The official launch of the Canadian Toilet Organisation on October 21, concluded United Nations University’s International Year of Sanitation (IYS 2008) workshop on water and sanitation at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. The organisation aims to raise public awareness, address environmental issues, explore new technologies and innovations and act as a catalyst for change in Canada and abroad within an area that has been ignored for far too long.
Air Grief, CTO President, wants Canadians of all ages to reconsider something many take for granted. “While toilet access may not be an issue here in Canada, how we use our toilets, how we dispose off our waste and how we approach this seemingly taboo subject are issues that affect all Canadians.” The CTO’s first international project is the construction of toilets for the village of Chack Hakim, near Phagwara in the Punjab region of India, as spearhead by CTO founding member Mandip Kaur Sandher, in collaboration with the German Toilet Organisation and Sulabh International.