Hippies, Hollywood and the Flush Factor

Cameron Diaz, an actress who is also known for her eco-friendly lifestyle, had bloggers buzzing after an appearance earlier this week on the “Tonight Show”, where she described her water-conscious toilet-flushing mantra to host Jay Leno. “If it’s yellow leave it mellow; if it’s brown flush it down,” Ms. Diaz said. “I believe in that 100 percent.” The “yellow mellow” adage is hardly new , and was purportedly coined by hippies in the early days of the environmental movement. The phrase entered the mainstream in the 1980s when former New York Mayor Ed Koch reportedly urged New Yorkers to take up the practice during a water shortage. According to Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, the no-flush approach is worthy of serious consideration today, as water levels of major rivers and lakes that supply drinking water to population centers are plummeting...NYTimes