Upper Loire. They rent dry toilets to finance their activities

You can be an association installed in a tiny town and have bright ideas. This is the case of Senois

in Saint-Austremoine, a hamlet of only 43 inhabitants south of Lavoûte-Chilhac and at the gates of Cantal.

A real stroke of genius

In 2004, officials decided to organize various cultural events. But how to fund them? They reflect, consider different concepts… Until the stroke of genius in 2008: why not rent dry toilets to festivals all over France? Practical and eco-friendly, it should work… Since then, Senois volunteers have been called upon throughout France. “The first to trust us was the Alba-la-Romaine festival (Ardèche), and this for a decade,” recalls Nicolas Chaudoir, coordinator of the association. Then followed, among others, the MadCow (Cantal) and that of Thau (Hérault).

Customers have the choice between two offers: self-management (the association only lends the cabins) or “turnkey” (loan of the cabins and intervention of a team that takes care of everything during the event: installation, emptying, maintenance, etc.).

“K-fé Cirk is very young but it is our flagship activity, we are still looking for our stability”, confides Nicolas Chaudoir. He would like to “find a more central place, in order to be able to reach more people. In the next three years, we want to perpetuate our cultural action before launching other projects”.

^{The money collected thanks to the dry toilets also allows Senois to invest in equipment: sound system, stage, light… “It guarantees us autonomy, says the coordinator. And then, we can also offer this service on loan in the Haute-Loire when we are not using it. “Hey, another idea?}