WASHROOM TRENDING IN THE WASHROOM
Our society is changing fast with the increased use of technology, growing calls for equality and a greater focus on sustainability all helping to shape the modern world. But how have these trends impacted on the public washroom, asks Essity’s Stuart Hands.
The world as we know it has changed dramatically over the past 10-15 years. It is hard to believe that indoor smoking bans only came into effect in 2007 - the same year the iPhone launched.
The financial crisis hit hard in 2008 which resulted in businesses drawing in their horns and closely monitoring every expenditure. Meanwhile, an increased focus on equality followed the 2010 Equality Act which made it illegal to discriminate against anyone on the grounds of gender, race, age or disability.
“It is no longer a surprise to find a washroom with a waterfall, a breathtaking view or a life-size model of a safari animal.”
The topic of sustainability has also gained traction over recent years with our growing awareness of climate change and the need to reduce our waste burden. And the launch of the smartphone has altered our lives and led to most of us being ‘connected’ at all times.
These factors have all had their influence on society – and have even trickled down to the washroom. Today’s public toilets are very different places to those we would visit 10 or 15 years ago.
Gone are the ashtrays and acrid odours we used to experience before smoking bans came into effect, for example. The big divide between yesterday’s feminine, flower-bedecked ladies’ loos and the scruffy, smelly gents’ has also narrowed amid growing calls for equality.
‘Parent and child’ and ‘family’ washrooms are replacing ‘mother and baby’ facilities while the increasing availability of unisex and transgender washrooms leaves no place for the vast gap we would once see reflected in our male and female facilities.
The greater focus on equality – coupled with our ageing population - has also led to calls for the needs of the less abled to be better met while the topics of health, safety and security have moved firmly into the spotlight.
This has generated a new wave of dispensers that are specifically designed to be easy to clean, tightly sealed and safe to use. Gone are the sharp metal teeth one would find in the toilet tissue dispensers of the past: instead units such as the Tork jumbo toilet roll dispenser feature more rounded, plastic teeth that will not scratch the skin.
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All Tork Elevation dispensers have a curved design to eliminate any corners or crevices where dirt can collect, in fact, and they are also tightly sealed to prevent product contamination and enhance safety. This feature is a particularly advantage in vulnerable environments such as the healthcare sector: for example, the Tork SmartOne Toilet Paper Dispenser is designed to have no fissures or openings where items such as sharps or medication could be stored.
To make life easier for the ageing population and the less abled, many of today’s soap dispensers – such as the Tork Foam Soap Dispenser - require a lower push force to aid people with a low hand strength. Meanwhile, paper dispensers are designed to provide easier access to the hand towels and toilet tissue inside. And in hospitals and care homes, dispensers are being supplied in bold colours to form a contrast with the wall and make them easier to spot for the visually-impaired. Tork Elevation dispensers are available in black as well as white to serve this purpose.
Meanwhile, the focus on sustainability and the need to cut costs have led to manufacturers limiting the amount of waste produced in the washroom wherever possible. As a result, manufacturers are designing dispensers that naturally control consumption by making it difficult for users to take out more soap or paper than they need. The Tork Matic Hand Towel Dispenser and the Tork SmartOne Toilet Paper Dispenser are both examples of this type of system.
Essity are taking sustainability to the next level by pioneering a new service that takes away customers’ used towels and recycles them. Tork PaperCircle is a scheme by which hand towels are sent to one of our local mills where they are turned into products such as toilet paper and couch rolls. Tork PaperCircle has now been implemented in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and will eventually be rolled out across Europe.
“The big divide between yesterday’s feminine, flower-bedecked ladies’
loos and the scruffy, smelly gents’ has narrowed amid growing calls for equality.”
However, perhaps the biggest change to our society we have seen over the past 15 years has been the
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