The Low Down on Compost Toilets

Tuesday, November 19, 2019
world toilet day

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

6:00pm

8:00pm

Free

This Event is All Ages

November 19th is World Toilet Day! Everybody needs a toilet, but billions of people don’t have one. And for those that do, toilets are not always problem free. They use lots of water, often pollute, and may not work during a disaster. Come learn about different types of toilets- ecological toilets- that turn your poo into compost, don’t need water, and will work even during a disaster. There will be a toilet trivia game too! (This is a free event.)

November 19th is World Toilet Day!

Everybody needs a safe toilet, but billions of people don’t have a one. Without adequate treatment, sewage pollutes waterways and drinking water supplies.

Come learn about different types of toilets- ecological toilets- that turn your poo into compost, don’t need water, and will work even during a disaster. Local experts will present on managing wastewater and biosolids, composting toilets, emergency preparedness, and how composting toilets became legal in Oregon.

There will be a toilet trivia game too, with prizes!

(This is a free event.)

Presentations include

  • Managing the waste of a quarter-million people: regional wastewater treatment and beneficial reuse. Tod Miller and Michelle Miranda from MWMC will present about Eugene/Springfield’s wastewater plan and nutrient recovery biosolid program.
  • Composting toilets: Laura Allen and Tao Orion will present on composting toilets: health and safety, types of toilets, and toilets for disaster preparedness.
  • How composting toilets became legal in Oregon. Composting toilet pioneer Ron Davis will present about the legalities of composting toilets.

About the presenters:

Laura Allen

Laura Allen is a founding member of Greywater Action, the author of The Water-Wise Home: How to Conserve and Reuse Water in Your Home and Landscape (Storey Press, 2015) and Greywater, Green Landscape (2017). She works on sanitation regulations on the technical committee for WE-Stand, IAPMOs green plumbing code.

Ron Davis

Ron Davis is a clinical laboratory scientist and a director at Emerald People’s Utility District in Cottage Grove. Ron successfully lobbied to legalize composting toilets in Oregon and wrote a book on the topic.

Tao Orion

Tao Orion is the author of Beyond the War on Invasive Species: A Permaculture Approach to Ecosystem Restoration (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2015). She teaches permaculture design at Oregon State University and at Aprovecho, a 40-acre nonprofit sustainable-living educational organization.

Metropolitan Wastewater Management CommissionThe Metropolitan Wastewater Management Commission (MWMC) is a partnership of the cities of Eugene and Springfield and Lane County.  Its mission is to protect the community’s health and the environment by providing high-quality wastewater services to the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area.