| Public toilets in Scotland | |
|---|---|
 Rothesay Victorian Toilets | |
| Language of toilets | |
| Local words | WC Loos |
| Men's toilets | Men |
| Women's toilets | Women |
| Public toilet statistics | |
| Toilets per 100,000 people | ??? (2021) |
| Total toilets | 73 (2021, Edinburgh) 191 (2021, Highlands Council) |
| Public toilet use | |
| Type | Western style sit toilet |
| Locations | train stations bars cafes |
| Average cost | 30p |
| Often equipped with | ??? |
| Percent accessible | contactless payment |
| Date first modern public toilets | ??? |
| . | |
Public toilets in Scotland are often called loos. There are 73 in Edinburgh, and 191 in the Highland Council. Where there is a lack of public toilets, some people practice open defecation. Toilets are often found in cafes and hotels. Some charge around 30p to use. The number of public toilets drastically reduced in the 2000s. Some councils have turned over management of public toilets to private groups.
Public toilets
editIn Scotland, toilets are often called loos.[1][2] Euphemisms are often used to avoid discussing the purpose of toilets. Privy began to be used in the United Kingdom to replace an earlier taboo word.[3]
Edinburgh had 73 public toilets in 2021.[4] In 2021, the city of Edinburgh had 18 public toilets located on the street as standalone units.[5] In 2021, the Edinburgh Council committed £5 million to revamping and improving the 15 public toilets in the city.[5] Buildings owned by the Edinburgh council in 2021 had around 60 accessible toilets. Most of these were found in public libraries and leisure centers.[5] Some islands and rural areas in Scotland did not have public toilets in 2021. As a result, some people engaged in public urination and defecation.[5] There were 191 public toilets in the Highland Council in 2021. The Council spent over £1 million a year running and maintaining these toilets.[5]
Toilets are often found in cafes in the centers of towns. Most of these toilets though are only available to paying clients.[6] Many public toilets in Scotland are not disability accommodation because they are located in older and historic buildings and would require extensive renovations.[7] Some hotels have rooms that are disability accessible, with step-free showers.[7]
The Scottish Borders local authority introduced a charge of 30p to use around to third of their 41 public toilets. Some of these public toilets had contactless payment.[5]
On the Top 10 Worst Loos list of 2021, London ranked sixth, behind Dundee, Carlisle, Newport, Birmingham and Hull.[8] On the Top 10 Best Loos list of 2021, Edinburgh ranked first, followed by Peterborough, Brighton and Hove, Belfast and Norwich.[8] There are historic Victorian style public toilets in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute.[9]
History
editScottish watchmaker Alexander improved upon John Harington's flush toilet in 1775. He added a bending outflow pop, which made them much safer.[10]
From 2000 to 2020, the number of public toilets decreased by a third. This decline was in part to local governments trying to find ways to reduce expenditures.[6]
British people resisted the use of American style soft toilet paper into the 1970s because of a distrust of a product being primarily pushed by American brands.[11] Toilet paper remained one of the most popular ways to clean intimate areas after using a toilet in the 2010s.[11]
Between 2007 and 2016, 2,000 public toilets closed across the United Kingdom.[5]
The Highland Council announced they were closing their public toilets during the summer of 2011. As a result, the Arisaig Community Trust (ACT) decided to take on the management of the public toilets starting in July of that year in order that the public could continue to be able to use them. Most of their funding for running the toilets comes from a grant from the city. On 23 May 2013, ownership of the toilets was officially transferred to the Arisaig Community Trust (ACT). The toilets are cleaned 364 days a year by professionals. Someone unlocks the doors each morning and locks them each night. [5]
In 2015, South Lanarkshire Council announced they were closing all their public toilets. They said they would accept proposals from groups that were interested in taking over these spaces to keep them open. A number of organizations responded including Biggar Business Group, Friends of the Burn Braes, Biggar Gala Committee, Biggar Rotary Club and Biggar Theatre Workshop. They decided to work together with Trustees of Biggar Theatre Workshop (BTW) taking the lead, and were granted a lease of these toilets by the Council for £1. After budgeting £30,000 for the first year of operation, the toilets re-opened in May 2016. The toilets cost 40p each to use, are cleaned daily by a professional cleaning service and the books are managed by volunteers. After the first year of operation, the Council reviewed their work and agreed to continue the arrangement.[5]
Women and sex-segregated toilets
editOne issue for British women is they need to spend comparatively longer time using public toilets than men because of things like menstruation and having less lag time between when the knowledge of needing to peer arises the the actually need to be able to relieve themselves. Things like pregnancy and childbirth also increase the risk of being incontinence, which increases the need of women to rapidly find access to public toilets that men face on a much smaller level.[12] Men have largely been in charge of selection where toilets were placed in the 19th century. It was why one of the favored location for publically accessible toilets early in this period was bars and public houses, with 75% of men saying a priority should be placed on locating public toilets there.[12]
The lack of public toilets in the United Kingdom inconveniences women more than men, creating a situation where women are treated as unequal citizens.[13] A majority of British women have admitted to squatting or hovering over public toilet seats in order to avoid their butts coming into contact with the seat.[11]
References
edit- ^ "10 International Toilets". HowStuffWorks. 2011-11-30. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
- ^ Collins English Thesaurus. "Toilet Synonyms". Collins English Thesaurus. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Farb, Peter (2015-08-19). Word Play: What Happens When People Talk. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-101-97129-1.
- ^ QS Supplies (11 October 2021). "Which Cities Have The Most and Fewest Public Toilets?". QS Supplies. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Development Trusts Association Scotland (2021). "Public Toilets - How communities are responding to the closure of public toilets" (PDF). Development Trusts Association Scotland.
- ^ a b Guides, Rough (2020-11-01). Pocket Rough Guide British Breaks Liverpool (Travel Guide eBook). Apa Publications (UK) Limited. ISBN 978-1-78919-687-0.
- ^ a b Guides, Rough (2017-05-04). Edinburgh (Rough Guides Snapshot Scotland). Rough Guides UK. ISBN 978-0-241-31272-8.
- ^ a b Daly, Rhian. "It turns out 30 percent of London's public toilets are not accessible". Time Out London. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
- ^ "The sensitive topic of toilets and travel | buzztrips.co.uk". 2017-01-25. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ DiPiazza, Francesca Davis (2014-08-01). Remaking the John: The Invention and Reinvention of the Toilet. Twenty-First Century Books. ISBN 978-1-4677-4794-3.
- ^ a b c Ro, Christine (7 October 2019). "The peculiar bathroom habits of Westerners". BBC. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
- ^ a b Davis, Kathy (1997-07-11). Embodied Practices: Feminist Perspectives on the Body. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4462-2739-8.
- ^ Davis, Kathy (1997-07-11). Embodied Practices: Feminist Perspectives on the Body. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4462-2739-8.