MOUNT RAINIER, Wash. --Mount Rainier National Park is offering visitors a cleaner and eco-friendlier way to do their business with a specially-designed biotoilet.

Instead of using chemicals, the commode uses cedar chips to treat the waste. The heat generated during decomposition kills any bacteria and waste materials are vaporized in one of its tanks.

You never replace the chips. You can add water occasionally, but it does have a rain catch system which will add water to the tank. The water used is purified and re-circulated.

And the whole thing uses very little electricity, about as much as a microwave needs.

The inventor of the new-age john came all the way from Japan for the dedication ceremony on Monday.

The toilet was a gift to Mount Rainier from Groundwork Mishima, a Japanese environmental group that is active on Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji has a "Sister Mountain" relationship with Mount Rainier.

Rainier is the first in the country to have the biotoilet, which is priced at $70,000.

"We have some systems we're experimenting at Camp Muir with solar systems and we have a lot of back country use," said David Uberuaga, superintendent of Mount Rainier. "We're trying to figure out what's the best and when they said they wanted to do donate this as a model for us to experiment, it was welcomed."

Just like many toilets in Japan, the toilet seat is heated. And don't worry, the toilet is also odor-free.