In our eyes, a key and vital opportunity of the toilets of tomorrow is the ability to not only convert waste into energy or something safe and reusable, but also to educate its users on new and better ways to deal with human waste. To not continue the paradigm of forgetting about waste after it’s flushed, not knowing where it goes or how (or even if) it is treated.
For many in developing countries, there are entire generations of people who have lived the better part of their lives without proper sanitation. Open defecation is literally a part of their day-to-day activities. Studies have shown that getting them to change their old habits can be a tough nut to crack. But, the good news is that showing younger generations a better way, is starting to bear fruit.
A recent article in The Guardian, “Poo power: fuelling schools and teaching students a lesson” speaks to how educators and innovators are trying to bring the topic of alternative fuels into school curriculum. Be it via natural gas production from a biogas digester, or the anaerobic digestion in worms to produce fertilizer, there are many alternatives to show children that there is a better way to deal with the waste we humans produce.
“The educational value of this technology is also high, claims Gardiner. She hopes that by discussing the topic in class, young people will be inspired to develop the next generation of energy producing toilets.” – quoted in the article linked above, Virginia Gardiner, chief executive of Loowatt
We couldn’t agree more. The more we inject these problems and their respective alternative solutions into the minds of future generations, the more these innovations will become the norm and less of a perceived “impossible dream”.