TOTO partnered with art gallery owner Loretta Alvarado on the "In The Toilet: An Exhibition of Art Meets Function," an exhibit and silent auction of artistically painted toilets. TOTO donated the toilets used for the auction, which was held at Alvarado's Laguna Beach, Calif., gallery. The auctioned toilets raised funds for the local chapter of a non-profit ocean water conservation and public education organization, the Surfrider Foundation.

Surrounding area artists contributed sketches and five artists were invited to participate and paint a toilet. People bid on each of the toilet designs through the Web at www.howoriginal.net.

Final figures for the amount of money raised were not released as of press time. For more information, visit www.howoriginal.net.