PeePoople Genius!
In Developing nations that require prompt action to assure the prosperity of its people, land and culture, one must not start at such a large scale—Infrastructure, governmental revolutions and other such grand plans are not going to work. Not yet. Smaller scale, simple, local projects that will make an immediate differences that are measurable to the people/land it is helping are the way to begin the crisis of over and under development on this planet.
The Millennium Development Goals proposed by the United Nations outline a strong need for the participation of economically prosperous countries to alleviate many development issues amongst third world countries. Hygiene and Sanitation issues have been determining factors in many of the issues discussed in the millennium development goals such as: child mortality, health, and environmental sustainability.
PeePoople is a Non Government Organization that has taken the idea of simple, small and local into great consideration with their innovative product to help with the sanitation of urine and fecal matter: the Peepoo bag. The Peepoo bag is essentially a single use toilet that does not demand any sort of water flow infrastructure, or structure at all. It is a personal bag that measures 14 by 38 centimeters in which people who lack the everyday amenity of a toilet can use to safely dispose of urinary and fecal matter. The materials of the bag contain enzymes that react with urine and feces that raise the PH levels of the material, allowing natural hygeinisation to begin. Dangerous Pathogens found in urine and feces are killed after two to four days in the Peepoo bag, which would otherwise end up infecting nearby groundwater, streams and ponds. These bags then biodegrade and act as fertilizer to the land they occupy.
Currently these bags are made from 45% reused materials, and have a fairly low cost of production. The cost however is not low enough—developing nations have not yet adopted this method of sanitation, nor have they been educated of its usages and benefits.
Let's get this out there!
Let's get this out there!
I think the peepoo bag is a very cool and original idea. The thing that is most important about this idea is to keep the waste out of the local water sources. Where this project is aimed towards is obviously areas where there is a lack of infastructure and clean water. Today we live in a world were over 17% of people living on earth do not have access to clean water, and that alone kills more people in Africa everyday than HIV/AIDS.
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