Hi Kimberly,

This is a really exciting and timely initiative, thanks so much for sharing it.

With the growing sanitation challenges among informal settlements communities in the Bay Area, container-based eco-sanitation feels like a smart, adaptable solution where conventional systems often can’t reach.

I’m particularly curious about how the permitting and operational processes are unfolding, have there been any initial responses from local health or city agencies?
It’s great to see such innovation happening locally. Similar models (like SOIL in Haiti and Clean Team in Ghana) have shown how pairing strong community engagement with good system design can make these approaches both sustainable and scalable.
Would love to hear more as this progresses, it could become a real game-changer and a learning model for other cities tackling similar challenges.
 Regards,

Benny

The past two weeks, I was able to get some local, regional California agencies and the federal government to discuss implementing a thermophilic, Container-Based eco-Sanitation dry compost toilet processor system offering in Alameda County California; specifically in Oakland, CA.

See: EcoSan Oakland Blog  -- Until I can obtain some funding, this site is Read-Only at this juncture in time. 

Federal funding is not forthcoming or has been stopped by the current, federal administration. Whereby it will be incumbent on local and regional agencies and municipalities to arrive at their own solutions--presenting a GREAT opportunity for Container-Based Eco-sanitation to be implemented as a short-term, and long term solution.

Aside: The July 2025 timing of the release of the CBSA - State of The Sector report could not have been better.  

The diminishing returns of the high cost of rents in California continues to make it prohibitively difficult for a GREAT many to remain housed. Curbside communities in the San Francisco (SF) Bay Area are exploding, and open defecation is on the increase. The last Point In Time Count conducted in Alameda County was in early 2024. Dubious if and when the next report will be forthcoming. However...

...there is a trend that is being reported in the South SF Bay Area. The East SF Bay Area, where Alameda County is located, is also experiencing similar curbside community outcomes as the South SF Bay Area. 

On 5 October 2025, the SJ Mercury News reported in the South SF Bay Area, Santa Clara County, released a recent Point in Time Count reporting  "More than half of Santa Clara County’s unhoused population is homeless for the first time"