Editorial: A smarter toilet can help the world
Tove Larsen, second from right, of Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, talks about their diversion toilet at the "Reinventing the Toliet" Fair in Seattle. The fair is part of a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation competition to reinvent the toilet for the 2.6 billion people around the world who don't have access to modern sanitation. (Aug. 14, 2012) Credit: AP
5 cents -- That's what the Gates Foundation wants reinvented toilets to cost per day for areas lacking modern sanitation. Designers were invited to create a toilet that is cost-efficient, needs no running water and captures usable energy from waste. Our ever-present flush toilets aren't available to two-thirds of humanity, and about 1.5 million children die annually from diseases due to tainted food and water. The World Health Organization says every $1 invested in improving sanitation delivers up to $9 in social savings. Pocket change can change the world.
