Last week on November 19th, the United Nations celebrated a special day in the countries around the world that are members. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do about possible peace in the Middle East or the easing of diplomatic pressure that seems to preoccupy all our news these days.

On November 19th, the United Nations celebrated World Toilet Day. The UN uses this day to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis.

Worldwide over 4 billion people live without sanitation devices. Of that amount, over 600 million people practice open defecation. The United Nations goal is to develop sustainable development of sanitation devices and clean water for all of us.

The division of the United Nations called UN water is the official convener of World Toilet Day. They maintain the website then choose a special theme for each year. For the year in 2020 the theme was sustainable sanitation and the problems with climate change. In 2019 the theme had a title that must have been coined by a comedy writer: “leaving no one behind” – a great theme for World Toilet Day.

What is important for a variety of reasons besides being a safe functioning way to take care of human waste was having a functioning toilet that has a positive impact on human dignity, public health and personal safety. Sanitation systems that do not safely treat human waste allow the spread of diseases such as typhoid, dysentery and cholera.

Although many of us take use of the toilet for granted, there are many unique, weird and interesting toilets around the world. Here are a few which must have their owners feeling flushed with success.

Here’s the poop on how one royal family transformed using a toilet into a reminder of how they perceive themselves. At the Kumsusan Palace in North Korea, Kim Jong-il uses a toilet that is exclusively used by him. Manufactured with gold, at least once a day he gets to reflect on his power and status.

Leave it to the Japanese to transform the simple toilet into a high-tech wonder. It provides the ultimate in hygienic and luxurious experiences with its heated seats, air dryers and multiple water jets. These expensive thrones have sensors that automatically controls the lid and flushes the toilet.

Those people who are concerned about the environment may want to consider an eco-friendly composting toilet. The ultimate in “waste not, want not” these toilets transform your output into compost, producing organic material that can fertilize the family garden.

To combat the problem of people urinating in public, some cities have devised a way to handle the problem. In areas that have an active night club scene, cities like London and Berlin have installed pop-up toilets. During the day, they are hidden underground. When the nightlife crowd hit the streets, they can utilize these public urinals that pop up with the push of a button.

Perhaps the award for going too far in toilet construction goes to Basel, Switzerland. An artist created a public toilet that allows the user to participate in an interactive experience. It is made out of one-way mirrors. From the outside it looks like a simple cube. But the user inside can see out and watch the hustle and bustle of the outside world.

The United Nations needs to address another problem that is associated with the toilet. Ever since the dawn of man, which took place many centuries ago at 6 am on a Tuesday morning, a debate continues concerning toilet paper rolls. It pits the “over the top” zealots with the “bottom believers.” Personally, I always install the roll over the top so that the toilet paper never touches the wall.

Hudson Cooper is a resident of Sullivan County, a writer, comedian and actor.