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Human Waste in the Developing World
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We might not like to think about it, but human waste doesn't magically disappear once the toilet is flushed. In developed countries, it's filtered through a complex sewage system. For some developing countries that lack proper infrastructure, human excrement poses enormous public health challenges.
Rose George is author of the book The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters. Jerome spoke with George about her new book and the geopolitics of fecal matter.
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Barbara Carney, Lincoln Square // Friday, October 10, 2008 @ 1:22 PM
At the turn of the millenium, American physicians were surveyed to name the greatest medical advance in all of history. It wasn't penicillin or inoculation or anaesthesia - it was the flush toilet and modern sanitation. We can easily forget that even rural America was still using latrines well into the later part of the 20th century. In my family there's a story from the 1940's, when there was still a latrine - a "two seater," with the Sears catalog for "toilet paper" - at our farm near Boston. When the family decided to add a flush toilet to the house, my 85 year old Great Grandmother was apalled at the expense and didn't see the need for it. When reminded that she wouldn't have to go outside or use a chamber pot any longer, she recoiled, declaring "I'm not going to have that filthy privy (latrine)in my house!" Until it was working, she was sure that it was folly.
People the world over resist change until they can appreciate the benefits in a way that connects for them.
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