Posts by Carol McCreary
Reflections on the Work of Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak (1943-2023)
Imagine this… You’re six years old. Happy, healthy, active and curious about everything around you. Everyday, a woman comes to your house to clean the toilet. Your grandmother has told you not to touch her. You notice that when this woman leaves, your grandmother sprinkles the pure water of the Ganges river where the woman…
Read MoreHepatitis A and California’s lack of public toilets
The reluctance of Southern California’s local governments to provide public restrooms has resulted in a public health crisis. (For updates, see comments at end) San Diego County reports Hepatitis A is the cause of death of 16 people, 14 of which were unhoused citizens living in the city’s East Village. Today 444 San Diegans are…
Read MoreHandwashing: the DIY Vaccine
Preventable illnesses – often termed “waterborne diseases” – kill 2.2 million kids under the age of five each year, more than three kids a minute. These diseases could be more accurately described as “excretaborne”. They have everything to do with poop. Poop is rich. Living within each of us in our gastrointestinal tracts are more cells…
Read MoreReinvent the Toilet Fair
This week, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Reinvent the Toilet Fair brought together innovators seeking to define the next generation of toilet technologies. After receiving grants over a year ago, university teams, small firms, and non-profit groups set to work, meeting a short deadline and compelling criteria: toilets must remove pathogens, recover energy and nutrients,…
Read MoreThe Drought: Rethink established practice?
August of a long hot summer breaks with news that a full half of US counties – 1,584 in 32 states – are now designated primary disaster areas. This 2012 drought impacts local, national and international levels: farm communities face economic ruin, struggling America’s families must pay more for food, and hungry people around the…
Read MorePortland Takes Lead in Sound Advice for Emergency Sanitation
Lately, we’ve been checking out what other West Coast cities at risk of earthquake-induced water and sewer system failure and non-functioning toilets are recommending to residents. Some cities propose that residents bag, bleach, throw away, or bury human waste in the event of an emergency. Such proposals could have dangerous consequences. Portland, however, has proposed…
Read MoreShe stood up for her right to use the toilet!
If we don’t take action we lose our rights.
Read MoreWalk with restroom challenged folks
Here’s an opportunity to walk with people who are restroom challenged due to medical conditions. The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation sponsors annual walks throughout the US. The Portland, Oregon walk steps out from Pioneer Courthouse Square on Saturday afternoon, June 20, 2009.
Read Morephlush.org is under construction! Launch is March 24!
Excuse our mess. phlush.org is under construction. We thought about doing this messy work out of view. But we know this: Everybody is smarter than anybody. So why not help us out by emailing suggestions or commenting below? The purpose of phlush.org is to bring together practical resources on public restroom design and management and…
Read More