The most important reason we care about toilets is because we believe that every child deserves to live to celebrate their fifth birthday. 98% of water born illnesses are caused by illnesses that can be eliminated if we improve access to sanitation and hygiene. These are preventable health issues. If we work to improve sanitation we can bring down the number of cases of cholera, typhoid, river blindness, diarrhea and all of their nasty friends. In just one gram of poop you will find 10 million viruses, 1 million bacteria, 1000 parasite cysts and 100 worm eggs! Just think about this—the amount of children that cholera and typhoid kill each year would equate to one jumbo jet full children kids crashing every hour. Improving sanitation can save the equivalent of one jumbo jet of kids every hour. That’s reason enough to care about toilets.
Can you imagine dropping out of school because you don’t have access to a toilet? For many children, particularly girls reaching the age of puberty, this is a reality. In Sub-Saharan Africa, roughly 1/3 of girls will drop out of school because they don’t have a safe and clean place to go when they start menstruating. This is unacceptable! Latrines can increase school attendance by at least 15%. If education is the door to opportunity, then clean, safe toilets are the key.
Accelerate the Economy, Protect the Environment
Inadequate sanitation costs countries like India and many in sub-Saharan Africa considerable economic losses, in some cases up to 6.5% of a county’s GDP. Imagine what else they could be doing with this money if we could help to lower that burden. That’s 6.5 % that could be invested into jobs, innovation, or infrastructure. Toilets are more than just a way to reduce costs. They’re an opportunity for growth. Sanitation franchises and hygiene products are incredible business opportunities for new entrepreneurs. Human waste can be composted into fertilizer that improves local agriculture, or into methane-based energy, keeping local markets open well past sundown. Every dollar invested in sanitation brings an average $7 return in health costs averted and productivity gained.