The toilet of the future helps mother nature by using less water, and it saves us a buck by turning poo into power! Lucky people in Sneek (Holland) are 'testdriving' this toilet of the future since 2006.

It flushes by means of a vacuum mechanism, just like airplane toilets have. This vacuum-flush uses just one liter of water per go (as opposed to around twelve for your average flush - you do the math!). Next to that, the smelly toilet-water gets separated from the comparatively less-smelly domestically used water, and ends up in a tank where it gets fermented (with the help of yeast!). This process produces a biogas which can then be used to generate power. This also means the toilet of the future doesn't need to be connected to the sewer, a third advantage if you ask me!

Anyway, the system is still being actively tested and researched, so it might be a while before we each use our own airplane toilet and recycle our toilet water. In the meantime, read the Press Release of the study at Wageningen University (only Dutch, sorry)...