We first-world humans aren’t particularly creative when it comes to dealing with our wastes: essentially, we want to get rid of it as quickly and cheaply as possible. So, we continue to rely on technology developed in the 19th-century for our unmentionables… even if it means literally flushing away enormous amounts of clean water, and creating vast infrastructure to do so.<\/p>\n
The Gates Foundations’ “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge<\/a>” encourages the development of a “next-generation” toilet that deals with waste in a sanitary fashion, but doesn’t create further waste in doing so. Developers at the University of Colorado at Boulder have developed a prototype for a toilet that not only uses no water<\/a>, but also processes wastes into biochar<\/a> with solar energy.<\/p>\n Thanks to sister site Ecopreneurist for catching this one. What do you think: a workable concept for the 2.5 billion people with access to sanitary waste disposal?<\/p>\n