Be unreasonable. : WASH

WASH SERIES: Can Entrepreneurs Make a Difference?

This is the second of a three-part series focusing on water sanitation and hygiene (WASH). If you haven't read the first-part click here.

The UN's Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, replaced the Millennium Development Goals which expired this year. The new goals aim to shape political policy globally for the next fifteen years. So what’s on the agenda post-2015?

The focus of this post is on goal number 6: “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”

Now that is one big, hairy problem.

If the world if to achieve this goal by 2030, then all of us are going to have to start looking differently at how we might tackle this issue.

According to WaterAid, there remains over 650 million people without access to safe water. This is closely linked to the issue of sanitation which effects 1 in 3 of the world’s population.

So is their growth for market-based solutions in this area?

Here is a list of 5 entrepreneurs looking at the WASH crisis:

1 1) DayOneResponse

Inspired by the earthquake in Haiti, Tricia Compas-Markman decided to create the DayOne Waterbag. The bag has been used in “disaster zones in 21 countries as an all-in-one solution to provide clean water and prevent water-borne diseases”.

Image credit: DayOne Response

2 2) LifeStraw

Lifestraw is a portable, compact high volume filter for camping, group hikes and expeditions. The straw makes water contaminated with bacteria, viruses and protozoa safe to drink. LifeStraw also ensure that one school child in a developing country receives safe drinking water for an entire school year with every product bought.

Image credit:matteroftrust

3) Who Gives A Crap

Filled with toilet-humour, Who Gives A Crap makes 100% recycled toilet paper and donate 50% of profits to build toilets in the developing world.

Image credit:ispyplumpie

4 4) Sarvajal

Sarvajal is an Indian company, whose name means water for all. In 2013, they launched a series of solar powered ATMs that dispense water. Sarvajal purifies ground water at local plants and then distributes the water through ATMs.

Image Credit: morningflash

5 5) NextDrop

Addressing the problem of a constant water supply in many South Asian nations, NextDrop offers “a text service that tells users exactly when the water will run each day.” Their customers are utility companies who pay to receive data from NextDrop allowing users to enjoy the service for free.

Image credit:Forbes

Do you know of more businesses tackling water, sanitation and hygiene issues? Share them on twitter @DanushiPeiris

Until next time,

Danushi

Sources:

http://www.afr.com/business/retail/ground-zero-feedback-helps-dayone-response-respond-to-disaster-20151006-gk269w

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/03/business/india-water-atm/

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/mar/22/social-enterprise-answer-access-water-ngo-business

22:01
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WASH SERIES: Menstruation Matters

menstruation

This is the first of a three-part series focusing on issues surrounding water, sanitation and hygiene.

In international development, this issues of water, sanitation and hygiene are brought under the collective term ‘WASH’. These three factors are inextricably linked and play a vital role in the progress of the Millennium Development Goals. WASH issues create a huge impact on the global burden of disease. This burden is placed disproportionately on women and girls. It is therefore fitting that the first of this three part series focuses on the intersection between sanitations and women’s health, in particular menstrual hygiene.

The first issue surround menstrual hygiene is that it is largely a taboo topic. This makes this issue very hard to resolve. How can a large global issue be solved if there is no open dialogue about it?

One of the key problems is that women in developing nations don’t have access, can’t afford, or are too embarrassed to purchase items such as tampons and sanitary pads. In fact, in some cases ‘natural materials such as mud, leaves, dung or animal skins are used to manage the menstrual flow’ (UNESCO 2013, Puberty Education and Menstrual Hygiene Management). There are indeed many issues surrounding menstrual hygiene.

Society’s stigmatisation of menstruation is not limited to developing nations. Just last month, menstrual hygiene was brought to attention in Australia in light of the tampon tax. The movement against the so-called ‘tampon tax’ gained momentum as women around Australia discovered that tampons carry 10% GST. Unlike other products such as sunscreen and condoms (which are not taxed) tampons are deemed ‘non-essential’ and therefore carry GST.

Outraged, this resulted in women across the nation taking to an online petition which gained 90,000 signatories. Ultimately, this call for action was rejected by Treasurer Joe Hockey. But, the tampon tax isn’t just an issue of politics. It reveals a fundamental flaw in the way society thinks about menstruation.

The good news is that dialogue on the issue is opening up. This year marked the second year ‘Menstrual Hygiene Day’ took place. Not-for-profits and bodies such as the United Nations, are increasingly collecting data so we can better understand the problem. There are also an increasing number of social enterprises working towards solving this complex, multi-faceted challenge.

So why should you open up the dialogue around menstruation hygiene?

Because it impacts the lives of women and girls around the world. Period.

If you want to learn more about menstrual hygiene check out this report by Water Aid.

Until next time,

Danushi

04:49
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Be unreasonable.

WASH SERIES: Can Entrepreneurs Make a Difference?

WASH SERIES: Menstruation Matters