the European Cleaning Journal reports.

Cho Jae-weon, a professor at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in Ulsan, South Korea, created the toilet, which sends human waste to an underground tank through a vacuum pump. In the tank, the waste is broken down by microorganisms and turned into methane and manure. The manure is used to fertilize the university gardens while the methane powers various university facilities including a gas stove, a hot-water boiler. and a solid oxide fuel cell.

All students who use the toilet receive Ggool—a digital currency devised by the professor. The students use their phones to scan a QR code that links to a digital wallet containing their Ggool balance. They can then use the currency to buy goods in campus shops and cafes.