I have lived and worked is third world countries including Sub-Sarahan Africa.

Many parts of the third world are lands of milk and honey. They live in squalor, dirt, disease and poverty because that’s what they choose. I have seen aid from western industrialised countries spent by an African ruler on a Rolls Royce (in a country with 3 miles of paved road), given to thei cronies and what wasn’t spent on light skinned prostitutes in western capitols finished up in secret Swiss bank accounts.

A particularly nasty aspect of the third world is that their leaders prey on their citizens. The last time I was in Zambia a old woman told me that she wished the British would come back. When I asked why she said: “When the Brits were here we had law and order (their food crops weren’t stolen), standpipes in the streets with clean water, latrines, a clinic to which a nurse and doctor came once a week, a school and a bus into town twice a week where they could buy and sell produce. Now we have nothing.”

You people are full of shit.

I wish people would read the article before making stupid comments.

I have the image of tens of thousands of these things ‘biodegrading’ in a giant pile. Sure, it’s cute to see one of those plastic bags buried halfway in a tiny patch of dirt, but I seriously doubt that this technology scales.

People in terribly impoverished places which are also terribly overpopulated first need to be kept from reproducing.

People in terribly impoverished places which are not terribly overpopulated need to be taught how to make sanitary latrines.

How wonderful!!

can women pee in a bag?

great and innovative invention..

Here are some thoughts to add to the discussion about why infrastructure-based solutions don’t always work, especially in urban contexts (which the Peepoo bag is targeted towards).

– in densely populated urban areas land is scarce and there is not always room to build toilets, especially basic pit (hole) latrines that require continual reconstruction once they fill.

- in most slums, residents do not own the land and therefore may not have a) the right to build a toilet or b) the inclination to risk investing in a toilet when they could be kicked off the land at any moment

- in many urban communities in the developing world, toilets are political. They create opportunities for people to exercise control over access or to extort money from users.

- So called ‘community toilets’ are – more often than not – disasters, as people generally don’t enjoy cleaning up each other’s shit (and even in our own societies there are always those who don’t clean up after themselves).

- Women in many parts of the developing world are – for social, cultural or religious reasons – not able to access public toilets during the daytime. And unfortunately, in many places, if they venture out to do so at night, they risk violent or sexual attacks. ‘Holding it in’ all day also leads to frequent infections and reduces the inclination to eat and drink, reducing overall health/nutrition.

- Infrastructure is expensive to build and maintain. One latrine can only serve a limited number of people, and only lasts a limited amount of time before it is full and must be emptied or covered over and reconstructed elsewhere.

Srs question b/c I pee in a cut 2 liter on a daily basis..does menstrual blood contribute in any way?

Fine and dandy until you run out of them and then find regular bags when non are available… This is a short term solution to a much bigger problem.

Can someone put a real estimation of yearly cost per household for this solution?