2.5 billion people worldwide lack access to a safe, hygienic toilet. As a result, 1 child under the age of 5 dies every minute from diarrheal diseases caused by drinking water contaminated with human waste. 1 billion people live in flood-prone and water-logged areas where there is even more of this mixing of human waste and drinking water supplies when flush toilets backup and pit latrines overflow. Severe storms and rising sea levels due to climate change are making this problem worse for many communities all over the world.
Toilets for People (TfP) is a social business that designs and manufactures waterless composting toilets and trains NGO partners in the developing world how to build, install & maintain them.
TfP's signature product - the Compact, Rotating, Aerobic, Pollution-Prevention, Excreta, Reducer, known as the CRAPPER - is an affordable, self-contained, easy-to-use, long-lasting waterless composting toilet that uses a proven, open-source technology to safely treat human waste.
TfP also produces the Tinkler, which is a simple and affordable sit-down urination fixture for women and girls.
TfP seeks to become the trusted name and brand to provide composting toilets to NGOs worldwide.
TfP's mission is to bring hygienic sanitation solutions for flood-prone areas, informal urban settlements, displaced persons camps and off-grid homes – places where pit latrines, flush toilets and EcoSan vault latrines fail. In addition to bringing health to those in need, the CRAPPER and the Tinkler bring the safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of a private toilet – something everyone wants and deserves.
Our go-to-market customers include NGOs working on sanitation in the developing world both for long-term development and for disaster relief. TfP succeeds in providing sustainable projects in these communities by partnering with our customer NGOs to ensure that toilet recipients are educated about use and maintenance of their new bathrooms as well as supported after installation through monitoring and evaluation. Toilets for People remains involved to assist with remote support should any problems arise requiring trouble-shooting.
Once penetration into these developing world markets is achieved through these NGO partnerships, TfP will begin selling the CRAPPER directly to the rising middle class in the countries where we have conducted project via local entrepreneur franchises. Developing world customers will also be able to buy the CRAPPER right off the shelf from hardware stores and plumbing supply houses. TfP will market especially to gainfully employed residents of informal urban settlement that lack proper sanitation.
EcoSan vault latrines are the default option for flood-prone areas. However, they take weeks to build, are unhygienic to empty when they fill up and it is difficult to transport the concrete and brick materials needed to build them to remote locations.
TfP's innovation is in providing an alternative to the EcoSan vault latrine for flood-prone areas of the developing world.
Existing off-the-shelf composting toilets are too expensive at $1,800 per unit and use proprietary parts, making them difficult to repair locally. TfP uses only locally sourced materials & open-source technology to ensure our products are repairable, and therefore sustainable, over the long term.
TfP succeeds through partnerships with in-country NGOs already working on sanitation either for development or disaster relief. NGO partners perform the critical work of educating the community about the importance of using hygienic toilets, thereby stoking demand for bathrooms, as well as being the catalyst for behavior change around sanitation before TfP gets involved. This ensures that the communities we work with are ripe for an impactful sanitation intervention project.
CRAPPERs can be built in a day and are easy to maintain. Communal toilets fall into disrepair due to lack of ownership & maintenance. TfP believes private ownership leads to better maintenance. Disaster response toilets include sanitized plastic bags, port-o-potties and centralized temporary public facilities – all unsustainable options. CRAPPERs have been demonstrated to be quick to deploy, transportable, sustainable and hygienic with training.
CRAPPERs can be used in innovative ways as companion technology to make existing sanitation technologies for effective. In particular, they can be situated above pit latrines to allow the waste to be processed and primed for composting prior to falling into the pit. This enhancement via composting will reduce the volume by 80% and thereby extend the usable life of the pit by up to 5 times. Sanitation service providers, such as Sanergy in Kenya, can use the CRAPPER to pre-treat the waste in the homes of their clients so pick-ups can be more infrequent (once per month instead of once per week).
Since 2012, TfP has conducted a total of 8 toilet installation projects in the following locations along with our NGO partners: Senegal; Mexico; 2 in Haiti; Nicaragua and 3 in Peru.
A study of a TfP project was conducted by Dr. Avromi Kanal November 2014 - March 2015 in the informal urban settlement of Belen, Peru. It was found that uptake of the composting toilet was 100% and satisfaction was high amongst participating households after four months. Education retention was 100% in 2/3 of the households, and quantitative data suggested >80% uptake. These results suggest that the CRAPPER composting toilet may be a viable new tool to help reduce open defecation in flood-prone communities.
The following is a quote by Patty Webster, the President of Amazon Promise in Peru: "I have worked with countless organizations over the years, but few have the drive, experience, professionalism, and knowledge to carry out their objectives, and see a project from start to finish with positive results. TfP is one of the best, and we have seen the incredible results and positive impact of their dedication and work installing these life-changing composting toilets."
Zaid is the head of the household a family in Belen, Peru that received a CRAPPER. The following comment was documented by Amazon Promise, "Zaid is really proud of his CRAPPER. It is very useful especially for his children. He rubs the toilet seat with the palm of his hand while he is talking to me; he loves his CRAPPER."
