Addressing people’s basic needs requires discussion of public toilets.
In talking to people and carrying out this research, members of the PHLUSH group became aware of how little attention is paid to public toilets in the United States. There is little academic research and no consolidated body of literature. Public restrooms appear marginalized by most of the urban planning, architecture and design communities. While Americans are building larger houses with more – and more elaborate — bathrooms they are not talking about their needs when they are away from home. While travellers are demanding new levels of comfort in hotel bathrooms, they have not yet effectively registered their complaints about not being able to find a public restroom en route to the hotel.
This is not the case everywhere. Great Britain and several nations in Asia have national non-profit groups that advocate for comfortable, safe toilets. Academics in these countries study attitudes and behavior and entrepreneurs respond with an array of options in facilities and management. The World Toilet Organization sponsors an annual international conference of experts who explore facilities design, maintenance, water conservation, toilet codes of practice, and the social and economic returns on investments in restrooms. The World Toilet Summit and Expo also attracts thousands of visitors and suppliers of public restrooms. Other countries have national standards for public toilets, annual national awards, ways to involve citizens and forge public-private partnerships, including the celebration of International Toilet Day on November 19.
In these countries, sophisticated social marketing promotes attitude change. Consider the tag lines used by the Restroom Association of Singapore in the country’s three principal languages. English: “It’s Everybody’s Business!” has two meanings: a) Everyone has a duty to care for the toilet. b) Everybody needs to visit the toilet. Mandarin: “Ren Ren You Fen” has two meanings: a) Everyone has a duty to keep toilet clean. b) Everyone has to visit the toilet. Malay: “Perlaburan Untuk Semua” two meanings: a) An investment by everyone. b) A deposit by Everyone.
Says Jack Sim, former President of the Restroom Association of Singapore and Founder and curent CEO of the World Toilet Organization:
We must learn to treat our toilets with greater care, to reduce our dread and increase our love for them; to accept and acknowledge that our daily bodily function is a natural process. It is as normal as eating, drinking and breathing. We now have the courage to proclaim that we are all toilet users. Just as other social taboos are fast fading, toilets too will disappear as the last taboo of the 21st century.
The fact that attitudes toward sanitary facilities are different in the United States is probably due to a range of factors beyond the scope of this report. But unless we want to privatize everything and abandon our tending of the commons, citizens and local governments need to pay attention to private amenities that are used by all. We need to start this discussion and not be afraid to talk about the basic human needs that we can meet.
Start the conversation and get the ball rolling .
When we engage the public in discussion of their priorities, we need to realize that they likely will not initiate talk about their need to use a bathroom when they and their families are away from home.
An interesting example comes from Arlington, Virginia. This community across the Potomac River from Washington, DC is renowned for its small family-friendly parks and miles of bike trails used by joggers, recreational cyclists and bicycle commuters alike. For years, park officials and citizen activists conducted research to find out what services people wanted in the parks. Public restrooms were rarely mentioned. It was not until researchers designed a questionnaire that asked respondents to rank priorities, that “year round restrooms” shot up to second place (after drinking fountains) on a long list of priorities.
By overcoming survey bias, Arlington was able to mobilize funding for more restrooms. Because the survey specified the otherwise “unspoken” issue of toilet access, authorities were able to get support for winterization of public restrooms, year round use and additional restroom signage.
This is one of the most important lessons learned for public toilet advocates: make sure that surveys allow people to use their voices in favor of something they really want but have been conditioned to not talk about.
Why is it so hard to talk about toilets in US society?
Talking about about toilets is incredibly difficult n US society. In his brilliant book, Poop Culture, author-journalist David Praeger explains the intersection of historical and psychological factors that have made the conversation so difficult in the US.
Effective advocacy differs from place to place.
Because of the attitudes deeply rooted in US culture, some approaches to toilet advocacy which have proven effective in other parts of the world simply don’t work here. In Asia, for example, there’s a market for complex and expensive household toilet technology and a commensurate awareness of the need for quality toilets away from home. A sampling of these advocacy materials has been made available through the Singapore-based World Toilet Organization but poetry, songs and humorous drawings about toilets do not work with most people in the US.
Portland, Oregon is a city whose inhabitants are interested in density, downtown livability, ending homelessness, and encouraging people to walk, bicycle and take public transit. Dignity, human rights and urban livability are key themes in the discussion of public restrooms.
