The fashionable toilet

Ashoka-Lemelson Fellow Jack Sim says many of the poorest own mobile phones and even TVs but not toilets. Why is this?

He found that the toilet is simply not appealing to this consumer. Partly because in the poorest areas, the infrastucture behind the toilet's waste (or shall I say, the person's waste) is not there.  So the toilets become stinky and have swarming flies all over them. With toilets like these, I don't blame people for not having one at home.

His solution: "There are 2.5 billion people in the world without access to proper sanitation. Sanitation issues can be much better resolved by using market mechanism instead of relying on donations".

While he is increasing the local capacity to install toilets and to treat the waste so that it does not become smelly or hazardous to health, he is also rebranding toilets to make them a "lifestyle" commodity--fashionable and cool--something that every person would be proud to own.

Have questions for Jack? Join the conversation on our online group.

You can also learn more about his organization, the World Toilet Organization on the video below.