A couple of years ago I went backpacking for the first time, trekking through the Grand Canyon to the Havasupai Indian Reservation, a lush waterfall infused oasis in the middle of the desert that features some of the most tranquil, crystal clear water you will ever see in your entire life. It was heaven on Earth. There was just one problem: the bathrooms near the campsites were virtually unusable. If the smell didn’t get you, the thousands of horse flies buzzing around you would.
Most people just grin and bear it. Chalk it up to being part of the experience. Roughing it in Mother Nature is part of the appeal they’ll say. But, really, what other choice did they have? When nature calls, you answer. I, on the other hand, a true City Slicker in every sense of the word, take drastic action when the situation calls for it. Which in this case meant hiking two miles to the nearest village just to use a flush toilet. A decision that nearly cost me my life when I was too exhausted to hike out of the canyon the following day. And I’m one of the lucky ones! I live in the modernized Western world. I have access to clean toilets and sanitary conditions most of the time. The only times I wouldn’t would be when I go camping, a situation that I put myself in voluntarily.
Others aren’t so lucky. For half of the world’s population there are no good options. No hiking to nearby villages either. There only options are to go to the bathroom in deplorable, unsanitary pit latrines or in some random spot in nature with no privacy. Either way there isn’t any way for them to dispose of their waste. Nearby streams become natural dumping grounds. Little kids play in mud that is just crawling with bacteria. Diarrhea claims thousands of lives. Families are torn apart. It’s a significant problem. Albeit one that we’re not paying any attention to. Here in the Western world we’re under the false impression that we’ve already cured sanitation issues. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth. The world needs sanitation innovation and it needs it yesterday. Thankfully, techno philanthropist Bill Gates is on the case and he is determined to reinvent the toilet.
To that end he launched a competition, inviting inventors, engineers, and students from the top universities in the world to design a new type of toilet. One that could operate off the grid, without an external power source, and generate zero waste in the process. A self-sustaining solution that would improve sanitation, reduce the spread of disease, and improve the living conditions for millions of people. And despite the daunting tasks associated with such an undertaking it appears as though he’s actually achieved what he set out to do.
As he describes on his website Gates Notes:
“Our foundation has invested a lot of money to develop a pipeline of next-generation sanitation solutions. In 2011, we launched the Reinvent the Toilet challenge. Many of the solutions created for that challenge are now ready to license. A remarkable cohort of engineers, scientists, companies, and universities around the world has done the hard work of getting a safe, off-grid sanitation market ready for take-off…
Each of these toilets seeks to solve the same problem, but they’ve all taken a different approach to get there. Several run on solar power, so they can operate off-grid.
Others generate their own power, like the Cranfield nanomembrane toilet. Opening or closing its lid moves a screw that separates liquids from solids. A gasifier converts the solids into ash and heat that is used to operate the toilet.
[Meanwhile] a big theme for next-gen toilets is the ability to turn waste into something useful. The Ecosan extracts clean water, which is safe to use for hand-washing. The water created by Duke University’s neighborhood treatment system can be used to flush toilets or supplement fertilizer. The University of South Florida’s New Generator even collects methane gas for cooking or heating.”
These are all innovative solutions and each could find a home somewhere in the developing world. Suddenly, something (the toilet) that hasn’t change for over a hundred years has been reinvented several times over. All thanks to Gates’ refusal to turn a blind eye to the suffering of thousands. The founder of Microsoft Gates could have rested on his laurels. Could have retired early and lived a lavish lifestyle. Instead he started to look for a new challenge. A way to make the biggest impact possible. To get the biggest bang for his buck. That’s not a very inspirational thing to do, as his interviewer points out on the Netflix Special Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill, but inspiration isn’t Gates’ objective. Saving lives is. Which is why in addition to reinventing the toilet he is also out to eradicate polio and malaria. At this rate I wouldn’t bet against him.
Is a reinvented toilet the Greatest Idea Ever?
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