What the world needs now, according to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: better places to poop. This year, the foundation will spend $3 million to fund 8 university teams working to reinvent the toilet. New off-sewer-system toilets for the 21st century would save lives around the world and “turn crap into valuable resources.” And who knows? Backwards thinking like that might end up making it cheaper to build more of our beloved way-out burbs around here too. [Gates Foundation] Video: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
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2 Comments
“turn crap into valuable resources”
Haven’t they been doing that in Japan for years?
My husband was there on R&R way back in the 60′s and he said he observed the “honey wagons” visiting homes at night. He was told that the ‘product’ was used as fertilizer for nearby farms.
Just sayin’
This is a great project.
Like aerobic septic systems which water the lawn with the effluent of the home’s waste, it’s a win-win:
Not only is the water recycled on site, but minerals – such as precious phosphorous – stay ‘at home’ and are not washed eventually into the sea (whence is requires Geologic Time to recover.)
.
However, passing this sort of pinko Commie initiative through Congress would be a whole ‘other story.