Today is World Toilet Day

[Recursion]

http://www.un.org/en/events/toiletday/

2.4 billion People do not have adequate sanitation. 1 billion people still defecate in the open. Poor sanitation increases the risk of disease and malnutrition, especially for women and children. Women and girls risk rape and abuse, because they have no toilet that offers privacy.

This year, World Toilet Day is focusing on the link between sanitation and nutrition, drawing the world’s attention to the importance of toilets in supporting better nutrition and improved health. Lack of access to clean drinking water and sanitation, along with the absence of good hygiene practices, are among the underlying causes of poor nutrition.

The aim of World Toilet Day is to raise awareness about the people in the world who don’t have access to a toilet, despite the fact that it is a human right to have clean water and sanitation.“

On this day people are encouraged to take action and help promote the idea that more needs to be done. You can host an exhibition, write a toilet song, host a dinner or draw a cartoon – anything that shows #wecantwait any longer and that everyone worldwide must have access to a toilet.

"The 2030 Agenda calls on us to renew our efforts in providing access to adequate sanitation worldwide. We must continue to educate and protect communities at risk, and to change cultural perceptions and long-standing practices that hinder the quest for dignity."

-- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

[Sherman A1]

1. And

It's International Men's Day along with a few other things...... http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018815903#post5

[AngryAmish]

2. Poo in the Loo

[bananas]

3. Hug a toilet today!

Just kidding - this is a serious topic.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

21. I haven't hugged a toilet since college.

Good times, those. Well, some of the times that I can remember.

[freedom fighter jh]

4. Would love to see some entrepreneur . . .

intall toilets and a sewage system in some overcrowded slum where people are forced to poop in public in exchange for the rights to the sewage -- and then sell it for fertilizer. I wonder if one could make money that way.

[Recursion]

8. There's a test project doing just that in India

Though it's being done in rural locations rather than urban ones (and apparently urine is more immediately monetizable, so that's what it's starting with). The villagers get a share of the revenues, and so far the business is making a killing selling the nitrogen and uric acid for agricultural and industrial uses.

[freedom fighter jh]

12. Cool!

[Recursion]

14. It was taking investors at one point; I'll see if I can find that press release again (nt)

[freedom fighter jh]

15. I'd love to see it. Thanks.

[redwitch]

5. Now I have to pee.

To be serious though I wish everyone in the world had proper sanitation. The planet and people on it would be healthier. Too bad we spend our resources on endless war instead.

[Recursion]

16. War that in fact destroys sanitation infrastructure

So it's not even treading water; after every war somebody has to go back and re-build all of that sewage infrastructure. And that doesn't get much attention in peace settlements...

[central scrutinizer]

20. But, but, but, that sounds like socialism

Where's the profit for the all important 1%ers?

[redwitch]

22. I'm sure there's money to be made.

Just maybe less money than perpetual war.

[pinboy3niner]

6. It's No Joke: The State of the World's Toilets 2015 (report from WaterAid)

For people in developed countries, flushing a toilet and turning on a tap is taken for granted. But more than 650 million people in the world do not have access to clean water, and more than 2.3 billion do not have access to a safe, private toilet.

Diarrhoea is one of the three most common killers of young children globally, along with pneumonia and malaria. Most of these deaths – 58% of them – could be prevented by clean water, sanitation and good hygiene including handwashing with soap.

That is 315,000 children...who could be saved every year.

This is a problem that can be solved. This report shows us where we need to start.

...


http://www.wateraid.org/what-we-do/our-approach/research-and-publications/view-publication?id=c8e9d0b5-3384-4483-beff-a8efef8f342a

[Recursion]

11. It would save more lives than stopping AIDS

That's my general comeback when people snicker about toilets. (I volunteer for a water and sanitation oriented NGO so I give a lot of presentations that start, in the west, with "I'm going to say 'toilet' so you can all get the giggling out of your system. Now, more children die from diarrhea than AIDS...&quot

[redwitch]

17. I cannot imagine living in a place where there is no proper sanitation.

How many millions don't have it? The number I know is staggering. It is a sin that we spend our money on war and don't address this. In fact if we did address the hellish conditions people live in there would not be war.

[Recursion]

19. 2.4 billion have no toilets

1 billion don't even have a latrine pit and have to defecate in the open

[FSogol]

7. Probably man's greatest invention. No joke, the public health valve of

Last edited Thu Nov 19, 2015, 09:49 AM - Edit history (1)

the toilet exceeds even such discoveries as vaccinations

[Recursion]

9. Definitely (nt)

[NightWatcher]

10. I celebrate everyday, sometimes twice a day.

[Vinca]

13. It should coincide with "Flush-A-Republican Day."

[dembotoz]

18. remember kohler is on strike