Approximately a third of the world’s population does not have access to proper sanitation, which is a basic human right. This affects many people living in squatter cities or impoverished areas in developing countries. Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods, or SOIL for short, is a non-profit NGO that has been promoting dignity, health, and sustainable livelihoods by transforming human waste into resources in Haiti since 2006.
logo image
We take our flush toilets for granted in the United States and never stress about where our waste goes after we flush. In Haiti, it is a concern that can become fatal. More than half of the Haitian population does not have access to that luxury. Flush toilets are mainly found in the home of the affluent, tourist attractions, hotels, and at most hospitals. Many people go in pits dug in the back of their homes, in alleys, or in trash bags that are flung into random areas.
All of these situations pose a threat to human health because the contaminates found in waste can easily pollute water that is used by thousands of families for drinking, cooking, and bathing. The bacteria known for cholera, Vibrio cholerae, is found in human waste and causes intestinal infections and symptoms such as watery diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, shock, and death. The devastating cholera epidemic that happened after the 2010 earthquake killed thousands of people due to the worsened sanitation and water issues. Many people will say that the outbreak was a waterborne disease, but really it is a poop-borne disease.
SOIL helps alleviate the lack of sanitation in Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince, the nations capital and most sanitation and water stressed area, by implementing ecological sanitation (EcoSan), which is a process that stymies nutrients found in human waste from contaminating water resources and returns it back to the soil.
“SOIL seeks to empower the marginalized and oppressed, equipping them to restore their environments by transforming dangerous pollutants into valuable resources”
The Poop Loop is a cycle that returns returns waste back to the environment as nutrient-rich compost for crops. It begins with the composting toilet that is constructed by citizens employed by SOIL. The toilet provides families with acess to safe, dignified sanitation. The toilet contains a bucket that is then collected and transported to one of SOIL’s waste treatment sites. The waste is safely transformed into compost and then used by Haitian farmers to nourish crops that then feed the population, combat the deforestation issue in Haiti, or sold to businesses and organizations such as Heineken, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation, and Meds& Foods for Kids. Approximately 6,000 people are accessing SOIL EcoSan toilets.
Closing the Loop with SOIL’s composting toilet image
SOIL’s website https://www.oursoil.org
Transformation of wastes to resources in Haiti | Sasha Kramer | TEDxTraverseCity https://youtu.be/TobYVn4LuNE
Student SOIL Advocates Build an Awareness Toilet https://www.oursoil.org/student-soil-advocates-build-an-awareness-toilet/
To make a donation https://www.oursoil.org/donate/