The Toilinal is being developed by Yinan "Allan" Yang in Taiwan. The device is intended for home use and features two sides: one with a urinal and one with a toilet. To use, one must push a button that slowly rotates the device into the desired position, exposing either the toilet or the urinal facets. The stated purpose of this unique and puzzling fixture is to enable consumers to install a urinal in their home without sacrificing any wall space or having to worry about additional plumbing that a separate fixture would require. Of course, only one person would be able to use a Toilinal at a time, negating the major benefit gained from installing a urinal in addition to a full-featured toilet. Use of this device requires remarkable patience as the rotating mechanism is exceedingly slow. However, what this device lacks in common sense and convenience, it more than makes up for with vague promises of eco-friendliness.
The following manifesto was made available by the inventor of this inconvenient device: "This dual functional hygienic apparatus is composed of a toilet bowl and a urinal which are set up in a swivel axis but located in opposite positions. The user can choose whether to sit on the toilet or stand in front of the urinal by simply pressing a button to rotate the device to the desired position.
"Due to limited space at home, the high cost of plumbing, and the urinal typically seen as an aesthetic eyesore, most homes do not have urinals. This fashionable, space-saving device brings the urinal into the typical home, while hiding the urinal when it is not in use. With this new device, much water could be saved since an urinal only uses about 1/6 (or less) the amount of water of a normal water-saving toilet per flush (1L vs. 6L). That means a man can save more than 50 L of water a day (Ed: that's equivalent to 13 gallons a day assuming a full 10 uses of the urinal component in one day. Commercial urinals are commonly flushed with 1 gallon (4 liters) per use in order to provide effective post-use cleaning and eliminate odors. It is unclear how the Toilinal tackles the odor issue while flushing with so little water.) . Isn't it cool?!
"Toilets are one of the most wasteful devices of water in the typical home. (Ed: one of a very small handful of devices that use water in a typical home) This device, Toilinal, conserves much water, without requiring extra plumbing and installation costs which present eco-friendly toilet alternatives require. Toilinal is a feasible eco-friendly toilet for the masses."
Yinan Yang continues: "Toilinal decisively ends the battle of the sexes over leaving the toilet seat up or down. By combining the toilet bowl and urinal in one device, both men and women can pee naturally, and no longer have to worry about lifting the toilet seat up or down. Women do not have to sit on a toilet seat with urine drops anymore, while men do not have to worry about poor aim (Ed: given the very small size of the urinal receptacle, it is unclear why the latter would be the case). Thus, Toilinal creates a more sanitary environment for all toilet users.
"However, so far, we haven't mass produced the product yet. We're still looking for the co-production opportunities with global well known manufacturers. We hope by identifying and co-working with a capable, loyal and reliable manufacturing partner, we then therefore could provide a perfect product with stable quality to better serve our customers with the best products and with the best after service programs."