First it was inflating your tires, then it was changing your lightbulbs, next...

...it'll be...well, this:

The Monona Zoning Board of Appeals voted 3-1 Monday night to approve the installation of a composting toilet proposed by Dianne Aldrich for a home office and studio behind her home...

Yes, it's a toilet that saves what you put into it for future use.

Now, I know what you're thinking: if we're going to make use of our...um, waste...instead of flushing it away never to be seen again (we hope), then can't we use that waste for something other than compost? Like...oh, I dunno, bricks?

To that, I say: stop being ridiculous. Although I agree that, if every home were equipped with one of these, we'd have way more compost than we'd ever need. And then our problem would be getting rid of that.

But that's a problem for the future. For now:

"This is exciting," Aldrich said Tuesday. "It continues to open the door for people making healthy choices in the way they are living and building and creating."

Aldrich and Speight both emphasized such toilets might be one way of dealing with increasingly heavy rains that have stressed area wastewater and sewage systems, leading to some overflows into the basements of Monona residents during flooding in June.

Hat tip Jo Egelhoff.