Don Shelby on Waterless Urinals

Don Shelby, the long-time news anchor of the Twin Cities' CBS affiliate, is silver-haired and basketball-obsessed. While he was on the air, he seemed to me like a nice guy who was just part of the local media landscape. Since his recent retirement, though, he has taken to writing occasional pieces for MinnPost -- almost always on environmental topics.

Today's story tells of Shelby's quest to make it legal to install waterless urinals in Minnesota. We were the only state that didn't allow them; contrast that with states like Arizona that require them in government buildings. He writes,

The figures on water conservation supplied by the manufacturers were stunning. Independent university-based research confirmed it. One study by Industrial Economics Inc., in Cambridge, Mass., found that in a company with 1,000 males on staff, waterless urinals would save 1.56 million gallons of water annually, and save that company an estimated $21 thousand dollars in water and sewer costs. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center has reported that such a company could see a payback on the cost of the new urinals in six months to three years.

I look forward to future stories from Shelby, who seems to have left his job and found his calling.