Happy World Toilet Day!

Today is World Toilet Day. As a member of the World Toilet Organization, PHLUSH (Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human) is joining activists from all over the world to

1) raise the status of the discussion of toilets,
2) recognize and professionalize the service of restroom cleaners,
3) speak on behalf on behalf of the world’s 2.5 billion people who have no toilets at all.

Here are two action items for Portlanders:

Monday, December 8 at 11 am. Grand opening of the Portland Loo on NW Glisan St between 5th and 6th Avenues. Join City Commissioner Randy Leonard, officials of the Water Bureau, the design build team and the maintenance crew bringing Portland the nation’s most promising innovation in public restrooms. Say thank you and support the neighborhood community that now shares the responsibility for making the Portland Loo a success.

Wednesday, December 10 from 3 to 6 pm. Along with good news we need to report bad news. The proposed 12 stall restroom complex for Ankeny Plaza and Saturday Market is at risk. There’s a funding gap in the Portland Development Commission’s Ankeny Burnside project and the restrooms seem to be the easiest thing to cut out. Please come to the PDC Commission meeting when Ankeny Burnside will be discussed. Toilet availability in the area of Skidmore Fountain has been an Old Town Chinatown priority for nearly 25 years and a key issue around which PHLUSH formed three years ago.

Please mark your calendars. Let us know if you can help develop the advocacy strategy to save the Ankeny Plaza facilities. In any event, we suggest meeting briefly after the Portland Loo launch to prepare for likely testimony two days later. We can also visit the Ankeny site for which the new restrooms have already been designed. This would also be an opportunity to visit the beautiful, welcoming 24/7 restrooms at Portland Rescue Mission. If you’d like a PHLUSH T-shirt (100% cotton, S/M/L/XL $15) e-mail PHLUSH.

Best wishes,

Barb, Carol, Christopher, Lan and Tom

PHLUSH Co-Founders