History
Photo: Vic Hinterlang
For over a decade, SOIL has been designing and implementing affordable, safe, and restorative ecological sanitation solutions. Read our story:
2006
Sasha Kramer and Sarah Brownell co-found SOIL. They build the first composting toilet in Haiti, in the northern town of Milot.
2009
SOIL builds the first waste treatment facility in Haiti – a composting waste treatment site in northern Haiti. The facility processes waste from SOIL’s public toilets in several communities around the northern city of Cap-Haitien.
2010
On January 12th, Haiti is rocked by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. A team from SOIL travels to Port-au-Prince to help with the emergency relief effort.
SOIL’s subsequent emergency sanitation program earns international recognition for being a safe, cost-effective, user-approved, environmentally-friendly emergency sanitation response.
2011
SOIL celebrates the first sale of EcoSan compost in Haiti. SOIL’s first customer, the Parc Izmery Camp Committee, purchases compost (that they helped to produce in their emergency toilets!) to transform the park from a tent camp back into a soccer field.
SOIL publishes The SOIL Guide to EcoSan to help people around the world replicate SOIL’s successes.
2012
SOIL launches a household toilet social business pilot to create a sustainable model for providing sanitation services in the world’s most impoverished communities.
SOIL wins first prize in the Land for Life Award, using the award to expand our experimental farm and research center in northern Haiti.
2013
SOIL makes a historic sale of EcoSan compost to Brana, the Haitian Heineken subsidiary, which plans to distribute the compost to local growers.
SOIL wins the People’s Choice Award in the Nature Conservancy recognizing SOIL’s use of EcoSan technology to help vulnerable communities reduce environmental risk and adapt to climate change.
2014
SOIL Executive Director Sasha Kramer is named a Schwab Social Entrepreneur of the Year for SOIL’s groundbreaking work to develop a sustainable sanitation model in Haiti.
2015
SOIL’s EkoLakay household toilet social business expands to Port-au-Prince to meet the increasing demand for affordable, sustainable sanitation services.
SOIL sells out of compost!
SOIL opens a new lab in Port-au-Prince.
2016
SOIL opens a new composting site in Port-au-Prince.
Sasha Kramer, SOIL’s Executive Director, is selected as an Ashoka Fellow.
SOIL responds directly to the devastation caused by Hurricane Matthew.
SOIL wins the Energy Globe Award for Haiti.
SOIL celebrates its ten year anniversary.
2017
EkoLakay reaches 1,000 customers in Haiti!
Research indicates SOIL’s compost is often more effective than chemical fertilizer counterparts on core crops in Haiti.
SOIL nearly doubles waste treatment operations in one year and breaks ground on composting site expansion project in Cap-Haitien.
Sasha Kramer and SOIL win the 2017 Sarphati Sanitation Lifetime Achievement Award.
Customer satisfaction survey shows that over 90% of EkoLakay users report the sanitation services is affordable and has improved the health and safety of their families.
2018
SOIL is selected as a finalist for the ReSource Award.
SOIL builds a depot to streamline operations in northern Haiti.
In recognition of our impactful environmental and economic regeneration work, SOIL wins the 2018 Lush Spring Prize.
SOIL hits a new milestone, treating over 100,000 containers of waste throughout the fiscal year.
The UN’s Momentum for Change award is given to SOIL, honoring the groundbreaking climate solution that we’re developing in Haiti.
SOIL Co-Founders Dr. Sasha Kramer and Sarah Brownell meeting with a woman in northern Haiti. Photo credit: Nicholas Kristof, New York Times
Children in the Nazon community of Port-au-Prince on the steps of a SOIL emergency toilet.
SOIL’s household sanitation social business, EkoLakay, has received international recognition for being an affordable, sustainable solution to the urban sanitation crisis.
SOIL’s rich, organic compost is rebuilding Haiti’s soil.
SOIL’s growing staff is united by a passion for promoting dignity, health, and sustainable development in Haiti.
SOIL’s container-based toilets were intentionally designed to be resilient to droughts and flooding.
SOIL’s full-cycle sanitation service is one few global interventions that complies with the updated SDG for sanitation.
By treating 100% of waste from SOIL’s household toilets, we’re reducing the spread of diseases like cholera and typhoid.
More than three million people in Haiti lack access to improved sanitation. Follow along as we work to change this story.