In a commendable effort to prevent disease and promote basic sanitation in the developing world, the United Nations and World Health Organization marked this past Sunday as “World Toilet Day” to promote use of the venerable “crapper.”
But here in the devolving world, the day went completely unnoticed.
That’s a shame. Although it’s totally understandable that the UN and WHO would focus their attention on populations that have been deprived of basic sanitation and often lack the means of installation, the problem here is that foregoing a skip to the loo in favor of the immediate gratification of a simple turn to the nearest bush, bucket, canal, or doorway has become so common that it’s more or less the new normal in some parts.
The UN noted yesterday that “Even in wealthier countries, where people have access to toilets and fecal material is contained, treatment and final disposal of wastewater can be far from perfect, leading to polluted rivers and coastlines.”
But here, the issue is not so much treatment and final disposal as it is simple provision of access, adherence to acceptable levels of maintenance, and enforcement of basic standards of sanitation.
A bemused shrug and defeatist “nothing we can do about it” pretty much sums up much of the civic spirit.
How far must Honolulu degrade before it gets its shit together?
Honolulu Homeless Crisis 