The Guardian: The No-Flush Movement

Photo credit: Leonora Baumann 

As momentum grows across the planet for climate-positive sanitation solutions that harness the power of nature instead of depleting it, it’s exciting to see an increase in prominent media coverage of the regenerative sanitation revolution. A new article in the Guardian spotlights the growing trend of no-flush dry toilets across the globe and highlights the incredible opportunity ahead of global cities to capture nutrients from waste.  

From the Guardian:

“In the UK, flushing the loo accounts for nearly a third of household water consumption. We use drinking-quality water in our toilets, and spend energy and resources on cleaning it afterwards. Water treatment is responsible for about 1% of UK greenhouse gases.”

“If you’ve got a garden, there is no reason you can’t have a dry toilet system,” said Daren Howarth, owner of a composting toilet. You’re going to save on your water bill, and [have] all the downstream benefits – you’re not creating polluted water that has to be treated.” We are the only animal, he says, that deliberately mixes water with our own waste. That’s important, he says, because “you create such a treatment issue, to clean that water up. It’s ecological insanity.”

 “One of the interesting things about using a composting toilet system is you’re closing that loop. As westerners, we’re eating a varied diet that contains lots of minerals and vitamins, and the majority of that has been taken from the soil,” David Taylor, a roundwood timber framer for eco builder Ty Pren says. At the moment, we’re putting all that into fresh, clean drinking water, which has gone through a heavily industrialized process. We’re contaminating drinking water, while cutting away that cycle of nutrients going back into the soil…”

Learn more about the exciting trends of other sanitation innovators by clicking to read the complete article here, and comment below with your thoughts!