The average person uses a toilet 2,500 times a year and spends three years of his or her life on the toilet. That's pretty startling when you consider that 2.6 billion people on the planet have little or no access to sanitary toilets. If there is one thing I can't stand, it's a filthy public restroom--you've heard the phrase, you can tell the state of a restaurant by judging the state of its restrooms. A place with empty soap dispensers or toilet paper scattered all over the floor or overflowing trash cans is not likely to provide an edible meal.
But that's not the kind of dirty restroom I'm talking about. I'm talking about toilets so unsanitary you wouldn't let your cows use them. I'm talking about toilets so dysfunctional, the waste empties untreated directly into the environment. I'm talking about such unsanitary conditions that 2 million people die every year from diarrheal diseases, diseases that could be prevented with the accessibility of simple, sanitary toilets and water management suitable for specific environments and cultures.
It would cost $10 billion annually to provide sanitary toilet facilities worldwide, which is about one percent of what the world spends on its militaries around the world, or about what Europeans spend on ice cream. Groups like the World Toilet Association and an unrelated group, The World Toilet Organization, are helping us all to become aware of this global crisis.
Sim Jae-duck, also known as Mr. Toilet, is the newly elected president of the WTA and is a member of parliament in South Korea. He has taken on this crisis with such voracity, he has built his own house in the shape of a toilet just to raise awareness and money. For $50,000, you can spend the night in Jae-duck's house, with the money going toward the work of the WTA . Sim Jae-duck has centered his life's work around providing sanitary conditions to those in need around the world. He started with providing modern toilets for his own city of Suwon in preparation for the 2002 World Cup, and his "toilet culture" quickly spread throughout South Korea. Now, he's gone global.
Long live the revolution.
And with this, I end my participation in NaBloPoMo. The End.
But that's not the kind of dirty restroom I'm talking about. I'm talking about toilets so unsanitary you wouldn't let your cows use them. I'm talking about toilets so dysfunctional, the waste empties untreated directly into the environment. I'm talking about such unsanitary conditions that 2 million people die every year from diarrheal diseases, diseases that could be prevented with the accessibility of simple, sanitary toilets and water management suitable for specific environments and cultures.
It would cost $10 billion annually to provide sanitary toilet facilities worldwide, which is about one percent of what the world spends on its militaries around the world, or about what Europeans spend on ice cream. Groups like the World Toilet Association and an unrelated group, The World Toilet Organization, are helping us all to become aware of this global crisis.
Sim Jae-duck, also known as Mr. Toilet, is the newly elected president of the WTA and is a member of parliament in South Korea. He has taken on this crisis with such voracity, he has built his own house in the shape of a toilet just to raise awareness and money. For $50,000, you can spend the night in Jae-duck's house, with the money going toward the work of the WTA . Sim Jae-duck has centered his life's work around providing sanitary conditions to those in need around the world. He started with providing modern toilets for his own city of Suwon in preparation for the 2002 World Cup, and his "toilet culture" quickly spread throughout South Korea. Now, he's gone global.Long live the revolution.
And with this, I end my participation in NaBloPoMo. The End.
Comments
What a splendid way to finish NaBloPoMo, Robyn.
Congratulations on completing it two years running.
Tuna Noodle Casserole Week and Toilet Week were wonderful additions to my life.
The thing that most inspired me about today's post is the discovery that we Europeans spend once percent of the world's military budget on ice cream.
Now if we ALL ate lots more ice cream instead of selling weapons the world would be a safer and more delicious place.
3 years of our lives spent on the toilet eh? No wonder most people get hemorrhoids.
Guggenhiem, I didn't realize most people get hemorrhoids. I will not be doing a week on that subject.
Congrats on thirty days of wonderful posts!
This reflects poorly on me. I know it.