For the full version of this article, check out our free Substack post . This month, Toilet Equity turns four. Four. If you’ve ever known a four-year-old, you know that’s a very specific age. Old enough to walk confidently into a room. Young enough to still ask “why?” about absolutely everything. Capable. Curious. Occasionally chaotic. Full of big dreams and very sticky hands. Four-year-olds aren’t babies anymore. They’ve found their footing. They have opinions. They test bou

For the full version of this audio, recorded by writer, coach, and TE volunteer Rebecca Mullen, check out our free Substack post . This year at Toilet Equity, our theme is incubation . Compost doesn’t become healthy soil overnight. It needs the right ingredients. It needs structure. It needs time. And apparently… so do engineers. We sat down with Professor John Boulden (CU/CMU Partnership + City Engineer for Fruita) to talk about his senior engineering students taking on a bi

Because of you, people had a safe place to go in 2025. Imagine needing a bathroom, and having nowhere to go. For many people living without shelter, that’s a daily reality. But this year, you changed that . Because of you, toilet access was clean, reliable, and treated as the essential infrastructure it is. (If you’ve ever had to go right now, you already get it.) Because of you: 7 toilets stayed open and clean 365 days of reliable access 200+ people served each day 4 locatio

For the full version of this article, check out our free Substack post. On a trip years before Toilet Equity existed, our founder Paul Padyk found himself standing on a wooden platform over a creek in a high Himalayan valley. There were no trees to hide behind, only the river flowing below, and the uneasy relief of needing a bathroom and not having one. The smell, the exposure, the sound of water carrying everything away: it was a small, sharp lesson in vulnerability. A few

For the full version of this article, written by TE CEO Kaitlin Louise Pettit, PhD, check out our free Substack post. At Toilet Equity, we’re used to dealing with what falls through the cracks. We give people a place to poop—it’s basically our superpower. Unfortunately, our funding sometimes does the same thing. This year, I dreamed of doubling our toilet footprint in the Grand Valley. Instead, our plans had to shrink to match our budget, leaving hundreds of neighbors—unshelt

For the full version of this article, written by TE Intern Mason Bunce, check out our free Substack post . Take a moment and think about...

For the full version of this article, written by TE CEO Kaitlin Louise Pettit, PhD, check out our free Substack   post or subscribe to...

For the full version of this article, written by our Founder and Board Chair Paul Padyk, MD, check out our free Substack post or...

For the full version of this article, written by TE Board Member Avery Pope, check out our free Substack post or subscribe to our...

For the full version of this article, written by TE Board Member Avery Pope, check out our free Substack post or subscribe to our...

Why it's time to rethink your poop practices For the full version of this article, written by TE Board Member Avery Pope, check out our...

💩 Big news from our compost lab! Our first pile came back very stable, fully mature, and safe for use —and it's packed with rich organic...

For the full version of this article, written by TE Board Member and Civil Engineering Professor Kari Scholtes, P.E., Ph.D., check out...

For the full version of this article, written by TE Board Member Avery Pope, check out our free Substack post or subscribe to our...

We’re flushed  with pride! The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel  featured Toilet Equity and the incredible work our team does every day to...

For the full version of this article, written by Mason Bunce, check out our free Substack post or subscribe to our Patreon . What is...

Our latest compost pile, with our whole site in the background O ur annual report is in! In 2024, we learned how much it takes to...

Charlie Quimby - who is on the board of the Quimby Family Foundation who provided our grant to help us hire employees from the unhoused...

As we kick off the new year, we couldn’t let 2024 swirl away without saying a huge THANK YOU for your incredible support. Whether you...

Knock, knock. Who's there? Toilet. Toilet who? Toi-let you in on a secret... We’re almost there! We’d say we can almost taste it, but...