05/20/2026
Today, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors today accepted the final report for the Santa Cruz Container-Based Sanitation Pilot Program, an innovative effort exploring low-water, low-cost sanitation solutions for disaster response, rural communities, and underserved residents following the CZU fires.
This pilot helped evaluate alternative sanitation systems that could support emergency preparedness, wildfire recovery, and infrastructure resilience in Santa Cruz County. The findings highlighted both the potential benefits and the practical challenges of container-based sanitation systems.
Thank you to Design4Earth (formerly GiveLove), County staff, partner agencies, and community participants who helped make this pilot possible through years of collaboration, research, and on the ground work.