Shocking! Did you know Bill Gates once sniffed latrine pit odour & drank water from faecal sludge?
The billionaire wrote extensively on the sanitation problems we are facing today.
By ET Online | Updated:
Agencies
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates recently opened up on some unhygienic stuff he had done over the years. The billionaire revealed that in the past, he partook in many nauseating activities. In a Linkedin post dedicated to World Toilet Day ( November 19) Gates narrated how he had been involved in all kinds of unhygienic activities from drinking water from faecal sludge to dunking his head in a pit latrine. “I’ve done some weird crap over the years: I drank water from fecal sludge with Jimmy Fallon, shared the stage with a jar of human feces, and smelled pit latrine odor", admitted the billionaire candidly.
However, these activities were not done for funsies but for a cause. Gates was determined to bring an ongoing social issue to people’s notice - the problem of poor sanitation. According to Gates' blog post, about 3.6 billion people lack toilets or use unsafe sanitation. Diarrhea and other sanitation-related diseases kill nearly 500,000 children under the age of five every year. "My goal has always been to get people to care about an issue that impacts 3.6 billion people: poor sanitation. Thanks to scientists and engineers from around the world, we’re getting closer to new solutions that will prevent disease and illness, ’’ explained the billionaire.
The post also included links to a blog post from July 2021, discussing past innovations in sanitation projects. In 2011, the Gates Foundation started the 'Reinvent the Toilet Challenge' which asked scientists to come up with waste disposal systems without relying on sewage systems or running water.
Scientists have made considerable advances in inventing eco-friendly and cost-effective ways of disposing of waste. They have come up with toilets that converted faeces into valuable bio-degradable resources like fertiliser, electricity, and clean water, Gates revealed in his post. His team of researchers has created a one-of-a-kind processor machine called Omni processors that processed excreta from septic tanks, sewers, and latrines into drinkable water and electricity. “They require a fraction of the energy, space, and cost that a traditional sewer and wastewater treatment plant require", explained Gates.
However, these activities were not done for funsies but for a cause. Gates was determined to bring an ongoing social issue to people’s notice - the problem of poor sanitation. According to Gates' blog post, about 3.6 billion people lack toilets or use unsafe sanitation. Diarrhea and other sanitation-related diseases kill nearly 500,000 children under the age of five every year. "My goal has always been to get people to care about an issue that impacts 3.6 billion people: poor sanitation. Thanks to scientists and engineers from around the world, we’re getting closer to new solutions that will prevent disease and illness, ’’ explained the billionaire.
The post also included links to a blog post from July 2021, discussing past innovations in sanitation projects. In 2011, the Gates Foundation started the 'Reinvent the Toilet Challenge' which asked scientists to come up with waste disposal systems without relying on sewage systems or running water.
Scientists have made considerable advances in inventing eco-friendly and cost-effective ways of disposing of waste. They have come up with toilets that converted faeces into valuable bio-degradable resources like fertiliser, electricity, and clean water, Gates revealed in his post. His team of researchers has created a one-of-a-kind processor machine called Omni processors that processed excreta from septic tanks, sewers, and latrines into drinkable water and electricity. “They require a fraction of the energy, space, and cost that a traditional sewer and wastewater treatment plant require", explained Gates.
The billionaires living across the world seem to follow a mantra called- ‘sharing is caring. Besides being successful business magnates, these billionaires are also inspiring philanthropists, who have kept giving back to people and the environment in some or the other way. From Elon Musk to Ratan Tata, here’s a list of some of the most generous billionaires, who have promised to donate a major chunk of their wealth for a good cause.
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