Today we solute the unsung hero… the toilet.
November 19, 2009Today is World Toilet Day. I know it sounds funny, but it isn’t. World Toilet Day has been orgnanized to bring attention to importance of sanitation. Currently 2.5 billion people, half the world’s population, don’t have access to toilets or proper sanitation. Even in the world’s wealthiest nations, people still have sanitation problems, destroying our waterways.
What are the ramifications of this problem? Well, they are staggering.
1. 1.8 million deaths, mostly children, are attributed to improper sanitation. (1)
2. Diarrheal diseases caused by improper sanitation kills five times as many children in the developing world as HIV/AIDS (2)
3. The majority of the illness in the world is caused by fecal matter (3)
4. Poor sanitation is the biggest cause of infection in the world (3)
5. This one is horrifying – One gram of feces can contain 10 million viruses, one million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs (4)
If that isn’t enough to make you appreciate your toilet, I don’t know what is.
So, what can we do to make a difference? A few simple things:
1. Keep bathrooms clean – both public and private. Seems simple enough right?
2. Get people much needed access to safe water – The world Toilet Organization reports that U.S. EPA estimates the amount of untreated sewage entering the environment is large enough to fill both the Empire state building and Madison Square Garden (5)… remember how many illness causing items were found in one gram of fecal matter. That is downright frightening.
3. Public Restrooms need to be created and maintained in developing countries – this will help provide these people with both a more sanitary environment as well as the dignity they deserve.
So, be thankful for your toilet today. It very well could be the difference between life and death. To find out more visit the World Toilet Day site.
(1) UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/wash/index_23606.html
(2) UNICEF/WHO. 2008. Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: Special Focus on Sanitation.
(3) Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC). 2008. A Guide to Investigating One of the Biggest Scandals of the Last 50 Years.
(4) UNICEF. http://www.unicef.org/india/wes_4648.htm
(5) NRDC. http://www.nrdc.org/water/pollution/sewage.asp
