Sanitation and Cleanliness for a Healthy Environment 47
Sanitation steps to healthy communities
➡ Step 5: The facilitator then introduces
other options that people may not know
about. This may include small changes to
their current sanitation methods such as
vent pipes, or new options such as ecological
toilets. (It may include all the options in
this book, and others she may know of.)
The group discusses these new ideas, with
the facilitator explaining them as clearly as
possible.
To know what changes
are needed, decide
what health benefits
and environmental
benefits matter most.
To know what changes
are possible, decide
which sanitation
systems people want
and can
afford.
➡ Step 6: The facilitator leads a discussion about the different options, asking the group to
think about questions in the chart below. Each person shares his or her opinion about the
benefits and risks of each toilet, using numbers to show how strongly he or she feels. For
example, 5 may mean the best and 0 may mean the worst. The facilitator marks each person’s
opinion on the chart and counts to see which option is judged best.
Health benefits?
No toilet
Closed pit toilet
VIP toilet
Compost toilet
Dry toilet
Environmental benefits?
Cost?
Work to clean
and maintain
➡ Step 7: The group makes new drawings
based on the discussion of benefits and
the new options they have learned about.
They use the new and old drawings to
make new sanitation steps. Finally, they
compare the new sanitation steps to
the old ones.
• Are the new sanitation steps like
the first ones?
• What differences are there?
• What ideas or information caused
people to change their minds about
what toilets are worst and best?
Based on this discussion, the group can
decide what toilet or improvement is best
for them.
Communication between men and women is an
important part of safe and healthy sanitation.