World Toilet Day

4.2 billion people — over half the world’s population — lack safe sanitation. 3 billion people — 40% of the world’s population — live without basic handwashing facilities with soap and water available at home. 800 children die each day from diarrhoeal diseases (such as cholera and typhoid) due to poor hygiene, poor sanitation or unsafe drinking water. Globally, 80% of the wastewater generated by society flows back into the ecosystem without being treated or reused. World Toilet Day is to raise awareness of the billions of people who do not have access to safely managed sanitation (along with clean water and handwashing facilities) and to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030. A sustainable sanitation system includes a toilet that effectively captures human waste in a safe, accessible, and dignified setting. The waste then gets stored in a tank, which can be emptied later by a collection service, or transported away by pipework. The next stage is treatment and safe disposal. Safe reuse of human waste helps save water, reduces and captures greenhouse gas emissions for energy production, and can provide agriculture with a reliable source of water and nutrients.