In 2010, working as part of the relief effort in Haiti following the devastating earthquake, we found ourselves living in refugee camps and faced with the same problem that half the world faces today—namely, a lack of sanitation options. This problem was compounded by the fact that our stoves were providing a low cost option for cooking, leaving households with more money left over for food and eating more. Wanting to ensure that we were not adding to the problem, we set about developing a sustainable sanitation option that could be low-cost, safe, and easily implemented everywhere—the first biochar toilet.
These biochar toilets used the biochar produced by the LuciaStoves through normal everyday cooking. Even our rudimentary prototypes provided an odor free experience with units capable of providing sanitation for up to 50 people. We found that because the biochar did such an effective job of absorbing the odors, people preferred to use our units over the standard port-a-potties that were provided in the refugee camps. From our early prototypes, our toilets have evolved into community restroom options that accelerate the breakdown of fecal matter and make them a more hygienic option than a composting toilet. Best of all, they produce, as a byproduct, clean hot water. This has allowed some people to experience their first hot shower ever.

In our experience, sustainable sanitation is not a matter of reinventing the toilet but simply reinventing how waste is treated.