Just the basics, World Toilet Day 2012

This most under appreciated topic is a world wide issue.  What we take for granted in America is almost unknown in less fortunate countries.  America’s infrastructure has sanitation and treatment facilities to deal with human waste products.  Admittedly, America’s system is under a lot of stress right now and needs to be addressed. But, for many countries, what we call a “bathroom” is a luxury that only rich people can enjoy.  Sanitation conditions are critical world wide.  What America only experiences after disasters, many countries live with every day.  2.5 billion people lack a clean toilet. Remember the outhouse scene in “Slumdog Millionaire”? That’s 40 per cent of the world’s population.

Did you know :

Thanks to the efforts of  Jack Sim, Founder of World Toilet Organization (WTO)  hosts a yearly Summit, created World Toilet Day and started the World Toilet College (WTC) conducting training courses since 2005.  World Toilet Organization created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation.WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation.

World Toilet Summit 2012

The 12th World Toilet Summit, The 1st for Africa, hosted by SATO and FPD, in December 2012, have been designed to muster the individual and collective minds of academia, legal professionals, technical specialist, industry leaders, gender advocacy, civil society, governments, educators and all other role players in the fields of sanitation, education, health and hygiene and human rights.

19 November every year: Raising awareness of sanitation issues, and of the 2.5 billion who don’t have access to proper sanitation.

Whilst this may sound like quite a frivolous subject for a ‘World Day’, it’s actually very serious. World Toilet Day focuses on the importance of sanitation and aims to raise awareness about the 2.6 billion people (nearly half the world’s population) who don’t have access to toilets and proper sanitation. In the UK, the water charity WaterAid use  World Toilet Day to raise awareness of sanitation issues.

We’ve written a whole article on the subject, see Toilets: We all need to ‘go’ for a wealth of background information and suggestions for approaching this issue in class.

WaterAid in America have a very silly, but educational, online comic, The Adventures of Super Toilet which aims to introduce primary school children to global water and sanitation issues (assuming they can stop giggling, that is…). There are also accompanying activities and notes for teachers and parents.

To find further resources that can help you mark World Toilet Day, in your school, have a browse through the ones listed on the Global Dimension database under the topic of Water. You could also read through our background article on Water.

World Toilet Day 2012: More People Own A Cell Phone Than Toilet, Other Facts To Know

Raising a stink about global sanitation

On 19 November each year World Toilet Day highlights the importance of toilets and each individual’s right to a safe and hygienic sanitary environment.

Lack of safe sanitation has been called a ‘silent crisis’. The international community recognizes World Toilet Day every 19 November to advocate for those who need better sanitation.

Approximately 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation. World Toilet Day  highlights this ‘silent crisis’. Founded in 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation (WTO), the event celebrates the importance of sanitation by supporting and accelerating efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goal target to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015.

This year, WSSCC and WTO proudly present a brand new World Toilet Day campaign. Please take a look and see how you can get involved with the day of not just advocacy but also of real action.

Do you give a shit? We do! http://www.worldtoiletday.org/

This problem is not exclusive to 3rd World Countries.  America has shameful examples of this problem … you don’t hear much about it.

Wastewater –  Aging systems discharge billions of gallons of untreated wastewater into U.S. surface waters each year. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that the nation must invest $390 billion over the next 20 years to update or replace existing systems and build new ones to meet increasing demand.

First Coast vets speak out on impact of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune

Cleanup of Worst U.S. Contaminated Groundwater Sites Unlikely for Many Decades

Tap Water in 42 States Contaminated by Chemicals –  EWG Tap Water Probe Reveals 141 Unregulated Chemicals Flowing into U.S. Homes

Water is the key element for life, on  this planet.  When space exploration looks for planets, the first element that categorizes that planet is if it has water.  Second, is whether it has an atmosphere … which is connected to what kind of water is available. 

What humans take for granted, will ultimately bring about their extinction.  You can hoard all the water you want.  But, your personal ecosystem is critically tied to the ecosystem of the entire planet.  Planet Earth is not your personal ‘Cat Box’.  Mother Nature will dump that box, with you in it, when she is ready to clean it out. 

Solutions

• Increase funding for water infrastructure system improvements and associated operations through a comprehensive program;
• Create a Water Infrastructure Trust Fund to finance the national shortfall in funding of infrastructure systems under the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, including stormwater management and other projects designed to improve the nation’s water quality;
• Retain traditional financing mechanisms, such as appropriations from general treasury funds, issuance of revenue bonds and tax exempt financing at state and local levels, public-private partnerships, state infrastructure banks, and user fees on certain consumer products;
• Expand innovative financing mechanisms, including broad-based environmental restoration taxes.

There are associations and organizations around the world that focus on water, keeping it clean, and educating people how to preserve it.  The first step is understanding HYGIENE.  Hygiene done right can preserve life giving water, hygiene done wrong can ruin perfectly good water by introducing toxic cleaning materials.  Personal hygiene is always the first step to preserving the water you depend on.  Making personal hygiene available to the world will do wonders by reducing the magnitude of pollution our children have to live in. The magnitude of pollution we live with changes our DNA and makes us SICK!.

Courtesy of JustBathroomSigns.com a SmartSign store.