Dr. Sasha Kramer will be presenting via webinar at 10:00 AM EST (16:00 Berlin, 15:00 London) on August 16th, 2018. You can register for this webinar and join those gathered in Vermont, USA for Rich Earth Institute's 4th Annual Urine Diversion Summit.

Further Description / Program

Container-Based Sanitation: An Emerging Ecological Alternative to Sewers for Rapidly Expanding Cities

SOIL is a research and development non-profit organization based in Haiti, working to prove the viability of an ecological sanitation business model for affordably and sustainably providing safely managed sanitation services to dense urban communities using container-based sanitation.

With the population of urban dwellers living in informal settlements expected to double by 2030, it is critical that advocates for universally accessible urban sanitation look to a menu of sanitation options that extends beyond the traditional approaches of sewers and onsite sanitation. In recent years, container-based sanitation (CBS), an end-to-end service that collects waste hygienically from waterless toilets built around sealable, removable containers, has been gaining traction as an innovative way to provide safely managed sanitation in dense urban settlements.

SOIL’s flagship social business, EkoLakay, is a vertically integrated service that provides desirable and affordable household sanitation in Haiti’s 2 largest cities. All waste collected from households is safely treated and transformed into compost which is then sold to generate revenue and promote agriculture and reforestation.

This presentation will unpack the key components of a CBS system using Haiti as an example. Specific points addressed will include a discussion of how CBS compares to traditional approaches in terms of desirability, cost, environmental safety, and public health implications from the perspective of developing citywide inclusive sanitation options. Additionally the presentation will end with a set of questions designed to encourage discussion and debate among participants regarding the applicability of CBS in rural settings and the feasibility of urine capture and recycling.

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Dr. Sasha Kramer, Co-founder and Executive Director SOIL: Sasha is an ecologist and human rights advocate who has been living and working in Haiti since 2004. She received her Ph.D. in Ecology from Stanford University in 2006 and co-founded SOIL that same year. Sasha now serves as the Executive Director of SOIL. While Sasha spends the majority of her time living and working in Haiti, she is also a global advocate for urban sanitation access and the recycling of nutrients in human waste. Her work with her colleagues at SOIL has earned recognition as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer, an Architect of the Future with the Waldzell Institute, an Ashoka Fellow, a 2014 Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year and the recipient of the Sarphati Sanitation Prize for Lifetime Achievement.

Register for the webinar