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The Unmentionable World Of Human Waste And Why It Matters
Metropolitan Books
October 2008
On Sale: October 14, 2008
304 pages
ISBN: 0805082719
EAN: 9780805082715
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
An utterly original exploration of the world of human waste that will surprise, outrageβand entertain Produced behind closed doors, disposed of discreetly, and hidden by euphemism, bodily waste is something common to all and as natural as breathing, yet we prefer not to talk about it. But we shouldβeven those of us who take care of our business in pristine, sanitary conditions. For itβs not only in developing countries that human waste is a major public health threat: population growth is taxing even the most advanced sewage systems, and the disease spread by waste kills more people worldwide every year than any other single cause of death. Even in America, 1.95 million people have no access to an indoor toilet. Yet the subject remains unmentionable. The Big Necessity takes aim at the taboo, revealing everything that matters about how people doβand donβtβdeal with their own waste. Moving from the deep underground sewers of Paris, London, and New Yorkβan infrastructure disaster waiting to happenβto an Indian slum where ten toilets are shared by 60,000 people, Rose George stops along the way to explore the potential saviors: Chinaβs five million biogas digesters, which produce energy from waste; the heroes of third world sanitation movements; the inventor of the humble Car Loo; and the U.S. Armyβs personal lasers used by soldiers to zap their feces in the field. With razor-sharp wit and crusading urgency, mixing levity with gravity, Rose George has turned the subject we like to avoid into a cause with the most serious of consequences.
 Media BuzzMarketplace - PRI - November 3, 2008
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