Disposable Toilet
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
A biodegradable plastic bag called the Peepoo could make life much easier for the hundreds of millions of urban slum dwellers who lack access to a toilet. The bag, designed by Swedish architect nd professor Anders Wilhemson, serves as a single-use toilet that can be used anywhere. “It is almost like flush and forget,” says Wilhemson. “When you knot it, the smell is gone even more quickly than from a toilet.”
The bag features a layer of foil that can be used as a glove to shuttle waste into the bag without contaminating the fingers. Once the bag is closed off by knotting up the opening, urea crystals inside break down waste into pathogen-free fertilizer that can be used to help grow food. “You not only get the toilet, you also get an asset,” says Wilhemson, who envisions a system in which Peepoo users can exchange their waste-filled bags for mobile phone credits.
The Peepoo has been well received in tests by residents of Nairobi, Kenya, and Mymensingh, Bangladesh, and will be more widely available in these areas and elsewhere soon. Daily production is currently limited to a few thousand bags, though by January 2011 this should ramp up to half a millin. By 2014, Wilhemson expects the unsubsidised price per bag to fall to a few cents.
A great stuff to pet owner as well. Can’t wait to get that from a retail shop.
