What SOIL-Haiti Teach Us About Climate Change, Composting Toilets, and Community Power

We frequently hear about carbon offsets, electric vehicles, and solar panels in the global battle against climate change. However, what if a toilet is one of the most effective instruments for environmental justice?

This is being demonstrated in Haiti by a daring and revolutionary approach to sanitation.

Rebuilding Systems, Rethinking Waste

Haiti’s lack of respectable and safe sanitation has long contributed to social injustices and public health emergencies. However, a Haitian nonprofit organization called SOIL (Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods) has adopted a strategy based on ecological design, creativity, and community empowerment rather than charity.

The flagship project of SOIL? Composting toilets provide ecological sanitation.

Because they don’t require water or sewer infrastructure, these dry toilets are ideal for urban and rural locations where conventional systems are nonexistent, too expensive, or unsustainable. They’re not just a band-aid, though. Waste is gathered, processed, and turned into rich, organic compost, which is then utilized to restore degraded soils and promote regional farming. This is an example of a circular economy in action.

Building Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

Composting toilets may be a local solution to a local issue. However, food security and climate change are two major worldwide issues that SOIL’s work directly addresses.

By converting human waste into compost, SOIL minimizes waterway contamination, lowers methane emissions from pit latrines, and stores carbon in the soil. All while encouraging more resilient food systems and stronger crops, it’s a triple win for the environment.

This is where Haiti takes the lead: SOIL provides a counter-narrative in a nation that is frequently viewed through the prism of disaster. Haitians are creating and implementing climate solutions that the rest of the world should be observing.

Infrastructure via Community Power

It’s not simply the restrooms that set SOIL apart. Building alongside people, not just for them, is their dedication.

Dignity, involvement, and economic opportunity are at the heart of SOIL’s ecosystem, which includes everything from local job development to community education and customer service approaches. It reminds us that rather than relying on imported blueprints, the future of growth lies in solutions co-designed by the communities most affected.

SOIL provides a potent model as the world searches for scalable approaches to address equity, climate adaption, and sanitation: one that respects human intelligence, the significance of location, and the opportunities that emerge when we cease discarding answers.

Do You Want to Learn More?

We had an in-person conversation with the SOIL-Haiti team to discuss their goals, influence, and sanitation direction in Haiti. You won’t want to miss this heart-opening and eye-opening conversation.

View the entire interview