(no subject)

[pantryslut]

Also, I wish to submit for your consideration the proposition that, while indoor plumbing is indeed a fine prize of civilization, central heating is a darn close second.

Comments

[touchyphiliac.livejournal.com]

At least indoor plumbing isn't killing the planet.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I dunno about that. Exhibit a: the excretion of prescription drugs into our water supply and the big effects it't having on ecosystems. Cites available.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

Ahh, you have caused musing....

In some places in medieval Europe, some houses had "indoor" plumbing that emptied onto the street below.

In China of I-don't-know-how-long-ago, outhouses were often located above pigsties. Pigs apparently like to eat human waste. Mmmm, poop....

Outhouses that are dug too close to wells can get everyone sick from nasty microbes getting into the water supply. OTOH, outhouses that are built properly must make for some incredibly rich soil, in later decades.

There are some guys back east doing "urban archeology" in people's backyards in places that have been inhabited for ages, like NYC and Philadelphia. They dig up old outhouses, natch, and they find all kinds of kool stuff in them, like old coins, old bottles, anything that could get thrown down or fall in.

The Romans had central heating, but did anyone else have it until industrial times? Surely the big civilizations in China, India, Africa did? But nobody else in Europe until recently.