Looks for your lids

Christmas is fast approaching but there’s still plenty of time to get crafty with the decorations!  

The halls may get decked with boughs of holly, and the living room play host to a festive fairy. But sadly the toilet is often the poor relation in the festoonery stakes.

And what could be more welcoming in the smallest room in the house than a seasonal loo seat cover? A cosy Santa could greet you and your guests on every visit.

Of course you could spend a penny or two and buy one; there’s plenty of choice out there.

Santa Toilet Seat cover and rug set: you can buy it here: 

www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00465S1ZG/show06-20/

For instructions on how to make this festive loo lid, see www.tackyliving.com/article.php?id=39

But it really couldn’t be easier to make one yourself. All you need are some scraps of fabric in festive colours and a bit of inspiration, which is easily found by searching for ‘Christmas toilet seat cover’ in your browser. Or just look around at Christmas cards, shopping catalogues and seasonal wrapping paper for simple 2D image ideas. If Santa’s face doesn’t do it for you, how about a snowman, reindeer, Christmas tree or the words ‘Ho Ho Ho’?

Use the toilet lid as your template to cut out the backing fabric, and then stitch or glue the features onto it. You could even add a bit of tinsel to make things go with a real sparkle.  The fabric cover can be attached to the loo lid with some elastic, or you could fashion a tuck-in pocket, like the ones on pillow cases. 

For full sewing instructions, click here

If you really get in the mood, you could incorporate the cistern lid and floor mat into your scheme.

And if sewing isn’t your thing but you’re handy with a bit of crafty painting, consider getting a cheap loo seat and customising it to use over the winterval period. Instructions can be found here

Merry making to one and all!

What a day!

Some days are routine, even downright boring. Others can leave us reeling as we try to assess dramatic changes. We’d surely much prefer to borrow Shakespeare’s description of heaven and be ‘as merry as the day is long’.

Sometimes, time seems to run fast (weekends!) and at other times it copies the snail - especially when we’re in the dentist’s chair. We have no memory of the day of our birth, and are unlikely to know the day of our death. They are funny old things, days. The poet Philip Larkin seemed to agree, asking: ‘What are days for?’

Even animals, it seems, have bad hair days.  

Photo: Brian Snelson from Hockley, Essex, England (Bad hair day) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Many of us will have endured a bad hair day, and wages slaves often pine for a duvet day. But don’t let’s forget the red letter days - the term comes from the habit of marking church festivals on calendars in red ink - and halcyon days, those calm summer times we look back on nostalgically.   

Halcyon days by the seaside Photo © Louise Thomas

No doubt Mr Larkin would have appreciated World Poetry Day (21 March, since you ask) and as a librarian he might have marked World Book and Copyright Day (23 April). But World Toilet Day (19 November)? What’s that all about?

It may sound laughable or even ridiculous to those who don’t realise how many people have no access to a decent loo:  40% of the world’s population face a daily struggle to find somewhere private to use in place of a toilet. That’s 2.6bn men, women and children made vulnerable to the legion of diseases that come with lack of sanitation. Every 20 seconds a child under 5 years old dies because of dirty water and poor sanitation.  And women and girls are particularly vulnerable to rape and snake bites as they squat in the grass.  

Those are appalling facts that need publicising in order to bring about the desire for change, and having a 'day' helps gain publicity.

Philip Larkin continued his quest for the purpose of a day by writing ‘They are to be happy in’, and Dinah Washington sang ‘What a difference a day makes’. So this year, why not mark World Toilet Day by making a real and lasting difference to the lives of people living in poverty by twinning your toilet? And if you are on Twitter, please tweet when you have done it to pass the message on.  

Carpe Diem! Seize the Day!

You can hear Philip Larkin reading his poem ‘Days’ here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW7mecoPEBs  

Curry, cawl and mummies

Curry is known to provoke a flushing-out of some people’s inner tubes. So naturally it was dish of the day – along with a Welsh cawl (soup) – at the Maesteg Christian Centre’s recent Toilet Twinning fundraiser. 

But not to worry: there was plenty of toilet tissue at hand, and even a toilet (although apparently it was there to collect the cash donations).

On the throne for the night was champion toilet twinner, Gweirydd Williams, from Bridgend, South Wales. He had lined up a quiz for guests, including a real stinker of a question: ‘How much poo can a human body hold?’  (Answer: up to 25 pounds).

The loo paper gave the young people an excuse to play the Egyptian mummy game, and a total of £500 was literally thrown down the (unplumbed) toilet.

Gweirydd is an environmental health officer, so he knows a thing or two about the importance of having a safe and hygienic place to go to the loo. He’s already fundraised to twin 34 toilets, and the Maesteg event’s success brings the total up by a further nine! Thank you Gweirydd and the people of Maesteg. 

[See the blog below: ‘Champion twinner Gweirydd Williams talks to Toilet Twinning’ for more information on Gweirydd’s fundraising activities.]

Blue ice from the sky, brown poo on the ground

  The prospect of frozen sewage falling out of the sky is not one to gladden the heart.  But recent reports from Long Island, USA, tell of several houses left with gaping holes in their roofs.   Material accidentally jettisoned from aircraft lavatories is thought to be responsible.  This ‘blue ice’, as it is known, is a mixture of human waste and blue disinfectant, frozen at high altitudes. 

  In 2007 a couple in Leicestershire received a similar gift from above and had to keep a lump of the matter in their freezer, for insurance purposes.  Although it was triple wrapped, they felt sure they would be throwing away any frozen food sharing the space.

  Back in Tudor England, before the advent of piped sewage systems,  ‘gong farmers’ worked under cover of darkness to remove human excrement from privies and cesspits.  This was, at least, an advance on medieval days when a shout of ‘gardyloo’ would warn of waste about to be thrown out of upstairs windows. Modern-day gamers can test their skills at catching falling poo here www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/games/gong-farmer-game

  Our bodily waste matter, it seems, gets everywhere. 

  Many people in the world’s poorest countries have no option but to practice open defecation.  The hygiene issues of having untreated sewage lying around, along with the embarrassing lack of privacy, are immediately obvious. 

Aelech Tomas from Ethiopia      Photo: Tearfund/Will Boase

  Mapping defecation areas can bring home the scale of the problem and stimulate a desire for change in communities without decent sanitation facilities.  They are encouraged to create a simple map, often drawn on the ground, and households mark themselves and any existing latrines using a leaf or stone. Then they can add areas of open defecation, triggering discussion about distance walked, safety, contamination of water supply, the effects of faeces on the ground and how it degrades.  

  Sometimes little flags are used to mark the faeces, and the weight of the solid waste produced weekly, monthly or annually can be calculated.  This aids the debate and gets people interested in constructing toilets.  

  Aeylech Tomas (pictured above), from the village of Kisho, Ethiopia, sums up the need for universal access to latrines.   She is full of fear every time she has to go to the toilet in the open:  ‘I am always afraid that someone might see me. If the boys or men see us they might attack or rape us. I feel sad; this is not a good life.’ 

  There are some things in this world we are right to be angry about.  

A box of paper for your thunderbox

Summer: it’s a time for camping, visiting festivals or an extended trip off the tourist trail.  Packing… repacking… packing lite.  But some things just can’t be left off the list and top of those must be loo paper. 

In the Western world we rarely think twice about ‘bathroom tissue’ even though many people still have painful memories of those flat sheets of hard, medicated paper, first packaged by Joseph C Gayetty of New York in the 1850s.  But this home comfort feels like an essential piece of kit when faced with camp-site khazis or long-drop loos.

The Chinese were probably the first to use paper for bottom-wiping purposes, way back in the 6^th Century AD, although an Arab traveller judged them ‘not careful about cleanliness’ because they did not wash themselves with water after they had done ‘their necessities’. 

At other times and in other places, all sorts of materials have been used for this everyday (unless you are badly constipated) process.  Leaves, grass, moss, corncobs, fur, mussel shells, clay, snow, wool and newspaper have all had their moment of glory, with the Romans – ahead of their time as ever - favouring the relatively forgiving sponge-on-a-stick method.

Modern bathrooms in countries flush with water resources and plumbing sometimes sport toilets with integral bottom-washing and drying facilities.  This ‘progress’ somewhat flies in the face of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s recent quest to reinvent the toilet in a more environmentally sustainable way. click here

But we digress… paper remains the method of the moment for many of us, and soon you will be able to help flush away poverty by buying an exclusive (!) Toilet Twinning loo roll, printed with pictures of  latrines in Africa and Asia.  Surely the perfect gift for those hard-to-buy-for people.   Watch this space. 

Peeing for Britain


Ten thousand loos spread over 362 toilet blocks have been installed at the London Olympics in a bid to outrun the needs of more than 7.5 million ticket holders.

Disposal of human waste was one of the many practical issues at the forefront of the Olympic planners’ minds, particularly as they had a commitment to reduce the amount of drinkable water consumed.  A new treatment plant, opened this year, helps cut water usage at the park: raw sewage is cleaned using bio-membranes and the resulting liquid is suitable for toilet flushing and to irrigate the four Olympic flower gardens.

Athletes’ needs were not neglected.  Gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy, for example, was invited to contribute to the design of the 6,000 seat velodrome, which, along with its waterless urinals, boasts trackside toilets.  Some other venues have rainwater harvesting equipment.

All this looks like good value for money, and indeed sustainability has been riding high at this year’s games despite being lampooned in a very British way on the BBC comedy Twenty Twelve.

But for longer-term change, £60 to twin your loo, and bring about a permanent improvement for people overseas living without decent sanitation, looks like an Olympian-sized winner!

Champion Twinner Gweirydd Williams talks to Toilet Twinning

Introduce yourself in under 30 words:
I’m Gweirydd Williams, Environmental Health Officer in Bridgend, South Wales.

How many toilets have you twinned (directly and indirectly)?
I’ve twinned 34 toilets so far. The first was at the council offices where I work:  instead of sending Christmas cards we donate money towards a charity and I proposed Toilet Twinning. 

Then – on a roll - I wrote to my local MP, Huw Irranca-Davies, who twinned a toilet in his office, and I also twinned one at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health in Wales.  

Some missionary friends of mine were visiting and saw my twinned toilet, so I twinned theirs in the Philippines as a gift. I think it’s the first twin from that part of the world! 

Recently I had the idea of having my back waxed. I roped in Scott, my next door neighbour, who’s a bit of a good laugh.  It was quick, painful and different, and yielded enough to twin 22 toilets so it was well worth it.  There’s a video of us having the waxing on YouTube click here

When did you first hear about Toilet Twinning?
I’ve known about Tearfund since I was a teenager, and am now a Tearfund representative. I saw a Toilet Twinning leaflet in a Tearfund Christmas catalogue and it all started from there.

 What stood out to you about Toilet Twinning?
As a Christian, I liked the fact that the scheme is run through Christian charities, and that a definite amount - £60 – is asked. Having travelled to the Philippines both with my church and the Overseas Missionary Fellowship, I’ve seen what happens when people don’t have toilets and how it impacts them. Also, as an Environmental Health Officer I often have to deal with issues around waste and sewage so I know the dangers.

How have you encouraged others to support Toilet Twinning?
I visited my daughter’s school to give a talk on hand-washing and hygiene, and they decided to twin their toilets. I have since written to other schools in the area to see whether they would also be interested in a visit from their local Environmental Health Officer about Toilet Twinning.

What are your plans for the near future?
We will be holding a Mission Night in our church in October to raise funds for Toilet Twinning and I am thinking about having a bag packing day at a local superstore.  I’ve also got some great ideas for next year’s sponsored activity but at the moment it is under wraps!

What’s your Toilet Twinning ambition?
I hope that many, if not all, of the 22 local authorities in Wales will twin their toilets, as well as schools and churches.  My overall aim is to twin 100 toilets, so there’s only another 66 to go!

Toilet Twinning says 'Thank you Gweirydd!'