Conserving water is something we should all be concerned with – but it isn’t always easy to do when we’ve got clothes and skin to wash. The WashIt is a concept that makes use of grey water, or water that has already been used but still has some useful life left in it.

WashIt, a concept from designer Ahmet Burak Aktas, is a washing machine attached to a shower – or a shower attached to a washing machine. Either way, it allows users to wash themselves while also washing a small load of laundry. Shower water is run through a filtration system and then fed to the washing machine, effectively using the same water for the shower and the laundry.

According to the designer, one of his goals in dreaming up the WashIt was to eliminate the gigantic piles of dirty clothes we are faced with on laundry day. By washing a few pieces at a time whenever a household member jumps into the shower, the WashIt could drastically reduce the amount of time and water spent on laundry.

The concept would definitely be useful in the home, but it could also be appropriate for public settings. Gym locker rooms are an obvious application, but the designer suggests that the WashIt could also be used in airports to help weary travelers refresh during layovers.

Although the intent of the concept is to cut down on water usage, users of the WashIt would definitely have to be careful to avoid inadvertently using more water. It would be easy to justify an extra-long shower for the purpose of creating more grey water – which would, of course, defeat the purpose of a water-saving appliance.

(source: miss_gruviera)

Ranging from thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, the following toilets aren’t necessarily comfortable, they aren’t necessarily beautiful, and they aren’t necessarily ones you can afford. For some reason or another they all exist and now you can learn a little more about them and perhaps be a feel a little envious in the process.

Russian Toilet System for NASA – $19,000,000

NASA announced on July 3, 2007 it they would be investing $19 million on a Russian-design toilet system to be installed on the American side of the International Space Station. Previously, Americans had been using the same toilet system on the Russian side of the space station. What makes this toilet special? All things considered, perhaps the price tag is justified. The toilet comes with leg braces that help position astronauts while they do their business, while the system uses fans to suck everything into a septic tank where it uses a three-step filtration process to make all waste water into extremely pure drinking water. Considering that sending water into space with the astronauts is a very expensive proposition, and that designing a system like this from scratch would’ve cost more, NASA seems to have taken the economical route.

3D Gold Washroom and Toilet – $5,800,000

Built by Hong Kong’s Hang Fung Gold Technology Group in 2001 and located in their “Hall of Gold”, this toilet, called “The World’s Most Expensive Gold and Jewelry Sparkling Environmental Friendly Washroom” is not for public use. Instead it is meant to be a tourist attraction, used to showcase the ‘technological brilliance’ of the company. Among the treasures in the washroom is a solid gold telephone, sink, 24-carat solid gold toilet, and much more. Unfortunately visitors cannot see the washroom anymore after the owner died suddenly earlier this year and the company and his family were embroiled in a huge scandal (watch the video above while you can).

Shanghai’s Moon River Art Park Toilet – $602,000

(source: monkey_king)

Though the park has other nearby toilets, visitors have in some cases waited hours to visit this one. And even though the park authorities spent 5 million yuan on its construction, the toilet itself is obscured in a man-made cave surrounded by trees and flowers. Having become somewhat of a legend in the community, visitors come not with expectations of grandeur, but curiosity about what the all the money was spent on. According to the park’s marketing manager, the toilet, housed inside the man-made cave, is decorated like a grotto with stalactite-like water faucets. Certainly not the most luxurious toilet in the city, agrees the founder of the park, but perhaps one of the more artistic ones.

“Dagobert” Wooden Toilet Throne – $14,123

Built completely from ash wood and decorated with hand painted designs inspired by Dagobert, the last ruler of the 8th-century Merovingian dynasty, this wooden throne toilet literally goes ‘medieval on your ass’. As you raise the lid of your throne, the music to ‘Le Bon Roi Dagobert’ plays, helping you ease into position, and in true medieval fashion the flush is activated by the pull of a chain.

Toto Neorest 600 – $5,800

While still not affordable by most of us average people, the Toto Neorest 600 is possible the most ‘value for money’ on this list. At $5,800 for the toilet, it comes with some truly amazing and innovative features including: automatic hands-free lid opening and closing, heated seat, automatic and remote hands-free flush, automatic and self-cleansing system, water conserving dual-flush mode, warm air drier, and air purifier. With all those features and more, not only does the toilet start to sound like a great investment, but the company’s tagline, “calling it a ‘toilet’ is too limiting” also starts to ring true.