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Three-year old inaugurates Jamison Square Loo

The forth in a walkable chain of Portland Loos was inaugurated under sunny skies this week.  The honors of the First Flush went to three-year old Clark Bradley, standing here with his Mom and City Commissioner Randy Leonard in front of Loo with its colorful door designed by graphic artist Sarah Fine.69759_136165943107914_111103015614207_212870_5734767_nThe Loo stands across the street from a streetcar stop on the southwest corner of Jamison Square.   Hundreds of kids like Clark come to the popular Pearl District park in the summer to splash in its famous fountain.   Now thanks to the efforts of the Pearl District Neighborhood Association, the Portland Water Bureau and the Bureau of Transportation, all those kids have a safe, clean, convenient  place to go.

This Fourth “First Flush” follows less than a month on the Third, when a new Loo was opened near the new Legacy Fountain in Old Town Chinatown on World Toilet Day. Each inaugural event seems to attract more people.  Those with doubts about having one of the sleek but basic and fairly low tech toilets near their homes and businesses are quickly won over: the Loo works. What’s more, the facility meets PHLUSH Public Restroom Design Principles, which were adopted by the Old Town Chinatown Neighborhood Association nearly two years before the first Loo hit the streets.  The goal of the Design Principles is cost effective public restrooms that provide maximum function in minimum space and are safe, accessible, available, attractive and easy to keep clean.


This Tuesday: Composting Toilets & Supporting Codes and Policies

With the support of PHLUSH, the Jefferson County Sanitation HAT has been hard at work this year strengthening community relationships, surveying local residents on sanitation needs and educational interests, and collaborating with local and regional experts to address rural sanitation challenges.  A Housing+Sanitation Learning Series kicked off this fall, starting…

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Can ecological sanitation help increase the supply of affordable housing?

December 28, 2021   As the cost of housing skyrockets across the United States, we’ve been wondering about the potential of water reuse and low-water toilet technologies to augment the affordable housing supply. Now, housing advocates, local officials, and residents in rural Jefferson County, Washington, have asked PHLUSH to find…

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Happy Menstrual Hygiene Day!

Today is Menstrual Hygiene Day, and PHLUSH realizes that menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and health can be improved with adequate access to restrooms. We are beginning to dive into the intersection of restroom advocacy and MHM -- learn more by hearing our board President, Genevieve Schutzius, speak on the intersection…

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