Christmas is the time of year when you see a lot of red and green. It’s festive — and most everyone enjoys it. But the holiday season ends quickly. Portable sanitation is forever, and so is our commitment to being green. If you read PRO, you are probably aware of this important aspect of our work. But can you articulate it to your customers? Can you make it part of the value you sell? Here are some ideas to help you with that:
Your customers may not know the basics. Start at the beginning. A couple of years ago I was chatting with a group of friends. When I mentioned that all water from toilets — sewered or portable — is treated and eventually comes out a tap again, they were stunned. They were also surprised that the chemicals we use in portable restrooms can help accelerate the process of breaking down waste, which is beneficial to the treatment plants. Make sure you know how to explain these “good guy” things and cover them in your literature or on your website.
We save water. The PSAI conservatively estimates that portable restrooms save 125 million gallons of fresh, drinkable water each day. We calculate the savings like this: A flush toilet uses about 1.8 gallons of clean water. Currently there are an estimated 3.6 million portable restrooms in the world. If just 2.2 million are used 20-30 times per day, that equals 125 million gallons of water that is not being flushed. Of course, this is an average, and you can debate our estimates. But no matter how you figure it, portable restrooms save a lot of water – and that’s an important point in times when water is hard to come by.
We reduce greenhouse gases. Treatment plants cost money and natural resources to build and operate. A 2015 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report estimated, “Drinking water and wastewater systems account for approximately 3% to 4% of energy use in the United States, resulting in the emissions of more than 45 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.”
So as portable restrooms save water, we help take some of the load off of wastewater processing plants. This indirectly helps the environment by reducing greenhouse gases used in water treatment.
An often-forgotten way that portable sanitation helps reduce greenhouse gases is by reducing the number of miles people have to drive in their cars to get to a restroom. At construction sites, parks, soccer fields, outdoor stadiums, recreational facilities and other locations where portable restrooms are provided, fuel is saved because it isn’t necessary to drive to a restroom facility.
Our units are recyclable, and that process makes them eco-friendly. Most portable restrooms today are made from polyethylene. A single unit can last between 10 and 20 years. When it reaches the end of its life, the polyethylene can be recycled up to 10 times before the materials are compromised. So do the math. The plastic from a single unit can be used for between 100 and 200 years when properly recycled, thus saving fuel and space in the landfills for centuries.
Recycling also saves energy. According to the Association of Plastics Recyclers, recycling polyethylene saves 88% of the energy it takes to start with new plastic and limits greenhouse gas emissions by 71%.
Summing it up. Kermit the Frog made the song “It’s Not Easy Being Green” his signature tune starting in 1970. The next year, the PSAI was formed. Throughout our history we have worked with portable sanitation operators and suppliers to promote environmentally friendly practices and bring this message to the public. It’s something we’ll continue to do as we work to achieve our vision of a world in which clean and safe sanitation is accessible to everyone. Join us!
