Getting practical about searching for a new kind of toilet better suited for preventing disease and death in developing countries.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has launched a search for a new toilet better suited to developing countries to help prevent disease and death.
A charitable foundation founded by Gates and his wife kicked off a "Reinvent the Toilet Fair" in Seattle and awarded prizes for promising innovations.
Trying to Get Safe Water and a Toilet for the 2.5 Billion People Who Lack Them
With the support of the Pepsico Foundation, we have reached more than 250,000 people with loans that allow them to pay connection fees for house taps and to construct toilets. This was done at an average philanthropic cost of $24/person, which, in turn, leveraged more than three times that amount in the form of commercial capital to complete the finance package for each household.
Water hygiene and safe waste disposal are two of the biggest causes of infant mortality in the developing countries. Bill Gates and his foundation hope to create inexpensive toilets to vastly improve the living conditions of millions of people. It could save lives around the world.
Pronoia Resources 