Lots of cities, maybe all cities, have issues with public urination — well-traveled neighborhoods smell like stale pee, walls become tagged with a sort of organic vandalism, and there's always the risk of public exposure of private parts. Paris is aiming to solve at least two of those problems with a new open-air urinal-planter to provide men with a more sanitary and responsible — though not private — alternative to quaint streets and scenic bridges. Dubbed the "uritrottoir" — a combination of the French words for urine and sidewalk — the red public urinals collect the pee in straw that is supposed to be transfigured into compost, sans odor. Not all locals find this solution ideal, as this Washington Post report shows:
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