PERRYSBURG — Waterhouse bath & kitchen studio in is bringing awareness to the global issue of safe sanitation by adding a fun twist to get the community involved.
Over half of the global population or 4.2 billion people lack safe sanitation and around 297,000 children under five – more than 800 every day – die annually from diarrheal diseases due to poor hygiene, poor sanitation, or unsafe drinking water.
Without safely managed, sustainable sanitation, people often have no choice but to use unreliable, inadequate toilets. Even where toilets exist, overflows and leaks from pipes and septic systems, and dumping or improper treatment, can mean untreated human waste gets out into the environment and spreads deadly and chronic diseases such as cholera and intestinal worms.
In a bid to help break taboos around toilets and make sanitation for all a global development priority, the United Nations designated Nov. 19 as World Toilet Day.
Waterhouse’s second annual toilet art contest features nine local artists who received a blank white canvas of a new toilet, all donated by Laufen. It was up to each of them to create their own work of art.
All entries are currently displayed in the showroom, 125 E. Indiana Ave., and the store is holding both an in-store vote and an online raffle with all proceeds going to Water.org – a charity focused on providing clean water and solving sanitation issues globally.
The artists are:
Chris “Chilly” Rodriguez, Toledo Muralist
Kodi Klocinski, owner of Toledo Tattoo Co.
Terry A. Burton, Toledo multi-media artist and Waterhouse muralist
Yvette Reyes, Toledo visual artist and Waterhouse muralist
Daniel Michelsen, SE Michigan resin and ceramics artist
Greg Justus, Toledo Modern Impressionistic artist
Ottawa Hills Highschool/Junior Highschool art clubs
Perrysburg Highschool art classes
Lisa Huckabaa, Kitchen and bath designer, KSI Toledo
