Rio de Janeiro's carnival used urine-powered turbines to charge batteries that dispensed ice cream, turning a public pool problem into a collective game. Kids had to contribute enough pee to fill an energy bar and unlock the reward. It worked: more people used the toilet, and the behavior stuck.
So how do we make people get out and go when all they want to do is stay in and swim? Rio de Janeiro's Carnival attracts millions of people, but they're not just dancing in the streets. Public urination is a big problem. To combat the issue, special urinals are positioned in crowded areas around the city. They work like a mini hydroelectric plant, using turbines to convert the flow of liquid into electricity, which is then stored in batteries and used to power a carnival truck. It's an awesome idea, and I'm gonna see if it will work here. We don't have the pee batteries in the U.S. yet, but we can test the principle. We've souped up this toilet and told the kids that it converts pee into electricity. This energy bar indicates the power level. Once the green lights reach the top, we'll turn on the electricity to work this ice cream machine. Okay, so instead of monitoring or punishing individual behavior, we're gonna enlist everyone in a common cause. The beauty of this device is that everyone needs to cooperate before anyone gets a reward. It only works if everyone does it, so we're turning peer pressure into pee pressure. It's interesting. Already the machine has created a buzz with the kids. They're lining up to use it, and we haven't given out any ice cream yet.
But we still need more power, though. I'm sorry, guys.
After 2 hours, the toilet's still drawing them in. Yeah! Making it rain on them! Already we've got more users than we counted yesterday. Wow, ice cream! It's definitely having the desired effect. Yay! We got a full energy bar. That means that everybody gets their ice cream.
Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream! He's your brother, isn't he?
So everyone's gotten their reward, but the power needs building up again. And what I'm curious to see is whether the lure of another ice cream is gonna continue to keep the pee out of the pool.
