Enacting Awareness: Water, Waste, and Public Space
With last Friday’s whimsical 5K walk, activists at the University of California at Santa Cruz focused attention on often-evaded issues. “Slugs to Sludge” was created as a playful way to raise awareness of sewage infrastructure and the water it requires, and to advocate for action on ecological sanitation at UCSC and beyond. With the average…
Global Homeless Day: Toilet Solutions from France for the USA
“The restroom thus becomes a tool for figuring out just how a society functions – what it values, how it separates people from one another, and the kinds of trade-offs that come to be made,” says sociologist Harvey Moltoch. While we at PHLUSH believe in safe and accessible toilets for all people (families, children, those…
Staying human through hygiene while houseless
Living houseless in an urban environment requires personal savvy and logistic skill. Days are often an endless series of searches, lines, and waits: finding the next meal, a safe place to sleep, a public restroom. Here at PHLUSH, we see toilet availability as a human right and advocate for building urban public restrooms that serve…
Popular Posts
The Importance of Inclusive Restroom Signage
Professional photographer Mark Chester did not intentionally find the issue of inclusivity in restroom access – the issue found him. Chester began photographing restroom signs 12 years ago. In conducting this work, Chester began pondering the relationship between signage and inclusivity. What he found is that the barriers to equitable restroom access for people across…
Tips for Creating a Successful Family Emergency Plan
The scariest thing about natural disasters is that they can happen out of nowhere so you need to be prepared. Does your family know what to do if a tornado, hurricane, or wildfire erupts around your home? In addition to creating an emergency response kit, an emergency plan is crucial to ensure your family…
There’s plenty of toilet paper in the US – so why are people hoarding it?
Almost 150 U.S. companies make toilet paper. Studio Dagdagaz/Shutterstock.com Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University The other day I went into Costco to buy some toilet paper. It came as a small shock when I couldn’t find a single roll. The new coronavirus is inspiring panic buying of a variety of household products such as toilet paper in cities across…
Second Graders Tackle Sanitation Justice in Brooklyn, New York
July 6, 2019 This guest post from Amber Hickey, doctorate in Visual Studies and service-learning project faculty member for Service Learning Project, highlights the need to involve youth in sanitation advocacy. This past spring, 2nd graders at PS 298 in Brownsville, Brooklyn advocated for sanitation justice in their community. Participating in the youth-led Residency Program…
Let’s Legalize Composting & UD toilets in US
Our friends at Recode have drafted model code for composting toilets with urine diversion (UD) and IAMPO is preparing to vote on it. This Portland-based group of scientists and policy advocates have made spectacular progress. Now Recode is calling on us to help make history. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to enable Recode’s Director to travel to California to address IAMPO officials. Details are in…
GottaGo! campaigning for public toilets in Ottawa
This guest blog post is from Joan Kuyek of GottaGo!. The GottaGo! campaign in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, is advocating for a network of open clean, accessible public toilets and water fountains in key places in the region. Currently, the only public toilets in Ottawa are in recreation centres, libraries and large parks. When the programming…
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