Word.ws English Dictionary

if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down

if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down phrase: in order to save water, only flush the toilet after defecation, not after urination.

Phrase

if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down

  1. In order to save water, only flush the toilet after defecation, not after urination.
    • [Robyn] Griggs [Lawrence] tells them [the audience] they can make a difference without spending thousands of dollars: Line-dry clothes, vacuum refrigerator coils, and reuse greywater—water that’s been used once but is clean enough to use again—to irrigate the lawn or fill up the toilet tank. She...2002 October 7, Liz Stevens, “Green day”, in Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 97th year, number 165, Fort Worth, Tex., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 11D, column 2
    • The motto for our bathroom is “If it’s yellow, let it mellow; if it’s brown, flush it down.” Yeah, that is the bathroom—a small commode that flushes with help of a bucket of water.2004 July 22, Sarah Elizabeth Baker, “Their needs are so great—it breaks your heart”, in The Commercial Appeal, 165th year, Memphis, Tenn., →ISSN, →OCLC, page EM7, column 1

Origin of if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down

Initially coined during one of the California droughts.

Questions about if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down

What does if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down mean?
If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down means in order to save water, only flush the toilet after defecation, not after urination.
What part of speech is if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down?
If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down is a phrase.

Words near if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down in the dictionary

  1. if it you please
  2. if it's all the same
  3. if it's not one thing it's another
  4. if it's the last thing I do
  5. if it's yellow let it mellow
  6. if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down
  7. if looks could kill
  8. if memory serves
  9. if money
  10. if moneys
  11. if my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “if it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/if_it%27s_yellow%2C_let_it_mellow%3B_if_it%27s_brown%2C_flush_it_down. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.