{"id":19005,"date":"2015-11-06T11:10:16","date_gmt":"2015-11-06T16:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress-367309-1145705.cloudwaysapps.com\/?p=19005"},"modified":"2015-11-06T11:10:16","modified_gmt":"2015-11-06T16:10:16","slug":"the-waste-biz-human-poop-as-venture-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainablog.org\/articles\/the-waste-biz-human-poop-as-venture-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"The Waste Biz: Human Poop As Venture Capital?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"human<\/a><\/p>\n

Would you poop in a bucket if you knew you could trade it for other things of value? Well, we’re not going to suggest that… but, as we’ve noted before, entrepreneurs in the developing world have discovered the value of #2<\/a>, and are using the smelly stuff<\/a> to create economic growth.<\/p>\n

That’s good, because human poop, when not treated correctly, creates a lot of cost: a new study from United Nations University<\/a> notes, for instance, that in Uganda alone, poor sanitation cost the country’s economy $177 million annually. That’s a hard, cold number that covers up the fact that much of this loss stems from health problems and even death caused by water polluted with excrement. But dealing with this human need correctly doesn’t just clean up the environmental impact: it also allows healthy children, for instance, to make it to school more regularly. This video from the Waste to Wealth program shows how a relatively simple anaerobic digestion system for human waste can make a big difference in people’s lives:<\/p>\n