Friday, July 22, 2011

The Toilet Reinvented

After so many calls to address not only the water and sanitation issues facing First Nations, what is badly needed is some innovation. Or maybe we need to go back to the basics and remember that there was a time when we our society did not depend on intensive use of energy, infrastructure and massive amounts of clean (treated) water to transport away our waste. Indeed, we used to know that our 'waste' wasn't actually waste, that it could be fertilizer (just like every other living creature's waste!)

While I keep waiting for our governments to commit to innovation in addressing the waste and water problems we have, look at what The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is doing: a $41.5 million donation into new program investments and new strategies regarding waste, and in particular, the toilet. Check out the blog of One.org at http://www.one.org/blog/2011/07/20/reinventing-an-18th-century-invention-the-toilet/ for a full story (and a VERY COOL VIDEO) explaining what's happening in this project. The end result? Here's a bit from the blog:

The Gates Foundation’s Water Sanitation & Hygiene program collaborated with Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) in Global Health and challenged 22 universities to create a proposal for a technologically advanced toilet. The criteria for the toilets are pretty intense. Each toilet has to be hygienic, affordable, and independent from a sewage system.

Surprisingly, eight of these universities not only devised proposals that met the above criteria, they also used technological and scientific advances to make the toilets even more cutting edge. These proposed inventions even have the ability to transform waste into energy, clean water and nutrients. It’s pretty incredulous, but if you don’t believe me, check it out for yourself. The Gates Foundation has a list of the eight toilet proposals that were awarded grants.

Maybe we could consider some of this innovation to address our water and waste woes?

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