In the small town of Port Edward, located just south of Prince Rupert in northwest British Columbia, residents are being offered free toilets on a first-come, first-served basis. These low-flush toilets have been stored in the district office basement for the past twenty years, remaining from a water conservation initiative in 2003.
Tyson Schofield, the district’s chief administrative officer, expressed that the toilets were taking up unnecessary space in the basement and decided to distribute them to residents for their intended use. Schofield, who took up his position in June after relocating from the City of Delta, discovered 35 unused toilets in the office basement and initiated the program to give them away for free.
The district announced the free toilet giveaway on social media with an image of Oprah Winfrey and the caption, “You get a toilet! You get a toilet! You get a toilet!” By the following day, 18 toilets had already been claimed by residents.
One of the residents, Teresa Andrews, praised the initiative, stating it allowed them to upgrade their toilets without the need to purchase one from a hardware store. Schofield mentioned that the original purchase of the toilets in 2003 was part of a water usage reduction strategy during the reconstruction of the water treatment plant.
While Schofield acknowledged the age of the toilets, being over 20 years old, he highlighted that two of them were recently installed in the district office and have been functioning well. He emphasized the importance of water conservation despite the age of the toilets.
