Here’s one unsavory trend public restrooms can actually get rid of

Reimagining the public restroom experience to decrease littering by germaphobes.

Last week, in the public restroom of Angelika film center, I saw a woman by the door furtively look around to try to make sure no one was watching (which only made me watch closer) before throwing her paper towel on the floor and scurrying out of the room.

This is not an isolated issue. Passiveaggressivenotes.com has an entire compilation of notes left in the restroom that deal with people leaving paper towels on the restroom floor:

What’s Going On Here?

This isn’t inexplicable littering. What these instances have in common is that these people are germ-conscious users who want to avoid directly touching the doorknob. The way they do this is by using the paper towel to open the restroom door handle on their way out. But if the trashcan is too far away from the door, then it becomes difficult for them to throw the paper towel away in a trashcan while also avoiding touching the door. Hence the littering and warranted outrage from others who want a cleaner restroom experience.

In fairness to the germ-conscious, it can feel like you’re defeating the purpose of washing your hands if you’re going to immediately touch something, like the doorknob, that may be contaminated, since not everyone washes their hands. The CDC reported that only 31% of men and 65% of women washed their hands after using a public restroom.

But clearly, paper towels being thrown on the floor is an issue, for all public restroom users.

The woman I saw was visibly uncomfortable with the prospect of being identified as a litterer in front of others. There was a clear desire to avoid public shaming or disapproval.

And on the other side of things, it’s justifiably frustrating for the management and janitorial staff to see countless paper towels on the floor. Littering can be upsetting, but it can feel like even more of an affront if you don’t know why the littering is happening.

Then there are the rest of us. Possibly bemused but also potentially annoyed by catching these litterers in the act or seeing the fruits of their litter on the floor. Regardless, the litter impacts the way we see the space and characterize our experience.

Persona-lizing the Experience

Reflecting on my casual and online proto-ethnographies, I created some proto-personas to reflect some of the user types I identified:

What Can Be Done?

Given the above, the design challenge is as follows:

How might we reimagine the public restroom experience to decrease littering by germaphobes?

opportunities for exploration

After some serious pondering of the aforementioned issue and given the above findings, here’s what I’ve come up with for potential solutions.

Idea 1: Install a trashcan right by the door so that people using paper towels to open the door as they exit can easily deposit them into the trash as they leave.

Something like this, but make it ~fashion~

Pros:

1. Relevance: Users responding to the notes from passiveaggressivenotes.com have themselves suggested this solution to reduce littering.
2. Cost effective.
3. Easy to implement.

Cons:

1. This can still be a bit of a dance. Unsuccessful attempts will still lead to litter.

Idea 2: Implement push (instead of pull) doors as people exit public restrooms.

Pros:

1. Easy for the user: Germ-conscious users could simply nudge the door open with their foot to leave. No dance required.
2. Probable higher preventative litter rate when compared to idea 1.
3. Environmentally conscious: A push door eliminates the need for germ conscious users to waste an extra paper towel on covering the door handle.

Cons:

1. May be difficult to implement: The implementation of this solution hinges on whether or not a push door in this context would align with building and/or safety codes.
2. Caution required: If a door opens outwards, especially in a crowded area, there is a risk that someone outside the room could get hit with the opening door. As such the risk and liability is likely greater. One way to combat this would be to install a partially transparent door that allows you to see who is on the other side.

Idea 3: Install automatic doors via accessibility buttons or specific stepping areas.

Pros:

1. Easy for the user: Again, no dance required, with the caveat that these doors would have to stay open for a decent amount of time to comfortably allow the user to throw away their paper towel before exiting.
2. Probable higher preventative litter rate when compared to idea 1.
3. Environmentally conscious: An automatic door, especially one without an accompanying button, eliminates the need for germ conscious users to waste an extra paper towel on covering the door handle.

Cons:

1. Expensive.
2. Potentially high renovation burden: For existing establishments, this change may require more invasive renovation before the restroom is usable.

This restroom at the Ikebukuro train station in Tokyo has automatic sliding doors (via soranews24.com).

Idea 4: Remove the restroom door completely (gasp).
(I know, this might sound strange. But it’s actually not uncommon. The AMC in La Jolla, for example, doesn’t have a main restroom door. They also have a twisted entrance for privacy.)

At AMC La Jolla 12, this twisted entrance leads to a sign, either side of which leads to two restrooms.

Pros:

1. Easy for the user: Again, no dance required. Simply exit.
2. Probable higher preventative litter rate when compared to idea 1.
3. Environmentally conscious: Eliminating the restroom door eliminates the need for germ conscious users to waste an extra paper towel on covering the door handle.
4. Accessibility: This solution would also improve the ease of the experience for even more kinds of users, including folks in wheelchairs.

Cons:

1. Privacy: A lack of a door could raise privacy concerns. This could be addressed by designing a twisted entrance so that people inside the restroom aren’t exposed to those outside the restroom.
2. Potentially high renovation burden: For existing establishments, this change may require more invasive renovation before the restroom is usable.

Either way, feeling judged or disrespected in a public restroom is far from ideal. But improving the experience is actually in our hands — and paper towels. So let’s put the rest back in restrooms (someone please put that on a t-shirt ASAP).