Spreading the Truth About the Portable Restroom Industry

This will not come as news to anyone working in the portable restroom industry, but there is a stigma often associated with it. We all know that jokes are made and that negative attitudes and a lot of misunderstanding exist towards the work you do.

Yet, some in the industry are fighting back against the negativity to raise awareness about the many benefits of portable restrooms.

Tackling the Issue Head-on

One person taking up the fight is the inspiring portable restroom operator Andrea Booker who, interviewed for PRO Monthly, said she tries to combat the negative connotations attached to the industry by getting right to the source — cleanliness: “Each and every time we deliver a unit that is clean, sanitized, pleasant smelling, and in good repair, we continue the process of ending the stigma of ‘Ewww! I have to use that?!’”

This highlights a crucial point, that the cleanliness of many portable restrooms is the reason for the industry’s negative reputation. While it’s easy to blame the users of the units themselves for this, Booker believes that portable restroom operators can do more. By going the extra mile to be available whenever a unit needs cleaning and doing a thorough job, taking pride in the work, she is changing opinions in Michigan one job at a time.

The Global Picture

While the above is an example of the work that can be done on a micro-level, across the world Portable Sanitation Association International (PSAI) is working to improve the industry’s image, and also to highlight the amazing role portable restrooms can play, especially in developing countries.

We may not realize it in America, but globally, two-fifths of the population don’t have access to any type of toilet. That’s a stunning 2.6 billion people. This lack of sanitation leads to pollution, diseases like trachoma, parasites, and many deaths.

Portable restrooms can provide the solution for regions where toilet access is not readily available. Businesses like Saraplast in India, which remarkably is the country’s largest professional company, are providing portable sanitation to places that have long struggled with access to any sanitation at all.

Much easier to manufacture and set up than a mains-run toilet, portable restrooms are becoming increasingly valuable commodities for their ease of installation and usefulness, meaning more people can access a lavatory than ever before.

Saving Fresh Water, Saving the Planet

The amount of water we use every day is mind-boggling. In America alone, each person uses about 100 gallons a day. Portable restrooms are the perfect answer to this overuse, as they save an incredible 125 million gallons of fresh water a day around the world.

These figures are especially pertinent as fresh water is our planet’s most important natural resource, consisting of just 3 percent of the Earth’s total water.

November 19 is World Portable Sanitation Day

Why not save the date and raise awareness among your clients each November about the wonderful benefits of portable sanitation? If we can start talking about the positives, we can reduce the industry’s stigma!

Raising Awareness, Changing Opinions

With so much water waste in some places and such little sanitation in others, the portable restroom industry is uniquely placed to make an enormous impact going forward, having the means to alleviate both of these vital global issues.

If portable restrooms are to be utilized to their maximum potential, it’s time we reframe the way they are viewed and start earning them the respect they deserve!

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