SOIL Takes the Stage at UNC's Water and Health Conference
SOIL / Container Based Sanitation Alliance Members at the UNC Water and Health Conference
Last week, members of SOIL’s research team (Winnie Felix-Jean and Maya Lubeck-Schricker) had the opportunity to attend the 2024 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's annual Water and Health Conference.
The Water and Health Conference, hosted by UNC’s Water Institute, is a key event that brings together scientists and policymakers to discuss the latest research and innovations in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH). It’s a space for pushing forward creative ideas to tackle the global water and sanitation crisis, especially in light of the ever-increasing impacts of climate change.
As proud members of the Container-Based Sanitation Alliance (CBSA), SOIL was excited to lead discussions on how container-based sanitation (CBS) is a cost-effective and environmentally-restorative solution for communities at risk of unpredictable weather patterns and subject to increasingly intense drought-flood cycles.
Our Director of Research and Innovation, Winnie Felix-Jean, gave a fantastic presentation at the conference on “Container-Based Sanitation and Climate Resiliency,” showcasing how CBS systems help communities become resilient and retain access to basic needs in the face of natural disasters.
The idea is simple. In densely populated urban areas, traditional sewer systems and pipes are often not equipped to deal with extreme weather, and pit latrines can overflow during floods. SOIL’s CBS solution, on the other hand, is sealable, transportable, and essentially “hurricane-proof.” An additional climate-positive plus is that through our EkoLakay service, the waste collected is then transformed into compost, helping to rebuild Haiti’s soil.
You can watch sessions from this year’s conference and see videos from years past at the UNC Water and Health Conference YouTube channel.