138 Building Toilets
Choosing the right toilet
No toilet is right for all situations, and each sanitation method has room for
improvement. This activity helps people think about what toilets are available and
decide which one is best for them.
Time: 1 to 2 hours
Materials: small drawing paper, large drawing
paper, colored pens or markers, sticky tape
➊ Make groups of 5 or 6 people. Each person
draws a picture of every toilet or way of
disposing of human waste that they
know. They should draw their own
toilets, others they have seen, and
even pictures of what people do
where there is no toilet. The goal is
to draw a range of toilets, from the
most simple to the most modern.
➋ When the pictures are ready, each group arranges their pictures in order, from what
they think are the worst methods to the best. These are taped to large sheets of paper.
➌ Each group shows its drawings and tells the reason for the order they chose.
What makes one system better and another worse? Each group member also tells
which toilet he or she uses at home, and which he or she would like to have.
➍ After everyone has shown their drawings, the group talks about the differences
between all the methods.
Ask questions such as:
• Does everyone agree about which toilet is the worst and which is the best?
• Is there one toilet that seems best to everyone? Is this because of health reasons,
cost, or for some other reason?
• Are there some toilets that no one in the group uses? Why?
This can lead to a discussion of the reasons for people’s choices.
• What health benefits are most important?
• What environmental benefits are most important?
• Would any of the improvements people want require changes in local conditions
or how people think about sanitation? Are there simple things that can be done to
improve what already exists?
• If the group includes both men and women, are their answers different?
A Community Guide to Environmental Health 2012