Solar Powered Toilets Keep SF Clean

A portable, solar-powered toilet project unveiled four weeks in San Francisco’s gritty Tenderloin neighborhood has done a great job at making streets a little cleaner—perhaps such a good job that it will soon be replicated in other cities. The toilets are dropped off four times a week at areas near soup kitchens and parks, staying there from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. An attendant restocks them, and gives patrons a knock if they spend too long inside. “Everyone has to go to the bathroom, that’s not something anyone can stop,” said local city supervisor Jane Kim. “This program affords people some dignity to take care of a human need.”