World Toilet Day: what is it and why it matters
World Toilet Day celebrates the importance of toilets and raises awareness of the 4.2 billion people living without access to safely managed sanitation. It is also about taking action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030.
Source: United Nations
How do toilets protect our health?
4.2 billion people live without access to safely managed sanitation. Instead they often use unreliable, inadequate toilets or practise open defecation. Untreated human waste gets out into the environment and spreads deadly and chronic diseases. Sustainable sanitation systems, combined with the facilities and knowledge to practise good hygiene, are a strong defence against COVID-19 and future disease outbreaks.
What does a sustainable sanitation system look like?
Sustainable sanitation begins with a toilet that effectively captures human waste in a safe, accessible and dignified setting.
The waste then gets stored in a tank, which can be emptied later by a collection service, or transported away by pipework.
The next stage is treatment and safe disposal. Safe reuse of human waste helps save water, reduces and captures greenhouse gas emissions for energy production, and can provide agriculture with a reliable source of water and nutrients.
Source: World Toilet Day
How is the One Drop Foundation participating?
The Foundation focuses on many of the SDGs, but mainly on the 6th goal, since our mission is to ensure sustainable access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) for the most vulnerable communities through innovative partnerships, creativity, and the power of art.
At One Drop, we are always ready to go above and beyond to achieve true long-term sustainability. We believe in the combined power of providing access to safe WASH services, promoting healthy behaviours, and encouraging capital to support income-generating activities and market-based solutions.
Access; Behaviour change; Capital. These elements make up our A•B•C for Sustainability™ model. The combined power of these three components makes our projects sustainable by creating an enabling environment for positive change and helping communities reach their full potential.
