Pitch
A sustainable toilet system that employs special formulated bacterial culture to treat human waste and transform it into natural fertilizer.
Description
Summary
ECOLOO is environmentally friendly, odour free, water free, sewage free, energy free and hassle free as it is very easy to be installed and maintained. ECOLOO technology employs bacterial culture to treat the waste and create organic fertilizer that is pathogen free yet rich with nutrition. (http://www.ecoloogroup.com/faq.html). It's based on the principals of simplicity, scalability, environmental responsibility and economic viability.
A technology that can save water, energy and create better, healthier and greener environment for its citizens. It's affordable, beneficial, biological, durable, ecological, economical and ergonomically designed for comfort, health and safety; it comes in various designs and shapes i.e. standing (urinal), sitting, squatting. Our products can be installed indoor and outdoor as a stand-alone, decentralized, sustainable solution with no digging or septic tank required (just plug and use!) in rural or urban areas, terrace houses to high rise buildings, rest areas, schools, mosques, deserted areas, tourist areas, beaches, events or festivals or construction sites with almost zero and hassle free maintenance and it's suitable for all purposes in any weather conditions.
ECOLOO does not require water for flushing but water can still be used for hygiene or cleaning purpose. By using ECOLOO, one can save gallons of clean water from being flushed into septic tank or sewage treatment plant and millions to billions of Dollars from being spent on sewage treatment and sewage transportation. The sewage from the flush toilet has badly affected and polluted the fragile environment, contaminated the land and water resources.
Our eco-social innovation and its uniqueness have made ECOLOO gained recognition and won many awards and prizes from various organizations including United Nations, UNDP, UNIDO, WSSCC, Impact Hub, China National Tourist Association and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and China Invention Association.
Desirability
How do you know that your solution is desirable to SMEs, and will reduce GHG emissions?
Some businesses, especially those in tourism and hospitality sectors, lack access to proper sanitation facilities due to their rural locations or they might have toilets that might clog often or need much maintenance and consumes much water on flushing. Such facilities affects their business growth and will have a negative impact on the environment and higher carbon footprint on their business and daily activities.
Case Study:
Project Title:
Bio Diversity Conservation in Tourism Sector with Sustainable Toilet
Place:
UNESCO World Heritage Sites namely Dibbeen Forest Reserve, Wadi Rum Reserve and Petra Archaeological Park (PAP) in Jordan.
Project Summary:
This project is about conserving bio diversity of the World Heritage sites in Jordan using sustainable toilets or ECOLOO, a stand-alone waterless toilet technology that does not require water for flushing or septic tank for sewage or sewage disposal via suction or sewage piping.
In Petra, the project has increased its number of installation in places that lacked such facilities from 4 ECOLOO units to 14 ECOLOO units as according to the survey done by the site engineer on year 2016’s deployment, around 420 tourists used the unit located near the Treasury site, producing some 120 litres of concentrated liquid fertilizer each week and the fertilizer is used in PETRA’s nurseries. With organic fertilizer, the Operator gets to save money and the soil from being polluted by chemical fertilizer that they used in the nurseries. In 2016 alone, approximately 9 million liters of water were saved from being flushed away and this solves the major problem in Jordan being the world’s second poorest country in terms of water & the situation is getting worse due to the Syrian crisis.
With ECOLOO, this project has achieved environmental protection, improvement of living and economic conditions, awareness creation, emission reduction and energy and resource efficiency because our products can be installed indoor and outdoor as a stand-alone, decentralized, sustainable solution with no digging, septic tank, water, maintenance or energy required, just plug and use!
Initial Situation and Context of the Project:
Prior to the installation of ECOLOO, the management of UNESCO World Heritage Site in Petra, Jordan received a yellow card from UNESCO for its non-sustainable human and animal waste disposal as tourists had no place to release except for open defecation and this polluted the surrounding so badly until the most visited areas became unbearably stinky and smelly.
Normal public toilets with flushing toilets could only be found at the entrance of the Lost City. The management could not afford to think of any other solutions than ECOLOO as no trucks could go inside the place for waste suction or collection. Neither could they build any toilets inside the Lost City as it would not be sustainable and could lead to lose the World Heritage title.
Feasibility
What actions do you propose?
We propose: Prevention is Better than Cure!
We have to protect our water resources by preventing water from being flushed/mixed with waste. Flush toilet is the worst invention of all times according to WASH experts, creating diseases killing people and polluting our fragile environment. This flowchart explains how:
www.ecoloo.eu/images/prevention.jpeg
Direct impact on SDGs:
- SDG#6: Clean Water & Sanitation: ECOLOO provides sustainable sanitation solutions that are totally enclosed system (preventing pollution and contamination), waterless (preventing sewage generation and environmental contamination). By implementing and using ECOLOO Sustainable Toilet Systems, one can save clean water from being flushed into septic tank or sewage treatment plant and millions to billions of Dollars from being spent on sewage treatment and sewage transportation..
Indirect impact on SDGs:
- SDG#3: Good health & Well Being - hygienic toilets like ECOLOO lead to healthier people especially for women and children.
- SDG#11: Sustainable Cities & Communities - by adopting our sustainable solutions in the cities and communities for indoor and outdoor purposes and turn any complex and building into eco-friendly and sewage-free complex and building.
- SDG#14: Life Below Water - by treating our waste on site instead of dumping the untreated sewage and toxics into oceans and rivers, we prevent the lives below water from being contaminated.
- SDG#15: Life On Land - by having sustainable toilets and fertilizer, more lives on land can be saved from water borne diseases, contaminated fish and chemical fertilizer (which can be hazardous to the soil, water and lives on land).
Water Savings with our project in Jordan:
With 1,200 people using ECOLOO daily in Petra saving 8 liters per flush per visit, within 1 year the impact would be:
a) 3,504,000 liters of clean water will be saved from being polluted and becoming sewage. (1200Px8Lx365D).
b) $70,080 will be saved assuming local water price is $0.02 per liter.
Energy Savings with our project in Jordan:
a) $35,040 will be saved assuming sewage disposal price is $0.01 per liter.
Other savings on:
a) Treatment and energy consumption of water that is flushed away.
b) Treatment and energy consumption of sewage that is sent to sewage treatment plant.
c) Installation and maintenance of the sewage treatment plant.
d) Infrastructure and sewage system implementation, which could save a lot of money, energy and carbon footprint.
e) Most valuable, nutritious solid and liquid waste that is wasted, which could be turned into organic fertilizer, locally collected, whereas chemical fertilizer needs to be produced causing environmental damages not only to the soil but also to the farmers’ economy, consuming energy in production and logistics and increasing carbon emission.
Who will take these actions?
Governments and UN bodies are invited to be part of the solution for the heritage/tourist sites and for public events and other occasions benefiting their citizens in particular and the country and environment in general.
Businesses will be our main target to propose our solution to in order to let them achieve the following:
- Compliance with Environmental requirements
- Enhanced image of businesses in terms of Green and Sustainable initiatives of which will have positive impact on acquiring new customers and maintaining existing customers’ trust and satisfaction which is the secret behind making more money in ethical way while saving the environment and natural resources. The societal demands on businesses to be environmentally friendly are becoming more common nowadays
- Save money on water, energy, operational and maintenance expenditure on flush toilets
- Generate GREEN income for businesses through the sustainable toilets: pay-per-use, rental to other businesses, advert board on structure and income from the organic fertilizer
We have already sold our units to an NGO in Canada called “help2overcome.org”. They are mainly active in Africa to support schools (especially girl schools). But we’d be happy to work with different NGOs that are actively working in Ontario to improve the environment and eco system in it.
Modern citizens have much awareness on the climate change and the negative impacts from it which become more prevalent. Individuals are those who can contribute to improve the environment by installing the indoor type in their homes, summer houses, caravans and busses or they might donate ECOLOO toilets for those in needs in rural areas to improve their lives and conditions and save the environment at the same time.
Where will these actions be taken?
The founders will dedicate their time & efforts to pilot the project & ECOLOO technology throughout the month of June 2019 at few festivals combined and to make an environmental impact as well. Depending on the duration of each festival & dates, we suggest famous and crowded festivals such as Westfest, Bestival, Ottawa Jazz Festival and more. That will give our project enormous exposure & will allow us to collect feedback & survey on the different aspect of customers' satisfaction & suggestions.
What are the proposal’s projected costs?
The project total cost will be $248,750 CAD for piloting 25 ECOLOO toilets including expenses related to the implemenation such as installation/uninstallation, transportation & logistic, travel cost and accomodation for the team, manpower, warehouse charges.
The challenges we might face are related to dedicated manpower and the approval from the management of the festivals we are going to approach to allow us pilot our technology with them. Portable toilets provider might give us hard time by influencing the festival management to deny us access to their festivals.
Scalability
Once the solution is built and implemented describe a path forward for it to scale to other users/companies.
Once ECOLOO solution is built, implemented, used with great satisfaction, received excellent customers' experience and testimonials due to its competitive advantages and got high scores and reputation, the word of mouth will be our best marketing channel and scaling up will be easy as we receive more orders and customers.
Our contributions to the society, health and environment have been recognized as iconic and strategic by the United Nations, Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), Energy Globe, Impact Hub, UNIDO, GEF, MaGIC, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, SingularityU, World CSR Congress Council in India, World Invention and Innovation Forum in China, China Tourist Association & Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation among others.
How will your solution lead to change on a larger scale over time (i.e. 3 to 5 years out)? How many businesses can potentially be affected by your solution?
Scaling up our eco social innovation is crucial to achieve some of the critical SDGs because our sustainable solutions help solve the world's pressing issues related to water, sanitation, hygiene, energy & environment, and will have a positive domino effect on poverty, health, women, organic farming, food security, food quality, society, wellbeing & stability in many ways.
Meeting the SDG#6 is achievable with ECOLOO but it requires coordination at all levels of Government and the formation of partnerships between private companies and bilateral donors, development agencies, financial institutions, NGOs, media, civil society and local communities.
Climate change, natural disasters, water scarcity, pollution and carbon emission together with citizens awareness about the importance of protecting our natural resources and our only earth for many generations to come will definitely boost our business move our solution ahead to become the new standard for future sanitation.
In 2015, NASA’s satellite data revealed that 21 of the world’s 37 large aquifers are severely water-stressed and predicted that World War III will be fought over water:https://qz.com/691254/world-war-iii-will-be-fought-over-water
We expect few thousand businesses to be affected by our solution in the next 5 years.
What business and funding model have you considered for your solution to become sustainable?
ECOLOO is a money making machine!
ECOLOO toilet owners might make good income not only from the fees collected from the customers/visitors to use the toilet but also from the by-product generated in the system which is odor free and pathogen free liquid fertilizer full of nutrients, perfect for organic farming.
Additional ways to make money from the toilets are to rent them out and/or use the structure as an advert board as we did for the South East Asia Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as per the following link:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/ecoloogroup/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1394014847384066
Payback time is between 3-5 years depending on the usage, rental revenue, pay-per-use fees collected, advert fees collected and the income generated selling/using the by-product organic fertilizer.
Impact
What impact will the proposed actions have on reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
With the presence of ECOLOO, many serious issues will be solved rapidly with enormous economic, social, health, energy and environmental impact similar to the impact our project achieved in Petra, Jordan as mentioned above.
The huge impact of the whole supply chain is our way to measure our success, for example: number of units we install, number of people using our toilets, the amount of water and energy we save, health that we keep improving, decrement of infant, child, and maternal mortality, number of farmers using our organic fertilizer, number of people that can improve their lifstyle due to healthier and more productive life, number of business and job opportunities created through our social business model, improvement of societies or communities or the whole country in general and the savings on public expenses (such as waste treatment, sewage treatment plants (CAPEX) and maintenance cost (OPEX), environmental impact and decrement of pollution and carbon footprint.
What are other key benefits?
Environmental Benefits
- Lower carbon emission footprint
- Reduction of water consumption on flushing
- Reduction of energy used to treat and pump water and wastewater, and to produce more chemical fertilizer
- Reduction of usage of chemical fertilizer, leading to less pollution
- Enhanced image in terms of Green and Sustainable initiatives
Social Benefits
- Job creation during ECOLOO installation
- Protect women's dignity
- Balance and change lives
- Save lives and improve health & hygiene
- Create awareness through campaign and educational programs
Economic Benefits
- Long term and sustainable strategy based on inclusive business model and sustainagility will create job and business opportunities locally from production, distribution, installation and support to the collection and reuse or sales of the fertilizer generated via the toilet system
- Cost saving on fertilizer will reduce the expenses on agriculture
- Encourage organic farming
- Reduced biomass logistics and disposal costs
About the Authors
Samir Younes, CEO - ECOLOO Sustainable Solutions, Inc.
I'm a sustainable sanitation solution entrepreneur. Together with the Swedish inventor Imad Agi, we established ECOLOO in Quebec, Montreal.
Imad Agi, Group Chairman (Detailed profile: www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/agi_profile.pdf)
A sustainable sanitation solution expert, speaker and entrepreneur. He has been involved in construction, renovation, innovation, R&D, recycling, sanitation, water and waste management, been there and done that for more than 15 years! He has spoken and presented on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in more than 20 countries, and yes, he does give a shit about issues on water, waste, sanitation and hygiene across the world!
Ms. Zuraina Zaharin, CEO - ECOLOO GreenTech Malaysia Sdn Bhd (Detailed profile: www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/zaharin_profile.pdf)
An avid adventurer and a renowned, respected, inspiring speaker and motivator. Her core competencies are Sustainability, Ultimate Leadership, Team Building, Professional Speaking, Coaching, Training and Marketing Skills. Her focus is on overall business, sales, marketing, rental and maintenance, promotion, accounting, business sustainability strategy and training. She was once an avid cold mountain climber, diver, trekker, caver and environmentalist since 2002. She was then running her own business of adventure seminars and travels and invited by big organizations and schools to give her inspirational and motivational talks before she embarked into the social impact driven enterprise.
Related Proposals (optional)
References
- ECOLOO on Global Halifax News in Canada: https://www.facebook.com/globalhalifax/videos/1498358170201079/
- Installation of ECOLOO at Girls School in Sierra Leone: https://www.help2overcome.org/copy-of-life-run-walk-fundraiser-20
- Jordan Time: http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/project-aims-promote-biodiversity-conservation-tourism-sector
- ECOLOO in the news on World Toilet Day: https://www.labroots.com/trending/technology/7362/world-toilet-day-meet-ecoloo
- ECOLOO GROUP @ Solutions Summit, United Nations - New York: www.facebook.com/ecoloogroup/videos/1081622125290008/
- EcotechTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7qX4ybdy-s
- Malaysian TV2 Interview: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op7Mg_y5PYU
- Newspaper in Mumbai - India: ecoloo.eu/pdf/Newsband-NaviMumbai-May2016.pdf
- Stromstad Testimonial: http://www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/Stromstad.pdf
- Prevention is Better than Cure: www.ecoloo.eu/images/prevention.jpeg
- Analysis Reports: http://www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/ECOLOO-Analysis.pdf
- The Impact: http://www.ecoloo.eu/impact.html
- Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.ecoloo.eu/faq.html
- ECOLOO’s Competitive Advantages: http://www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/ECOLOO-Competitive-Advantages.pdf
- ECOLOO Brochure: http://www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/ECOLOO_Brochure.pdf
- ECOLOO Presentation: http://www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/ECOLOO_Presentation_Climate_CoLab_2018.pdf
- ECOBIO MSDS: www.ecoloo.eu/pdf/ECOBIO_PLUS_MSDS.pdf
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ecoloogroup
- ECOLOO Website: www.ecoloo.eu
By:
ECOLOO Team
