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Disposable Toilet To Change the World
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.”'"
Maybe he'll donate a bunch of them to the Red Cross? It still needs to be continually supplied in a viable fashion.
The best solution I can imagine is making deals with local governments... not that they care about the population over there, mind you.
Nothing lasts forever but the certainty of change.
ok these bags may be better than the current method but it's still pretty much a band-aid solution. It's hardly going to "save the world".
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.
It would be interesting to see a corporate model that allows these items to be sold to the hiker/camper crowd in the first world with revenue for those sales being used to donate the bags to places with a need. For example, I could easily see the Seattle area yuppie hiker crowd paying $10 for three bags at REI. Let's say it costs $5 to produce, package, import, market, and retail these bags. $4 of the remaining $5 could be used to produce more bags and donate them to international aid organizations.
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.
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
e.g.
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=methane+digester
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.
Deleted
That's the case here in New Orleans, too. You can suck off another dude on Bourbon St. during Mardi Gras right in front of a cop, but as soon as you start to piss in an alley, you're going down.
Scorta futuere amo!
The disposable toilets could also be used after disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes or tornadoes. It also might be useful for homeowners to use during a several day long power outage after a wind storm or an ice storm. It would be an alternative to grabbing a shovel and going in the back yard or on undeveloped land nearby.
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.
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.
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
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
From Reference.com:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/franchise
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.
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.
A guy can't afford a can of beans
there is always a ready supply of babies.
I have a Modest Proposal for you...