Bill Gates Wants To Reinvent the Toilet

redletterdave writes "Bill Gates, the man responsible for bringing software to the masses with Microsoft and Windows, has plans to reinvent and popularize another industry: Sanitation. Gates, whose philanthropic efforts have helped bring clean water and resources to developing countries via the foundation created by he and his wife Melinda, said at the 'Reinvent The Toilet Fair' in Seattle on Wednesday that he plans to build a toilet that's better suited to developing countries in an effort to cut down on disease and death in those regions. 'Inventing new toilets is one of the most important things we can do to reduce child deaths and disease and improve people's lives,' Gates said. 'It is also something that can help wealthier countries conserve fresh water for other important purposes besides flushing.'" Science Insider has some information on the winning designs from this year.

Comments

Re:Good for Bill. And: read "The Big Necessity."

[datavirtue]

If Bill Gates had stayed in college he would know that to help the world you need to engineer a solution that appeals to economic interest. It is called innovation and it is the cornerstone of our society--an extension of nature arising from reason. Bill Gates never innovated, he "lawyered" his way through business dealings on the ground floor of a budding industry he was interested in--coached by his father (a lawyer). Funny, economic interests fueled his ambition for success, but the principle eludes him. :)