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First world patronising Africa, again. As if the minute amount of power produced by this shameless, transparent attempt at viral marketing will ever recoup the

First world patronising Africa, again. As if the minute amount of power produced by this shameless, transparent attempt at viral marketing will ever recoup the cost of production of the device itself, let alone the R&D budget or maintenance cost. This is like a Toyota Prius with 10x worse environmental impact. Its biggest impact is on the conscience of people who are predisposed, literally, to believing bullshit, so that they can continue to eat diesel-ship-fuelled sushi and fly on aircraft, a single hour of which will negate a lifetime of sitting on an environmental toilet.

oilywater 11y ago
People downvote you but there's definitely some truth there to find. Thing about these projects is long-term gain. Maybe these toilets will pay off in 20-30 years, they have to, if they want to be sustainable. But yes, a single plane flight would negate all of the savings. It definitely negates all of the energy you save by showering with cold water, by recycling, by turning of the light. It is definitely a gigantic problem when India, China, Africa turn into energy hungry giants that already are Germany, USA, UK etc. We'll see how it all will turn out to be, business seems as usual, hope that's going to change fast. http://www.withouthotair.com/ http://www.withouthotair.com/ A great book that describes how simple and easy it is to analyse sustainability - purely by numbers.
YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago
I'm sorry you got downvoted. I've nothing to do with the people who make this toilet, or those who plan to sell it, or the site the article was published on (except of course that I'm a regular reader) so if there is some attempt at viral promotion I got nothing to do with it. I don't see the article as patronising, but then again I don't live in Africa. Also, for what it's worth, until recently I didn't fly. I'm an immigrant, living and working away from home; when I went home for the holidays I'd cross Europe by train and boat, which took me three days (and cost more than flying btw). I've had to relent recently, because I just don't have enough holidays time anymore :( I really hope I don't just believe any old bs, but how should I know? I mean, if I did believe any bs, I wouldn't know it was bs, would I?

oilywater 11y ago

People downvote you but there's definitely some truth there to find. Thing about these projects is long-term gain. Maybe these toilets will pay off in 20-30 years, they have to, if they want to be sustainable. But yes, a single plane flight would negate all of the savings. It definitely negates all of the energy you save by showering with cold water, by recycling, by turning of the light. It is definitely a gigantic problem when India, China, Africa turn into energy hungry giants that already are Germany, USA, UK etc. We'll see how it all will turn out to be, business seems as usual, hope that's going to change fast. http://www.withouthotair.com/ http://www.withouthotair.com/ A great book that describes how simple and easy it is to analyse sustainability - purely by numbers.

YeGoblynQueenne 11y ago

I'm sorry you got downvoted. I've nothing to do with the people who make this toilet, or those who plan to sell it, or the site the article was published on (except of course that I'm a regular reader) so if there is some attempt at viral promotion I got nothing to do with it. I don't see the article as patronising, but then again I don't live in Africa. Also, for what it's worth, until recently I didn't fly. I'm an immigrant, living and working away from home; when I went home for the holidays I'd cross Europe by train and boat, which took me three days (and cost more than flying btw). I've had to relent recently, because I just don't have enough holidays time anymore :( I really hope I don't just believe any old bs, but how should I know? I mean, if I did believe any bs, I wouldn't know it was bs, would I?