World toilet day 2024
As sustainable toilet roll manufacturers, we spend a lot of time thinking about toilets. Most of the time this is a niche interest! But on the 19th of November we’re in fantastic company as the UN and sanitation organisations around the world mark World Toilet Day.
The theme for 2024 is "Toilets: a place for peace", so today we’re singing the praises of the toilet, and how they contribute to peace, protection, and progress around the world. There’s no better evidence of this than the work of our fantastic (and equally toilet-obsessed) charity partner, Just a Drop.
Toilets are places for peace
We like to think of our toilets as places of peace; somewhere where we are guaranteed privacy and quiet for a few moments out of our day. But for people in conflict zones or disaster-prone areas, finding a peaceful space to relieve oneself can be nearly impossible.
Around the world, 3.5 billion people currently lack access to a safely managed sanitation system, many living in areas affected by climate change, where floods, earthquakes, and extreme weather events bring disruption, or in conflict areas where attacks on infrastructure leave people without safe sanitation.
This is where Just a Drop’s model of community-led development shines. By working with the people in the communities affected, they are able to help deliver resilient projects built to withstand specific local challenges. In their recent projects in Cambodia, for example they have built latrines (and wells too!) with elevation so they can better withstand the flooding that is increasing as the local climate changes.
Toilets are places for protection
Sanitation systems protect our health by creating barriers between our bodies, our water supply, and our waste. They are our first line of defence in protecting ourselves and our communities from disease.
Without access to safely managed toilets, people are exposed to unsafe conditions that can lead to illnesses like cholera, dysentery, and typhoid. The UN reports that around 1,000 children under five die every day due to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene, and diarrhoeal disease is the driving cause of around 50% of malnutrition around the world.
So communities cannot grow and thrive without safe toilets, and Just a Drop is working tirelessly to make sure they have them. In Uganda, for example, they have provided piped water to the Wakiso Health Centre, and built latrine blocks and incinerators for waste. With proper sanitation, disease rates drop, and life is protected.
Toilets are places for progress
Access to toilets is essential if people are going to lead peaceful, healthy lives. Just a Drop says that “life without water is an endless struggle,” and often the struggle is experienced most acutely by women and girls.
For many girls, the lack of a safe toilet at school means they have to stay home during their period, adding up to a month of missed school per year. Just a Drop works with schools to make sure that all students have access to gender-sensitive toilets and menstrual hygiene programmes, so that the education of girls and young women isn’t disrupted by their natural cycles.
The foundational impact of work like this means that Just a Drop’s projects contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5, Quality Education and Gender Equality.
The countdown to 2030
World Toilet Day is not just about raising awareness but about taking meaningful action to solve the global sanitation crisis.
The UN has set a “Countdown to 2030” to achieve their Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which aims to ensure water and sanitation for all by 2030. It’s an ambitious goal, but the impact would be incredible
Every dollar invested in toilets and sanitation that are properly protected against the growing risks of flooding, drought, and conflict will save four times that amount down the line in costs for repairing and rebuilding facilities that have been damaged.
And when we look at the long term, the benefits outstrip the costs by miles. When people have a clean, safe, and protected place to use the toilet, families can put down roots and communities can grow. In every community they work in, Just a Drop sees a “multiplier effect,” as families are able to flourish without the constant threat of disease and malnutrition.
Conclusion: safety and security with every flush
At the start of this blog post we mentioned that we spend a lot of our time thinking about toilets. As a company selling eco toilet paper it comes with the territory! But we're thankful we don't have to plan our lives around going to the loo. It’s worth bearing in mind the fact that this is the reality for millions of people around the world.
The toilet might not be the most glamorous piece of household furniture, but having a clean, safe place to relieve oneself is the heart of health and dignity for every person on this planet.
At Naked Sprout we are immensely proud to support Just a Drop with donations of our revenue for every box we sell. With the help of charities like Just a Drop, and the will of people around the world, the UN goal of water and sanitation for all is coming closer to being fulfilled.
Want to try an affordable toilet paper that supports global water and sanitation projects with every box?
