CANADA: How to get all the poop on the best lavatories

02.mar.08
canada.com
Misty Harris

barfblog 

A national, interactive map was launched this month that allows Canadians to chart their favourite restrooms across the country, evaluating each one on a five-star system that reflects overall accessibility, cleanliness, lineups, location and decor.
Although the online map at powderroom.ca is part of a campaign to promote awareness of overactive bladder, a condition affecting 12 to 18 per cent of Canadians, it's likely to benefit anyone planning a road trip - especially those accompanied by kids.
Stewart, a registered nurse and continence adviser at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, was quoted as saying, "You not only have to plan around the gas gauge but around the bladder gauge as well."
The story says that a similar effort already has proven successful in Australia where, since 2001, the government-funded National Toilet Map has given folks the loo lowdown on roughly 14,000 private and public bathrooms in the area.
Stewart was further quoted as saying, "There are people who are terrified to leave their homes because of an overactive bladder. (A restroom map) shows them there's life beyond the front door."
Because the site relies on the public to identify each city's restrooms, its value will rise in direct proportion to the number of Canadians who participate.
Diane St. Louis, a frequent business traveller from Kingston, Ont., was cited as saying her global misadventures with public washrooms make her acutely appreciative of the map's value, adding, "When I was in China recently, we would send a person from our group into the washroom in advance, and she'd come out and tell us if it was a one, two, three or four," explaining that a 'four' was a well-maintained environment while a 'one' was a restroom worthy of vaccinations.