Poo payments: The students being paid to go to the loo

Image source, Getty Images

You may have heard of 'spending a penny' (going for a wee) but what about spending a poo?

Well students at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in South Korea are able to do just that.

They are given a form of digital money or credits to buy things from shops on campus if they use the toilet there.

It is because their number twos are being used to make fuel which powers one of the buildings at the university.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, UNIST is in Ulsan city in the south east of South Korea. It is a industrial city and is home to the world's largest car factory!

Cho Jae-weon, who is an urban and environmental engineering professor there explains why they are paying people to poo.

"If we think out of the box, faeces (poo) has precious value to make energy and manure. I have put this value into ecological circulation," Cho said.

Image source, Peter Cade

Image caption, The poo payments are not made in cash but in digital money which can only be spent at the university

How plopping leads to shopping

Students are given digital money called Ggool if they use the eco loo.

They get 10 Ggool a day which they can spend on drinks and snacks at the canteen, or they can use the tokens to buy books.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, The average person's daily poo can be converted to 50 litres of methane gas which can generate 0.5kWh of electricity

So what do students think about being paid for their poo?

Postgraduate student Heo Hui-jin said: "I had only ever thought that faeces are dirty, but now it is a treasure of great value to me."

What do you think of this idea? Let us know in the comments.