Disposable Toilet To Change the World 413
captn ecks writes "A biodegradable and self-sterilizing bag for people of the toilet-disenfranchised world (40% of humankind) to dispose of their bodily waste and turn it into safe fertilizer has been created by a Swedish entrepreneur. It's a dead simple and brilliant solution to a vexing problem. From the article: 'Once used, the bag can be knotted and buried, and a layer of urea crystals breaks down the waste into fertilizer, killing off disease-producing pathogens found in feces. The bag, called the Peepoo, is the brainchild of Anders Wilhelmson, an architect and professor in Stockholm. “Not only is it sanitary,” said Mr. Wilhelmson, who has patented the bag, “they can reuse this to grow crops.”'"
Re:Not to be a naysayer, but can people afford thi (Score:2, Interesting)
The best solution I can imagine is making deals with local governments... not that they care about the population over there, mind you.
Why don't they build themselves a sewer system (Score:5, Interesting)
What I don't get is, why doesn't Kenya and all these other 3rd world countries build a real sewer system? It's not rocket science; the Romans did it over 2000 years ago using nothing but hand tools, rocks and some volcanic cement. Yes it was labor intensive, but AFAIK labor shortage isn't a problem in most 3rd world countries, is it? Besides they should be able to get access to some heavy diesel equipment on loan through UNICEF or World Bank or some such organization.
Perhaps a buy one donate several model? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Complex problem, simple solution. (Score:3, Interesting)
Except you could probably just pour urea crystals into a cesspool and get largely the same effect, without the expense of the bags.
A single bag is 2-3 cents. Assuming you only use it for feces, you're going to use at least one of these a day. A village of 100 people is going to go through $3 a day in these, and on that kind of money you could feed six of them.
I'm not saying this is a bad idea, only that it appears to be an overengineered one.
Shit provides both food and fuel (Score:5, Interesting)
e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=methane+digester [youtube.com]
You get methane which can be burned as fuel and the digestate is high in nitrogen, phosphorus and calcium.
Alternatively, lower tech without the gas tight fittings, drop the methane capture idea and use a dry toilet. It's more a matter of education and organisation than anything else.
I'll just point out that by not doing this in the west, we are effectively extracting phosphorus, nitrogen and calcium from our fields and pumping it into rivers and oceans. We then burn a load of fuel to dig up more phosphorus and calcium elsewhere and burn natural gas to produce nitrates to put back on the fields. It's dumb.
Re:Great for 1st world situations too... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Why don't they build themselves a sewer system (Score:4, Interesting)
why doesn't Kenya and all these other 3rd world countries build a real sewer system?
Way to wait till someone invents a simple solution, to come up with an even simpler solution!
Also... I heard that a lot of people don't even have bread to eat. Why don't they just eat cake?
"Why don't they just" is a good solution to having the poor pull themselves up out of poverty by their bootstraps, but there are a lot of interrelated problems keeping them down, that need to be solved first (or simultaneously) in order to allow building infrastructure to pay off. It's worth trying to tackle, I think, but I also think that a few thousand dollars worth of bags that turn disease-producing waste into fertilizer would go a LOT further than the same money spent on heavy diesel equipment.
Also keep in mind that much of rural north america isn't fit with a sewer system, and if it's not feasible here it certainly isn't in rural parts of the third world. A sewer system isn't a solution for all parts of the world.
Could also be used after earthquakes or tornadoes (Score:4, Interesting)
Baby wipes or similar disposable disinfectant wipes could be used to clean the person's hands afterwards, if no working water faucet is available. I sometimes use a baby wipe for my hands after using a Clivus Multrum composting toilet or an old pit toilet in the national forest, where no running water is available. I usually keep several in my day pack when hiking, just in case. The baby wipes could also be used on overnight backpacking trips when camping where no running water is available.
As a child, I remember visiting a several older relatives such as my grandparents, who had an outhouse on each of their farms. Grandpa's was a three hole outhouse. If I remember correctly, they had a small bucket of lime and would sometimes sprinkle a little over the poop. There was also some corn cobs and an old Sears catalog, just in case they ever ran out of toilet paper. If I am not mistaken, the corn cob is supposed to be used together with a page from the Sears catalog. As a child, I also enjoyed using the hand operated pump for pumping water from the well.
Of course they did also have one toilet and running water in the house, but as a child I found it more interesting to use the outhouse and the hand pumped well.
Re:Perhaps a buy one donate several model? (Score:3, Interesting)
How about California? (Score:3, Interesting)
Forget the article writeup, my first thought was California. All of the illegals working on the fields have no place to "go". Some farms might provide facilities but when the need is there they are too far away. Currently, the field becomes a toilet - be sure to wash that broccoli!!
I might be wrong regarding the severity of the problem in California, but I know it is a problem around Vancouver. Considering how much more produce is grown in California and its general vicinity to Mexico, I would imagine the problem being far worse. This bag provides a possible solution. One would just have to require that farms provide them for their workers. And the farms can afford them.
Re:What does a toilet have to do with voting? (Score:4, Interesting)
The results is Dis*Enfranchise*d. The definition of the word is similarly reflected by modifiers. We take the root word, negate it (as in make it negative or opposite to the original meaning) and also state that the subject it is referring to has already happened (as in the past).
The definition Enfranchise according to Merriam-Webster is as follows:
Source:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enfranchise [merriam-webster.com]
The first definition, "to set free" is simple enough. The second definition is simply one who has received a Franchise (our subject is a group of people after all), so let us examine the definition of Franchise. In essence, it is a right to something. (The etymology of the word is interesting, its base having the meaning "free".)
So back to analyzing the summary:
If we assume the summary refers to those people who have no access to a toilet then the definition does match the usage of the word. In addition if you have no alternative other than using a toilet (or perceive no alternative) then the word would be correct in its usage. In either case the word would be correct in usabe bacause the person(s) are certainly not free, they are constrained in either choice or action.
If we assume the usage is to apply to those who don't *like* toilets and would prefer an alternative then the word is misused.
I would recommend reading a book of grammar and the rules of the English language before commenting on the meaning of words. I would also recommend that you stop assuming that you know exactly what group of unnamed people a speaker or author refers to.
I am sure you have heard of the saying about what happens when you assume things. =)
Here would be some examples of dictionary references to the word Franchise:
From Merriam-Webster:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/franchise [merriam-webster.com]
From Reference.com:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/franchise [reference.com]
Re:Better idea (Score:3, Interesting)
It's not that they don't have access to birth control (well, some don't, but...), it's that many/most people in those places don't necessarily want it. Change attitudes about that and they'll do a lot to get their own birth control. Otherwise, giving away a bunch of free rubbers just translates into amusing balloon tricks for the impoverished world.
Re:Not to be a naysayer, but can people afford thi (Score:1, Interesting)
These places usually don't have much of social safety net to care for the aged. Therefore, if you want to be taken care of in your old age you better have as many children as you can, while you can, in the hopes that they will be able to share the burden between them to do so.
Re:Not to be a naysayer, but can people afford thi (Score:3, Interesting)
A guy can't afford a can of beans
there is always a ready supply of babies.
I have a Modest Proposal [wikipedia.org] for you...
Re:Perhaps a buy one donate several model? (Score:3, Interesting)