During the month of July 2013, GOOD ran a campaign called Give A Shit for our community to take a small step toward getting involved in the fight for better water and sanitation around the world. Check it out on your mobile phone. In the meantime, our friends at Toilets of the World made this awesome list of some of the world’s most interesting toilets.
CBGB’s
New York, New York
USA
Although it’s now unfortunately closed, CBGB’s was the haunt of the 1970s New York punk scene. It was a haven of artistic freedom and expression, launching legends like Blondie and the Ramones.
Whiskey Café
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
L’urinette is one of the rare models of urinals designed for women. Pull down the handle, ladies, and turn it towards you. Take a paper cover from the dispenser and fit it over the cup. Use the handle to hold it in place and go. To finish, turn the handle back and release. The paper cover comes off, the handle snaps back into place and it all flushes away automatically.
Red Deer River
Alberta, Canada
No Canadian campsite would be complete without its own pee tree. The purpose of the pee tree is self-explanatory.
Banff National Park
Alberta, Canada
Although the water-saving selective flusher has been common in other parts of the world for quite some time, it is surprisingly slow in making its appearance in North America. The smaller button uses a reduced amount of water while the other flushes the standard volume.
Nalunega Island
San Blas Archipelago
Panama
Naive tourists can sometimes be seen snorkelling through the docks, much to the delight of the local children. Shrieks of laughter can be heard clear across the island when the light-skinned swimmer sees through his mask the purpose of these huts on stilts.
Charing Cross Road
London, England
On Thursdays at dusk, a three-man urinal rises up from the ground. Catering to the male half of Soho’s weekend nightlife, this part-time public relief station is one answer to the sanitary concerns faced by large cities.
Sossusvlei, Namib Naukluft Park
Namibia
Shadowed by the world’s highest sand dunes, the simple wooden outhouse offers a breathtaking backdrop. This solitary toilet bears witness to the constant movement of endless skies and shifting sands.
Leboeng, Limpopo
South Africa
The South African government’s Reconstruction and Development Program is responsible for this impressive field of hundreds of toilets. With the intention of providing low-cost housing for black people, the government first built a toilet to stake each lot. Many years later, both the people and the toilets are still waiting for their houses.
Summit Road
Christchurch, New Zealand
Eco-friendly New Zealand has solar-powered toilets installed along walking trails throughout the country. Running on energy drawn from the solar panel on the side of the structure, a pump pushes the toilet’s contents through a filter. The matter then seeps harmlessly into the ground via the toilet’s septic system.
A street with no name
Beijing, China
Unique to Beijing, hutongs are old, enclosed neighbourhoods that were built as extensions to the Imperial City. Public toilets are used by the families of the hutong and passers-by alike. The three holes have a trough below with running water to whisk waste away.
Shiodome Siosite
Tokyo, Japan
This toilet has it all: a heated seat, a “bidet” button for a soothing spray of water on the general posterior area, and “shower” for a strategically aligned hard, straight jet. Water temperature and spray strength can be adjusted before moving onto the blow-dry cycle to finish up.
Toby Jug Pub
Bangkok, Thailand
The owner of this pub first installed a Western-style toilet and urinal to cater to the tourist trade. The resident clientele, however, persisted in using the toilet the local way: climbing up onto the toilet seat and squatting. Many broken toilet seats and thousands of Thai baht later, the proprietor had a classic squat toilet installed and breakage was greatly reduced.
Did you know that more people have cell phones than toilets? Let’s change that. Join our Give a Shit campaign on water and sanitation issues.
