An eco-friendly hotel room toilet that won't let you get away without washing your hands

File under "Things That Are Awesome": We encountered this toilet-top sink during our stay at the quirky, eco-friendly Good Hotel in San Francisco and we're digging the whole concept -- you might even say we were so jazzed by the idea of it that our faces were a bit flushed (ha!) when we walked out of the bathroom.

Here's the deal: When you flush a toilet outfitted with the SinkPositive system, a stream of clean water flows from the toilet-top sink faucet. It flows for one minute, allowing you to wash your hands without ever touching the tap. That greywater then flows off your hands and drains down into the toilet bowl to be used for the next flush.

The good news: you don’t have to expose yourself to germs by turning the faucet on and off before and after rinsing your hands. The better news: the limited stream of water reminds you to make the effort to wash your paws and dispenses only enough water needed to effectively clean both hands. The best news: the water is efficiently reused for the next toilet flush.


According to the sign (left), this little contraption can help each user save a gallon of potable water per day, and the leak detector on the device helps prevent additional water waste (not-so-fun fact: did you know U.S. toilet leaks alone account for over 12% of the nation's water supply?)


Not a bad initiative for hoteliers to consider -- nor a particularly expensive one: the SinkPositive system (shown here) runs $109.00 per fixture. Some hotels spend more than that on throw pillows. Just saying.