ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

Domestic toilets are being rented out to festival-goers in the US in a bid to solve the twin problems of loo shortages and public urination.

Airpnp, a service said to offer a legal alternative to urinating in public, was tried out for the first time at this year's annual Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans.

Founders Max Gaudin and Travis Laurendine came up with the idea after regularly encountering problems when trying to find a toilet at the festival.
The men, who both come from New Orleans, had observed that the toilet shortages prompted some visitors to urinate in public which is a criminal offence in the city. Perpetrators face stiff penalties that could even include a prison sentence.

Airpnp claims to have solved the problem by connecting festival-goers who are desperate to spend a penny with New Orleans residents willing to rent out their private toilets at up to five dollars a go.

Users can select a toilet from a series of images posted on the Airpnp website, where they can also see descriptions of the amenities including levels of cleanliness and thickness of the toilet paper. Airpnp customers can even rate their "pee experience" afterwards.

Nearly 2,000 people had signed up to use the service by the start of the festival, and around 20 householders had offered up their toilets. The founders plan to build on the success of the service and while the site so far is only available online, a smartphone app is in the pipeline.