"Long before the devastating earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, the island nation was beset by a laundry list of environmental woes, ranging from deforestation to a lack of clean water. Satellite images reveal the countryside is devoid of lush vegetation. After a rainstorm, Haiti appears to ooze into the....
Here at SOIL, we’re dedicated to basing our strategic objectives, protocols and procedures, and design iterations on careful research and data. We also make an effort to share our lessons and progress with the global ecological sanitation community. That’s why we’re so pleased that a scientific....
Happy World Environment Day! Today, June 5, is an international day set by the United Nations to bring awareness to environmental issues. This year’s theme is “Seven Billion Dreams. One Planet. Consume with Care.” We celebrated this event in Cap-Haitien with a local women’s federation called....
Update: Since writing this blog, we've grown EkoLakay's household toilet service and our waste treatment site capacity. As of 2017, we're transforming more than 50 metric tons of waste into lush, organic compost each and every month. If you're interested in learning more, or if you live in Haiti and....
The development of EkoMobil, SOIL’s portable toilet social business pilot, represents investment in a long-term and durable sanitation solution. Every dollar that’s invested in EkoMobil is returned as revenue plus profit, reinvested and returned, ad infinitum. With every dollar of EkoMobil profit....
Most of the time it feels like we putter away in relative obscurity. We are a small grassroots organization getting a lot done on a little grit, good luck, and perseverance. But every so often we get a bit of recognition for our work and it feels great! And this summer we are have been truly blown....
When we heard the news that Nepal was hit by a second powerful earthquake, our hearts dropped. It seems that moments of silence are the most appropriate in times of great tragedy such as this, but we also want to speak out through our sadness to share some humble insights that may help those who are....
Every Wednesday I give tours to visitors who are interested in learning about SOIL, and every time I start to explain EkoLakay, SOIL’s household toilet business pilot, I’m flooded with questions: Why focus on private households instead of public toilets? Why use container-based toilets that require....
It should come as no surprise that Earth Day is always a busy day at an organization like SOIL, and this year is no exception. Today we hosted 3 very different groups of visitors, but who were all interested in SOIL’s eco-friendly activities. Our first visitors of the day were a small group of....
Since I wrote about the Port-au-Prince launch of SOIL’s EkoLakay service, things have been B-U-S-Y! With an initial goal of serving 50 families (and 500 by the end of 2016) the Port-au-Prince office has a lot of work to do to get off the ground. We started with a community survey covering three of....