Teniera, 15, Vanuatu - Climate change is affecting nowhere on earth more seriously than in the South Pacific, where rising sea levels and increased storms are slowly drowning our small islands. In our coastal village, we have already noticed the impact of sea level rise because our underground wells are mixing with sea water. We have learned to adapt though, using the brackish water to cook and wash clothes, and using rain for drinking.

But there is one problem we cannot adapt to: sewage from villager’s pit toilets leeching into the wells. When this happens we have to cut down more and more forest to move away from the polluted areas, forest that would otherwise be reducing green house gasses.

To solve the problem, we would like to design and build a composting toilet for the village that keeps our waste out of the water. This will be the first ever composting toilet on our small island, an idea that might be taken up by other villages (built by us) and have a huge impact on the environment. Most importantly, the compost generated by the village toilet will be used to fertilize a climate garden that we will plant with carbon capturing rainforest trees.

Our group: Joe, Teiera, Kaltang, and Joseph

Moses, 24, Kenya - Dunga wetland faces a myriad of problems i.e. habitat destruction, pollution, hunting among others. Limited land space undermines any efforts put by conservation bodies to try and protect the swamp. Farming is one of the ever increasing threats to the wetland that continues to pose a detrimental effect on its biodiversity.

This project idea centers mainly on setting up of ecological sanitation toilets for the collection of manure. The toilet uses the principle of anaerobic respiration where the collection vault is tightly fit to exempt any water or moisture from mixing with the waste.

Every time that the toilet is used wood-ash is spread as a treatment. This is used to ensure dryness and make the area not conducive for any micro-organisms. EM (Effective Micro-organism) can then be added as a further treatment. When the vault is full it is tightly sealed and left for 6 months while the other is opened for use. There is another vault for collection of urine which is mixed with water in the ratio of 5:1. The urine can be used ONLY on Fruit tree roots to improve the “greenness” of the leaves, and also kill certain pests.

A) Local toilet, B) Eco-toilet, C) Kitchen garden, D) Side view of eco-toilet