New mystery appliance is the antithesis of the green dream

What sort of new appliance is so hip, so cool, so stylish, so sophisticated, so much a work of art…that you’d put it in your glass penthouse living room, so that you could impress your hot model girlfriend? Don’t look just yet. I’ll give you a hint. It has an iPod dock, speakers, a light, motion sensor activation, motorized access, and a touch screen remote. It only costs $6400. Make your best guess now.

Here’s what it looks like after dark, after you and hot model chick have knocked back a bottle of Opus One and you let the gadget’s soft glow set the mood for what comes next.

What could such a home appliance be? Answer below.

Yes that’s right, the new NUMI super toilet from Kohler flushes green dreams and your cash!

We’ve been told time and again the importance of using a single sheet of toilet paper so as to not stress Gaia’s natural state, that we should put bricks in our toilet tank to reduce the amount of water used, and even that we should all be like eco saint Ed Begley Jr., who doesn’t use any water at all, but composts his, er, crap.

Some greenists say we should be “…radically abandoning the flush toilet – one of the world’s most destructive habits, absorbing 40% of water available for domestic consumption and contaminating everything in its way”.

So imagine the howling that will now ensue with the worlds largest indoor plumbing fixture company tossing all those ideas down the toilet, and reincarnating it as a must have hipster item that is marketed in a way like a Ferrari is marketed to a guy with only one thing on his mind. Of course if that doesn’t work out, you can always compost your girlfriend.

Truly, it is the Poop de Grace of toilets.

Here’s the remote:

Numi Remote Interface Home Screen

Here’s the feature list:

  • Motion Activated Lid and Seat – Front sensors react to your movement when

    you enter the room for hands-free opening and closing of the cover. Motion at the floor-level engages sensors to raise and lower seat.

  • Advanced Bidet Functionality – Self-cleaning wand features multiple options for

    water spray pattern. Adjust wand position, water pressure and temperature to your preferences

  • Integrated Air Dryer – Located in the wand for more efficient drying.
  • Deodorizer – Air is pulled through a powerful deodorizing charcoal filter.
  • Heated Seat – Warms the seat to your comfort level.
  • Feet Warming – Warm air from floor-level vents, heats the floor surface and warms your feet.
  • Illuminated Panels – Ambient lighting illuminates your space with a soft, inviting glow.
  • Music –  Built-in speakers allow you to play a selection from the Numi toilet’s pre-programmed audio, FM radio or to connect your MP3 player through the audio input jack in the remote docking station.
  • Touch Screen Remote Fine tune every option to your personal preference. Magnetic Docking Station Charges and stores the remote.
  • User Presets – Easily customize and recall your saved preferences.
  • Numi Flush Technology – A sophisticated, automatic flush system delivers unprecedented water savings and power.
  • Auxiliary Controls – Allows you to control basic functionality without use of the remote.

What, no self cleaning bowl? Personally if I was given one, I’d program the “Numi toilet’s pre-programmed audio” to play a “A Time for Tony” so I could “Think”.

Now the real question is: how many will Al Gore, Sheryl Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio buy? I can see this as the new green cred question asked on the red carpet – “is it true that you own a Numi?”

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April 23, 2011 1:51 pm

$6,400 now, but wait a few years: $640 at Home Depot. Technology always gets cheaper.
I’m waiting until they develop one that’s self-cleaning, and doesn’t amplify sound.
/Mr Lynn

Somewhat older guy
April 23, 2011 2:01 pm

As a guy with a few extra years and a few extra miles on himself, it doesn’t appear that the thing opens fast enough to accommodate some of the situations I encounter around my house.

Scarface
April 23, 2011 2:10 pm

Wouldn’t it be great if this thing worked on biofuel produced by the ‘waste’ that it handles? Now THAT would be something to brag about to your green girlfriend.
(and if she wasn’t thinking green, she would probably be turning green…)

April 23, 2011 2:29 pm

Thomas Crapper, who bestowed with his invention such a boon on the human race, rightly has a memorial in the main cloister of Westminter Abbey.

Luther Wu
April 23, 2011 2:32 pm

Hot Models…
I’ve dated some; even had one live with me for a time.
I’ve gone back to standard women, now and life is so much better.

drjohn
April 23, 2011 2:45 pm

‘Some greenists say we should be “…radically abandoning the flush toilet – one of the world’s most destructive habits, absorbing 40% of water available for domestic consumption and contaminating everything in its way”.’
Right! We need that water to grow corn to make food more expensive and gasoline less efficient!

Amino Acids in Meteorites
April 23, 2011 2:50 pm

So rich people like surrounding their toilet with ceiling to floor windows? Then dress up elegantly and stand by it?
A Saturday Night Live skit could easily be made from that video.

Amino Acids in Meteorites
April 23, 2011 3:02 pm

Luther Wu says:
April 23, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Hot Models…
I’ve dated some; even had one live with me for a time.
I’ve gone back to standard women, now and life is so much better.

I never lived with one, but dated three of them. One of them was told by Linda Evangelista she looked better than herself. Another was Helmut Newton’s favorite model. They really did look great. But I agree with you— just give me a regular, everyday girl. It’s so hard to make them models happy!
========================================================
Or did you mean a Kohler toilet? just kidding

April 23, 2011 3:05 pm

I used to date a real beauty, until she sprang a leak.☺

Amino Acids in Meteorites
April 23, 2011 3:10 pm

Now the real question is: how many will Al Gore, Sheryl Crowe, and Leonardo DiCaprio buy?
Michael Crichton on his rich friends and how they view sacrifice for saving the world:
1:12 video

Amino Acids in Meteorites
April 23, 2011 3:13 pm

Nuke says:
April 23, 2011 at 12:27 pm
It’s not easy being green.
===========================================================
OMG, funny! QOTW!

Al Gored
April 23, 2011 3:21 pm

I’m surprised they haven’t suggested a feces sequestration system involving an elaborate series of tubes.

April 23, 2011 3:49 pm

Motion detection for the lid seems a little late to me.

MikieN
April 23, 2011 3:55 pm

Robert, they only told you it was a one-way mirror.

Theo Goodwin
April 23, 2011 4:26 pm

Luther Wu says:
April 23, 2011 at 2:32 pm
“Hot Models…I’ve dated some; even had one live with me for a time.
I’ve gone back to standard women, now and life is so much better.”
Though the product being marketed through these ads might be downright silly, the ads perform a kind of public service. If you think you want that kind of woman, think long and hard.

exceller
April 23, 2011 4:29 pm

The home is the Case Study House #22, made famous in a Life magazine photo taken by Julius Shulman. Indeed it was used in the movie Galaxy Quest.

David Archibald
April 23, 2011 4:48 pm

3% of Japanese household electricity consumptioin is used on operating their toilets. Theirs is truly an advanced society.

April 23, 2011 4:58 pm

Just back from travelling in rural Yunnan, the hole in the ground seemed to work OK.

Jimbo
April 23, 2011 5:01 pm

Al Gore has 6 fireplaces in his new beachfront villa. I’m sure 6 of these toilets is no problemo! Hollywood eco-hypocrites would have no problem purchasing this utter waste of waste. What a piece of shite!

Jer0me
April 23, 2011 5:22 pm

My favourite ‘recycling’ toilet was in Goa, India, a great many years ago. It was a simple squat toilet with a slope for the waste to flow, or roll, down. It was then happily consumed by a pig!
I was alerted to the situation on the first use when the resident pig became a little impatient and went to the source to see was taking so long. Having a pig’s snout sniffing at your nether regions certainly gets things moving, in my experience!
100% recycled as the pigs are then eaten. I avoided pork in my stay there. I’d recommend the same to any visitor.

Brad Hills
April 23, 2011 5:30 pm

Ray said: It’s the Bidet 2.0
No…the Biden 2.0

Dave Wendt
April 23, 2011 5:38 pm

One aspect of the unit that I found puzzling was that the end of the bidet wand seems to be equipped with a rather bright LED light. I may be a bit dense, but I’m having a hard time imagining the the point of this add-on. I didn’t see any mention of drop down rearview mirrors where you could check the progress of the bidet function. Or possibly it’s a nod to the modern tendency to dispense with pubic hair. The light would allow one to check for developing five o’clock shadow. Have I missed some obvious point? Help me out here.

tesla_x
April 23, 2011 5:51 pm

“Dedicated circuit required, protected with Class A Ground-Fault Circuit-Interrupter (GFCI) or Residual Current Device (RCD)”
Yup.
Good idea….or this might happen:
http://www.buzzhumor.com/videos/28102/Idiot_Pissing_On_Electric_Fence
Or we could just stay with the ‘analog’ version of the Toilet.

Claude Harvey
April 23, 2011 6:21 pm

I think a sleek plumbing fixture like this one deserves a suave French name. I nominate “Lew du Pew”.

curly
April 23, 2011 6:49 pm

So many questions…
Just looking at the feature list… what? no cup-holders? Even American car companies provide cup holders. Maybe some laid-off former GM/Ford/AMC product marketeers helped design this “bell&whistle”-laden contraption. Wonder if it actually performs its primary function…
Lots of potential for mischief w/a FM-band remote, glass-walled s**t-house, and fun-loving roommates.
If it does have a Twitter feed, are they still known as “tweets”?
Facebook. Hmmm… New meaning for the Facebook wall feature.
Didn’t the TOTO Washlet and Ultimate models have these features many years ago?
On composting toilets — Clivus Multrum since 1973. Long drop from the 2nd or 3rd floor (or 1st or 2nd floor up), and you *do* want a “straight shot” down to the composting tank.
Yep on those “flushless”, “water”-less urinals. New building in Philadelphia installed those green things. Didn’t take long for the shiny new building to smell like an outhouse, or over-full Porta-Potti. Revenge of the plumbers union.