Chances are you have several toilets in your home. You don’t think much about them. Yet they are one of the most integral parts of your plumbing system.
Because they’ve always been there, it’s difficult to think much about what life would be like without a working toilet. But not everyone in the world has the same privileges.
World Toilet Day is celebrated each year on November 19th as a way to call attention to what a toilet means to human rights.
- Over 4 billion people live without a safely managed sanitation system. That’s over half of the world’s population.
- Over half-billion people still practice open defecation.
- At least 2 billion people use drinking water contaminated with fecal bacteria.
- Inadequate sanitation leads to half-million deaths due to diarrhea.
Proper sanitation leads the way to having more opportunities. Without proper sanitation, it holds back a community in social, economic, and environmental ways.
Still, look at the modern toilet in the same way?
Instead of ignoring this amazing fixture in your home, care for it the easy way.
- Don’t flush anything but toilet paper with regular thickness. This means no wet wipes, diapers, paper towels, feminine products, or the highly-durable, extra-strength toilet papers hitting the marketplace.
- Replace any old toilet that uses up to 7 gallons of water per flush with low-flow variety that uses 1.6 gallons per flush or less.
- Equip every bathroom with a plunger dedicated to the toilet. It should be a flange plunger – one with a broad rubber lip – that seals the curved shape of the toilet bowl outlet.
- Before you clean, run a dry cloth around the base of the toilet. Is there any moisture? This is a signal your toilet is leaking and needs repair. Act quickly, and you can prevent water waste as well as stop potential problems before they occur.
- Green clean instead of using harsh chemicals. A simple mixture of white vinegar and water will both disinfect and deodorize without toxic chemicals. This also prevents polluting our water supply, or damaging the toilet itself.