I know there may be solid reasons for sitting out World Toilet Day, but this is almost ridiculous! Clean Coasts, Irish Water and the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) have collaborated to highlight the Think Before You Flush campaign on World Toilet Day as they unveil an installation of four toilets with a difference in Heuston and Connolly Irish Rail stations in Dublin.

Students have worked on the toilets as part of a Design for Debate project. Their brief was to bring the issues raised by the Think Before You Flush campaign to the public’s attention in a creative way. Each toilet highlights a different element of the campaign, from the size and scale of the problem to the impact our flushing behaviour can have on the environment.

World Toilet Day is celebrated annually on November 19^th (that’s today folks!) and is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis affecting millions. In Ireland we are lucky to have a functional sanitation system but for many across the globe this is not the case. It is our responsibility to create and maintain good bathroom behaviour to keep our precious infrastructure running smoothly and to safeguard our environment.

Speaking about the importance of World Toilet Day, Elaine Doyle, Clean Coasts, said, “The Think Before You Flush campaign highlights the importance of not using your toilet as a bin. The toilet must be seen as a gateway to the sea. This World Toilet Day we ask people to regard the privilege we have that we have access to proper sanitation, unfortunately more than half the world’s population do not, and always think before you flush.”

 Think Before You Flush is a public awareness campaign about the problems sanitary products and other items can cause in our marine environment and our wastewater network when they are flushed down the toilet. When the 3 Ps (Pee Poo & Paper) are flushed down the toilet they travel along the sewer network to our wastewater treatment plants, where they are treated and the effluent is returned safely to our rivers and seas.

For more information about Think Before You Flush and the design for debate project please visit,  www.thinkbeforeyouflush.org / www.water.ie/thinkbeforeyouflush.org