Peepoople (Nairobi, Kenya)

The Peepoo is a personal single-use toilet that sanitises human excreta shortly after defecation, thereby preventing the faeces from contaminating the immediate area as well as the larger environment.

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Background

According to the WHO, more than three billion people in the world have no access to improved sanitation. As a consequence open defecation is widely practiced, contaminating water-sources and spreading preventable water-born diseases.

Challenge

Industrial sanitation solutions are too expensive for developing countries and often disregard local sanitation habits.

Idea

Both ideas give access to improved sanitation by designing a low-tech solution. Peepoople is a biodegradable slim bag which is used as a mobile toilet. An inside layer of sterile material prevents all contact with the excrement and guarantees the bag to be odor-free for at least 24 hours. The Fertiloo is a light-weight compost latrine which is installed at Kenyan farms. Its design considers traditional sanitation habits and human waste can later be used as fertilizer.

Implementation

Peepoople AB was founded 2006 and is based in Stockholm, Sweden. Research for the Peepoo toilet has been conducted in cooperation with the Swedish University of Agricultural Science and the Royal Institute of Technology. It will be available in late-2010. The Fertiloo was designed by Stanford students and the Kenyan social entrepreneur organization Nuru and costs less than $100, which is the amount of money saved by not having to buy industrial fertilizer.

Impact

2.6 billion people just got their own toilet. And a healthy future. Safely collecting and reusing human waste not only reduces family health expenses and improves quality of life, but also helps saving 20% of their annual income currently spent on industrial fertilizer and top soil.