What’s brown and sticky?

For a long time, it was a stick. But things seem to be changing in the UK and perhaps we can finally admit that it has, in fact, always been poo. Yes, poo used to be a dirty word — not like shit, or crap — but poo: it’s too childish to have any edge but it also embodies an innocent honesty in dealing with a topic that’s not always been the best dinner-time conversation.

Looking today though, poo (or at least the topic of poo) is everywhere. It’s in the headlines (as a BA flight is forced to land because of it) we’re being sold new products for it (Poo-Pourri — which, despite being used to disguise the actually thing, in no way tries to hide it’s purpose) and it’s even powering our transport (with the UK’s first Poo Bus).

This isn’t to say poo hasn’t registered as part of the cultural conversion, but it is a very different story to our friends in America (with the breakthrough children’s book ‘Everybody Poops’) or the perennial champions, (whom you might think would be bored of it by now, but I suspect not) Japan: a country where poo cartoon characters are an industry, and where Unko Chan is king.

With widespread growth in pursuits like Yoga (often seen as a “conversation with the body”) and a greater interest in what we are putting in our bodies, it perhaps comes as no surprise we might be more prepared to face what is coming out. While the UK may not be quite ready to sing along with Unko-Chan (though, you only need to look at the global popularity of the smiling Poo Emoji as a gauge to how close we might be) a more open and mature approach to our own waste is surely a good thing.