–UPDATE–
Dearest Poopers,
It is with great relish and excitement that I come to you today. Saturn, the Great God of Agriculture, revealed Himself to me last night. He came in a flurry of chariot fire, scythe a-swinging, seeds spraying out in every direction. He told me that our Saturnalia Salt Salon should be postponed until January. So that’s what we’re going to do.
Stay tuned for further information about our upcoming January 2012 Salt Salon, and wishing you a wonderful season.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: agriculture, ancient rome, Beavis and Butthead, Brooklyn, caga tio, Consus, Feast of Fools, God, harvest, history, Jupiter, Kronos, menorah, Mr. Hankey, Ops, Rome, Saturn, Saturnalia, shawn shafner, Sterculius, stercus, Stercutius, Sterquilinus, The Puru, The Salt Salon, Zeus
Dearest Poopers,
The POOP Project is proud to invite you to our final event of the year, in partnership with The Salt Salon.
Join Shawn “The Puru” Shafner this Sunday, Dec. 18 at 5:00pm for a journey through the bowels 
of history, from the fall of Rome to the modern day, as we unearth the rise of “civilized” man over that most uncivilized of actions. A communal Mediterranean meal by chef Marina Berger will be served in a casual, home setting (togas optional, Bacchanalian revelry and lounging expected). Guests are encouraged to bring your own bottle of wine. $10, Brooklyn locale off the Church Ave. 2/5. More information on The Salt Salon invite.
Why Mediterranean? Why togas? Why revel in Bacchanalian fashion?
For most of us, the holiday season means making time to pop in the ol’ Mr. Hankey DVD, light your alternative energy menorah, or beat that wooden log until it poops out candy and nuts. When the days are getting dark, it sure is nice to feel that maybe–just maybe–everything is right with the world.
Saturn will grow your grain and cut it, too!
For our ancient Roman brethren, December was the time when everything was wrong, and society turned upside down. After spending the Autumn planting and sowing, December 17th began a 7-day festival generally known as Saturnalia. The most popular holiday of the year, Saturnalia was a time of reflection and celebration in honor of Saturn (Kronos in Greek), the God of agriculture and the harvest, as well as his wife, Ops, Goddess of bounty, and Consus, the God of Storage. Because all that grain isn’t gonna put itself away.
Saturnalia was the Roman equivalent of the RESET button. The celebrated God had presided over Earth’s most prosperous time until his son, Jupiter (Zeus), deposed him. But for seven cold days each year, the ropes binding Saturn’s feet were loosened and so were the rules of everyday life.
Gambling was allowed in public. Slaves were permitted to use dice and did not have to work. Instead of the toga, less formal dinner clothes (synthesis) were permitted, as was the pileus, a felt cap normally worn by the manumitted slave that symbolized the freedom of the season. Within the family, a Lord of Misrule was chosen. Slaves were treated as equals, allowed to wear their masters’ clothing, and be waited on at meal time in remembrance of an earlier golden age thought to have been ushered in by the god. (Encyclopaedia Romana)
Saturn is of particular interest to the POOP because he (or his son, depending on who you consult) was sometimes known as Stercutius, the demigod of manure (“Stercus” means poop; you might also find him called Sterquilinus and Sterculius, as he is referred to in the Beavis and Butthead episode below.). Saturn was the grain–the life, growth, and nourishment. But he was also the scythe–the death, decay and, in his role as Stercutius, the doody. Because you can’t have one without the other.
During the medieval Feast of Fools, inspired by and adapted from Saturnalia,
[Excrement] was used in place of incense during the serious service, and later the clergy rode in dung-flled carts ‘tossing it at the crowd (147)’ (Janik and Bakhtin)
Sure makes you wistful for the old days, doesn’t it?
This Salt Salon, the second night of our glorious holiday, I’m hoping we can turn things upside down by bringing a little potty talk into our dinner conversation. It’s like a revival of the communal baths, but different. Io, Saturnalia!
Wishing you a wonderful season, and a new year full of peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Africa, India, Jack Sim, NPR, Science Friday, toilet, World Toilet Day, World Toilet Organization
Dearest Poopers,
If you’ve already had your morning movement, you may have noticed something different about your toilet today. You may have noticed it was slightly puffed up, proud of itself. It may have been wearing an extra big smile, showing off its porcelain whites. And after your product was whisked away down the drain , perhaps you could sense that your toilet was patting itself on the tank.
Show your toilet a little TLC.
Yes indeed, this World Toilet Day, toilets everywhere are luxuriating in the acclaim that’s so seldom afforded to them. Just think of all the wonderful things your toilet does for you! Six times a day (on average), the toilet takes away your pain. Your toilet doesn’t judge you or call you names. It’s there for you through pizza, hot dogs and taco night, lovingly accepting that which your own body has rejected.
But toilets are not just convenient, they’re critical. World Toilet Day stands as a celebration of a technology that has prevented countless deadly diseases in the past 150 years, and as an act of solidarity with the over 40% of our world population still living–and dying–without access to safe toilets. Yet in a recent survey of things they could not live without, British museum-goers ranked toilets 9th, behind sunshine, internet connection, Facebook and email (clean water was 3rd). In India more people have access to a cell phone than to a toilet, and the amount GDP that is lost in Africa due to sanitation exceeds all foreign aid dollars. What a waste.
Across the spectrum, changing our relationship to the toilet requires us to reassess our understanding of value. Though poop may smell bad and be not the prettiest product to every emerge from our bodies (what is, really?), it is essentially a product. It is a nutrient-rich commodity that must be handled and processed like any other, from which there is money to be made. In the “developed” world, we are only beginning to compare the value of poop to that of the water we flush it in, or the energy and infrastructure required to maintain it (hear more from Science Friday on NPR). In the “developing” world, we are beginning to understand how making toilets “cool” can generate demand for them in ways 
simple health lectures never could. (Read more on the changing attitudes toward toilets from World Toilet Day founder, Jack Sim.)
The POOP Project is proud to be part of an awakening shaking abdomens around the world. As gross as it may be, poop is undeniably a part of us. It is our shadow, our shame. But it is also THE shit; it is our gold. It is the part of us that connects back to the earth and renews our relationship to the universe. We can turn our waste into a world of opportunity, and it all starts with four simple words:
“I love you, toilet.”
A Joyous World Toilet Day to you all, and peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, compost, Dan Tainow, David Hurd, GrowNYC, Jennifer Blackwell, Lower East Side Ecology Center, new york, NYC Compost Project, Office of Recycling Outreach & Education, Visitor Center at Newtown Creek
Dear Poopers,
Thank you to all who made it out last week for our conversation on Technology for Green Communities. I hope you’ll join us for the final event in the Fall Speaker Series this Tuesday, Nov. 1 all about COMPOST!
Join me for presentations and a panel discussion with special guests:
Daniel Tainow, all around green guru, “Compost Dan” is Education Director at the Lower East Side Ecology Center and a good friend of The POOP Project.
Jennifer Blackwell, a self-described composting fanatic, is also an objectively-described expert and manager of the The NYC Compost Project in partnership with the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.
David Hurd is Director of the Office of Recycling Outreach & Education with GrowNYC, going block by block to help New Yorkers recycle more and use less.
Tuesday, November 1
6:30-8:30pm
Visitor Center at Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Click here for directions.)
Looking forward to seeing you there, and peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Art, Brooklyn Greenroof, constipation, Danny Valdes, Dixon Place, Eat $h*t, Eco Brooklyn, Gennaro Brooks-Church, GreenHomeNYC, HabitatMap, Inger Staggs Yancey, Michael Heimbinder, radio, Radio Provacateur, Shai Lauros, technology for green communities, Visitor Center at Newtown Creek, Waste
Dearest Poopers,
First off, thanks so much to all those who made it out to Dixon Place for the work-in-progress premiere of Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World. Ironically, I was quite artistically constipated in the weeks leading up to the premiere, and then filled page after page with text in the days just before the show. It was a little messy in the end, but what do you expect from crappy art? Looking forward to future revisions and a finished piece in the new year.
I also enjoyed my first radio interview this past Monday with Danny Valdes of Radio Provacateur. If you missed the live broadcast, you can listen in HERE.
It was fun to be the one answering questions, but now I’m looking forward to heading back into the moderator’s chair this Tuesday, Oct. 25, 6:30-8:30 for the penultimate panel in the Fall Speaker Series with the Visitor Center at Newtown Creek, “Technology for Green Communities.”
Click on the picture to enlarge.
Join me for presentations and a panel discussion with special guests:
Michael Heimbinder, creator of HabitatMap, an online mapping and social networking platform that connects citizens to their communities.
Shai Lauros, helping New York City’s buildings go green with sustainable building methods and materials as Executive Director of GreenHomeNYC.
Gennaro Brooks-Church from Eco Brooklyn, a full service design and building firm creating Brownstones with zero waste, zero new materials, and zero energy to run.
Inger Staggs Yancey from Brooklyn Greenroof, using thirsty plants to and high-tech soil containers to transform city roofs into ecological mega-machines.
Tuesday, October 25
6:30-8:30pm
Visitor Center at Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn (Click here for directions.)
Looking forward to seeing you there, and peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: alef: the next conversation, Amanda Melpolder, cupcakes, Danny Valdes, David Carter, diapers, Dixon Place, Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World, Eat Shit, huggies for hanukkah, poop, Radio Provacateur, shawn shafner, Simon Hanukai, The POOP Project, theater
Dearest poopers,
There’s a lot to be excited about around The POOP Project right now. An article I wrote about the swaddled American experience, “Huggies for Hanukkah,” just came out in Alef: The NEXT Conversation. This Monday night from 10-11 EST, I’ll be giving an interview to Danny Valdes on Radio Provacateur. And this Wednesday at 7:30pm, my new one man show, Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World will premiere as a work-in-progress in the lounge at Dixon Place. It’s FREE!
Imagine a world that utilizes our most natural bodily function instead of flushing doo into our drinking water. This renewable resource can fertilize fields, build homes and power cities, while we confront an international sanitation crisis that kills a child every 20 seconds. But to do this, we’re gonna have to own our $h*t.
Journey from kitchen to commode for an uncensored look at the imbalanced bowels of an American society consuming itself.
Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World
Dixon Place, 161A Chrystie Street
7:30-9:00pm
FREE! Light refreshments will be served.
Created and Performed by Shawn Shafner
Developed with the help of director Simon Hanukai, dramaturg David Carter and chef Amanda Melpolder.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bamboo, BPA, Brooklyn, bum boosa, Carol Steinfeld, Diva Cup, Dresden University, drinking water, fertilizer, green, GreenHomeNYC, Greenpeace, Kimberly-Clark, Liquid Gold, NEW New York Block Party, pee, pStyle, sustainability, toilet paper, urine, Virtual toilet paper museum, Williamsburg
Dearest Poopers,
I am so looking forward to tabling at The NEW New York Block Party this Saturday, Oct. 1 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. But even more exciting are the FREE giveaways we’ll be featuring to help you green your home from your bottom up!
Drumroll please…
Bum Boosa Bamboo toilet paper is one bathroom product your behind can get behind! When toilet paper first came out in the 1860s, it was a total flop. The very idea that people should use a clean, new product reserved specifically for wiping their butts just to dispose of it immediately after was completely foreign to a population used to cleaning themselves with the Sears Catalogue. Seriously. (You can read about that and see many fascinating vintage TP advertisements at the Virtual Toilet Paper Museum.) Still, the idea that we should be cutting down fresh, virgin trees for the same purpose–especially those from the Canadian Boreal Forest, as Kimberly-Clark did until Greenpeace stopped them in 2009–is just as ludicrous. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to get the long fibers that make that lusciously soft toilet paper Americans crave.
In those terms, recycled toilet paper is a MUCH better option. However, recycled toilet paper contains all paper types, including thermal papers like receipts, which are loaded with Bisphenol A (or BPA), a known carcinogen, estrogen mimic, and endocrine disruptor. Thus, using recycled toilet paper puts these chemicals directly onto your tender derriere and, when flushed, ushers them into the water system–just one of the many chemicals and pharmaceuticals currently in our drinking stream according to this US Government Accountability Office report (PDF). To quote the Dresden University study (PDF) that first made this issue known:
“Toilet paper was shown to being an important source of xenoestrogen emissions to wastewater. Thermal paper again is estimated being a major source for the contamination of recycled paper with BPA. Thermal paper represents a very small portion of the entire paper production but due to its extremely high BPA content it certainly mainly causes BPA input into the paper cycle…”
Let’s file that under bad news. The good news? Bum Boosa bamboo toilet paper!! Unlike traditional paper trees, bamboo grows 2-3 feet each day, and can be harvested sustainably to make all sorts of paper products, including the toilet papers, baby wipes and other environmentally friendly personal products made by Bum Boosa. Interested? See their website to buy online or find a retail location near you, OR stop by our booth at the block party tomorrow and you just might win a squeezably soft, sustainable roll of your own!
Now, I’ve often written about the amazing fertilizing powers of urine (see The Puru Pees in His Plants), and as a male, it’s easy for me to get urine into my watering can. Less so, I’m afraid, for women and trans men. Until now!
Introducing, The pStlye!!
Ever been camping, on a long car trip, faced with sitting on a nasty port-a-pottie seat, or simply wanted to pee standing up? The pStyle is a discreet, reusable funnel that tells women and trans men, “Urine Charge!” with a powerful pee-pee tool. Made by the same mastermind as the reusable menstrual solution, The Diva Cup, the pStyle is incredibly easy to use–and fun! Just unzip, pull aside your underwear, and maneuver the widest part of the pStyle directly under your urethra. Tilt down and watch the water flow, feeding the plants and flowers with the nitrogen they need to thrive. (Note that you will actually want to dilute your urine with water, especially for home use, as too much nitrogen will burn their tender buds. See Carol Steinfeld’s Liquid Gold for complete information.)
Wanna know more? Visit the POOP table at The NEW New York Block Party where we’ll be raffling off 2 pStyles, browse the pStyle website for complete usage instructions, or watch their charming promo video below.
(The pStyle presented by afriska.ch from Franziska Neuhaus on Vimeo.)
Till then, may you all tinkle like little stars and enjoy peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alec Baxt, Annie Novak, Art, Dr. Dickson Despommier, GreenHomeNYC, Inger Staggs Yancey, mystery, NEW New York Block Party, nyc, poop, Scooby Doo, street fair, toilet paper, Vent Festival, Visitor Center at Newtown Creek, Williamsburg
Dearest Poopers,
Thanks so much to all those who made it out this past week for our POOP Project events; they’re always poopy, but never crappy! We fed our metropolitan minds on the topic of urban farming last Tuesday with visionary ideas from Inger Staggs Yancey, Annie Novak, Dr. Dickson Despommier and surprise guest Alec Baxt in a panel conversation with the Visitor’s Center at Newtown Creek. Then Saturday night we ranted, raved and exorcised the demons of shameful shitting at the VENT Performance Festival. And look! I even got my name printed on the wall like a fancy artist!! Mama would be so proud…if only it wasn’t about poop.
But it is about poop. It always is.
And it gives me great pleasure to know that this Saturday, Oct. 1 from 11am-5pm, I’ll be helping people green their homes from their bottoms up! The POOP Project will be holding court at GreenHomeNYC‘s NEW New York Block Party, a revolutionary reinterpretation of the traditional street fair that will transform one city block into an urban classroom and bring practical, environmentally-friendly ideas straight to your doorstep. That is, if you happen to live on North 11th Street between Berry and Wythe in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, because that’s where the event is. Otherwise, I invite you to make that block your temporary doorstep for the day!.
But wait–there’s more!
People often say to me: “Puru! I love you. You know so much about poop! Do you want to get married?” And I say, “No. Anyway, not to you.” To which they say, “Ouch! Oh, wait. I’m over it! Still, oh great Puru, how can I put some of your wise environmental principles into practice with my very own potty?”
In answer to this query, it brings me even greater pleasure to know that this Saturday I’ll be bringing you two–count them–1, 2 ways to put your money where my mouth is. The POOP Project has partnered with two companies that excite me so much I just might tinkle! Which is exactly what they’d want me to do.
So, what are these mystery organizations? It’s a mystery!!! That will be revealed over the next few days.
Not even Scooby Doo toilet paper can clear up this conundrum!
Till then, peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Adult Education, Aisha Cousins, Annie Novak, Atom Cianfarani, Brooklyn Greenroof, Club Make and Do, compost, Coral Short, D'Luxe, Damali Abrams, Danielle Abrams, Dr. Dickson Despommier, Eagle Street Rooftop Farms, Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World, Eat Shit, Etsy, Gowanus Studio Space, Inger Staggs Yancey, Jason Gaspar, Maya Seuss, NEW New York Block Party, Nurit Bar-Shai, Rant Van, Rob Andrews, shameful shitting, shawn shafner, technology for green communities, The Clap, The Puru, urban farming, Vent Festival, Vertical Farms, Visitor Center at Newtown Creek
Dearest Poopers,
Thank you to all those who came out to Club Make and Do’s show this past Thursday. It was a smash! And I got a chance to show off my new hat.
Jealous? Click the pic to get your own from Etsy!
But that’s old news now. And I know you crave more. More! MORE!!!
So get your calendars out, because here’s what’s coming up:
- Tuesday, Sept. 20: panel conversation about urban farming at the Visitor Center at Newtown Creek
- Saturday, Sept. 24: performance lecture on the history if shit at the Vent Festival
- Saturday, Oct. 1: tabling at the NEW New York D-I-Y Block Party
- Tuesday, Oct. 4: The Clap is featured as part of Adult Education
- Wednesday, Oct. 19: the premiere of Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World at Dixon Place
- Tuesday, Oct. 25: panel conversation about technology for green communities at the Visitor Center at Newtown Creek
- Tuesday, Nov. 1: panel conversation about composting at (you guessed it!) the Visitor Center
But it’s a Saturday, so for now here’s details on just the first two.
The POOP Project is proud to once again play moderator for a series of panel events at the Visitor Center at Newtown Creek, the city’s largest wastewater treatment plant. Join us this Tuesday, September 20th from 6:30-8:30pm for presentations and conversations all about urban farming!
Featuring guest speakers:
Annie Novak, who feeds Greenpoint from the Eagle Street Rooftop Farms and teaches urbanites where their food comes from.
Dr. Dickson Despommier whose vision, The Vertical Farms, would enable cities to feed themselves from skyscrapers.
Inger Staggs Yancey from Brooklyn Greenroof, using thirsty plants to transform city roofs into ecological mega-machines.
For more information about and directions to the Visitor Center at Newtown Creek in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, CLICK HERE or on the poster above.
Now if you’ve got something to say (and who doesn’t?), consider joining me next Saturday for the Vent Festival at Gowanus Studio Space!
The POOP Project is pleased to join the Vent Festival from 6-9pm to fume about The Agony and the Excrement, a humorous performance lecture about the history of sanitation and the social factors that lead to “shameful shitting.” If you missed this lecture at Adult Education earlier this year, now’s your chance! The line-up will also include Damali Abrams, Danielle Abrams, Aisha Cousins, D’Luxe, Jason Gaspar and the Rant Van.
PLUS come early (from 3-6pm) to make your own cider with Atom Cianfarani, encounter Nurit Bar-Shai’s growing organisms, witness Coral Short’s 1000 Sighs and more!
THEN come back the next day for a 1pm performance workshop with veteran performance artist Rob Andrews and a 4pm artist’s conversation featuring Danielle Abrams, Rob Andrews, Coral Short, Aisha Cousins and D’Luxe. Moderated by Maya Suess, the beautiful, brainy and benevolent curator of the whole darned thing.
As a bonus, I’d like to leave you with a video from another project I’m involved in that generates applause for the public good. We call it The Clap because the joy’s contagious. You can learn more on the Facebook page.
Wishing you a great weekend and, as always, peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: c(mad), Childcraft, Club Make and Do, Danielle Abrams, Dixon Place, Franny Silverman, Glenn Marla, Make and Do, nyc, Rate My Doodie, Robert Pearre, ShareMyShit, shit, taboo, The Soho Gallery for Digital Art, Zhenesse Heinemann
Dearest Poopers,
I admit it: I love poop. There’s so much to love! Behind the closed stall door lie fascinating conversations about design, architecture, history, privacy, theories on the body, on dirt and socialization. Intellectually speaking, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.
That said, I’m not very interested in sharing my shit in person, in pictures or in smell-o-vision. I understand that not everyone feels this way, which has given rise to websites like (WARNING: Not for Work!) Rate My Doodie and ShareMyShit. The latter is a social network (and Twitter feed) for people who want to…well, you know. Its creator, Jeff, and I emailed a few months ago, and it turns out there’s more to it than what meets the big, brown eye:
I am artistically fascinated by the concept of taboo. The unspoken social contracts around certain subjects highlight the dark aspects, the shadow of human identity that most would rather not think about. Individually and culturally, we try to repress our shadow selves, only to find darkness slipping through the cracks in unexpected, unintended or destructive ways. A healthy mind is one that embraces all aspects of our humanity, even the less-convenient ones, and this involves thinking about things that make us uncomfortable.
Professionally, I am fascinated by social media and how it is changing the nature of some of those unspoken social contracts. So ShareMyShit is just a convenient marriage of some of my interests.
We’ve already opened up our personal lives, thoughts and pictures to the internet–perhaps this is the next step?
What I do share on a regular basis is art. Once a week, in fact, I meet with six other artists as part of Club Make and Do, or c(mad). C(mad) is a dynamic collective of artists working in different mediums who commune weekly to share, dialogue and support each other’s practice. And we’re having a sharing tomorrow night with beautiful images, performance art, music, wine and more!
Thursday, September 15, 7:30-10:00
The Soho Gallery for Digital Art (138 Sullivan Street between Houston and Prince)
$5-10 sliding scale, refreshments will be served.
An image from the interior of Childcraft's "Make and Do" book, from which the club derives its name.
I’ll be showing a short preview of Eat $h*t: How Our Waste Can Save the World, an interactive cooking show (no poop, I promise!) where we’ll journey from kitchen to commode for an uncensored look at the imbalanced bowels of an American society consuming itself. (The full show performs one night only, Oct. 19 at Dixon Place!)
ALSO FEATURING!
Zhenesse Heinemann - creates Living Dioramas and character driven video art. She has shown in varied spaces such as John Connelly Presents, English Kills Gallery, Grace Exhibition Space, Scope Art Fair NYC, and at Banzai in the Red Room.
www.zhenesse.com
Glenn Marla – is a theatre performance artist and fat tranny superstar. www.facebook.com/
Robert Pearre – is a video artist living in Brooklyn. www.robertpearre.com
Franny Silverman – may be the nicest person you’ll ever know, or the craziest. She’s a Gemini, an actor/theatremaker/activist with a thing for make believe, narwhals and baked goods. www.frannysilverman.com
Looking forward to seeing you there and, as always, peaceful pooping.
Shawn “The Puru” Shafner
