Today is World Toilet Day

Who knew?

“Toilets should be considered urban infrastructure — they should be taken for granted, like paved sidewalks,” says sociologist Harvey Molotch, an emeritus professor at New York University and editor of Toilet: Public Restrooms and the Politics of Sharing. And when human waste winds up on city streets, he argues, it’s the fault of a society that has failed to give humans anywhere else to put it. (Boston Globe

-- World Toilet Day, United Nations
-- World Toilet Organization
-- American Restroom Association

-- "Though ubiquitous, toilets aren’t available to everyone, and that should change," Boston Globe
-- "World Toilet Day this week is not a joke, but deadly serious," Economist
-- "World Toilet Day draws attention to the global sanitation crisis," Die Welt
-- "Tales of the toilet: a historical A–Z," BBC History Magazine



Past entries:

-- "Restrooms as an element of the public realm," 2018
-- "Pay toilets," 2018

Family restrooms.  Something I've become more conscious of, helping to provide care to someone with dementia, is the need to have "family toilets" where people can go together. Of course, the problem with large public restrooms in the public space is the opportunity for large toilet spaces to be used for nuisance activities.

-- Family/Unisex Restrooms, American Restroom Association

Not enough capacity in women's restrooms.  And I think I've written in the past about the need for public facilities to have more accommodations for women, who need stalls. Typically, public facilities don't provide enough accommodations for women when it comes to restrooms.

-- "The Long Lines for Women’s Bathrooms Could Be Eliminated. Why Haven’t They Been?," The Atlantic

Gender neutral access.  Politically, access to restrooms can be a powder keg too.

-- Trans Rights and Bathroom Access Laws: A History Explained, Teaching Tolerance