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ST. GEORGE — In 2010, St. George resident Matt Gunn traveled to Haiti after the earthquake that devastated the country. A middle school Spanish teacher, Gunn was sent by a private donor to help build a sustainable school in Port-au-Prince.
Gunn soon found that the land where the school was to be built was nearby an orphanage that housed boys and girls in two separate mud-floored tents.
While the living conditions these children had to endure were unimaginable, what Gunn noticed most was what he called “repulsive” public bathroom facilities.
“In Haiti, no one wants to use public facilities because they are so repulsive,” Gunn said. “Only about 30 percent of people there even have access to toilets. And if they do exist, there is no sewage treatment. … Waste just ends up in streams or running into gutters. Children and women end up getting assaulted because they don’t have a safe, private place to do what they need to do. Health-wise and safety- wise, it’s a much bigger issue than at first glance.”
Seeing a need, Gunn and other volunteers decided to help rebuild the orphanage before continuing with their efforts building the school, starting first by working on well water and bathrooms.
While working on the project, Gunn learned that the cost of the four pit latrines — that were being built by a nonprofit German company — was $12,000. Wanting the to build a more cost-effective and sustainable latrine system for his school, Gunn began looking for other alternatives. While on a visit to another school, he stumbled upon something he’d never seen before: a composting toilet.
“I was in disbelief when I saw (and smelled) the composting toilet,” Gunn recalled. “It was clean, had no flies, and it didn’t stink.”
Inside the toilets was sawdust from the husks of sugarcane, something that is usually discarded. The sawdust provided the needed carbon (heat) to break down and kill harmful bacteria. Once the waste was cooled, it was used as fertilizer.
Gunn went to work building four latrines, costing only $1,200 — one tenth of the cost of the ones at the orphanage.
“The orphans and the people from the nearby tent city started using the school’s composting toilets because they were clean,” Gunn was proud to say.
Sadly, funding for the project ran out, and Gunn had to leave Haiti, without completing all he had hoped to do.
Gunn returned home to the states, where he pursued another passion: trail and ultra running. Turning his passion into what is now a series of races known as Ultra Adventures, Gunn searched everywhere for composting toilets he could rent for his events.
His search came up blank.
With his experience in Haiti still fresh in his mind, Gunn and his partner, Shawn Taylor, worked to create a design for composting latrines that were mobile. The result was an eight-unit trailer made out of recycled wood-and-metal. They named their company Eco Commode.
Since conception, the company has provided services for many events, including the popular Ragnar Relay Series.
With this system, we were able to 'upcycle' 100 percent of our landfill bound solid waste at the Grand Canyon Ultras event.
–Matt Gunn
Gunn’s efforts to be eco-friendly at events have grown, with his most recent event, the Grand Canyon Ultras, being a “zero waste” event. Gunn and his team recycled the everything from paper and plastic to things you’ve been told are un-recyclable — yes, even human waste.
Gunn and his team even used a special machine called and Ubuntu Blox to compact all non-recyclable trash into bales that were then used to build another shed.
“With this system, we were able to 'upcycle' 100 percent of our landfill bound solid waste at the Grand Canyon Ultras event,” said Gunn.
On Saturday, June 14, Gunn will hold his final event, the Bryce Canyon Ultras, which will also be a zero waste event.
To learn more about Gunn and his team’s efforts, go to ecocommode.com or ultra-adventures.com/ua-events- zero-waste.
Arianne Brown is a mother of six who loves running the beautiful trails around Utah. For more articles by her, like her Facebook page or visit her blogs, timetofititin.com or thestoriesofyourlife.wordpress.com.
