Peepoo and the Poo Taboo

Offered as a potential solution to 40% of the world's population lacking access to even the simplest forms of latrine, Peepoo has designed a single-use, biodegradeable and self-sanitising toilet. As pictured below, Peepoo is a bag which can be placed around a bucket (purchased separately) for use, to then be tied-up and disposed of to compost and fertilise plants.

How to Use PeePoo (SSWIM, 2018)

Peepoo is a low-cost product, in aims to tackle the sanitation issue at the source, with the people. The small-size of the product is intentional in order to encourage single-use, with the idea to prevent bacteria from faecal matter being spread between people. Once securely tied, Peepoo is self-sanitising as urea within the product inactivates harmful pathogens which may spread disease. After use and disposal in designated dropping areas, Peepoo is still a useful product as it is collected for composting, where it decomposes and is used as fertiliser to grow crops. This aids the reduction of food insecurity, by which around 300million people across Africa are affected by (World Hunger, 2016)

Collection of Peepoo bags is carried out by a team of workers, employed from the local community. This generates employment for members of the villages. This allows others to feel more comfortable and cooperative with a friendly-face carrying out collection. 

When trialed in Haiti, Peepoo was found to have successfully reduced cases of diarrhoea (Patel et al., 2012). It was also concluded that the project was successful as an immediate intervention and a short-term solution. However, in this case, 'short-term' is the key word. This is a solution which should be used as emergency sanitation whilst other facilities, such as latrines, are being built and improved. Additional flaws in the product are that, whilst it is designed for single-use, it may be used more than once and by multiple people. In efforts to make the most out of their money, people may use the Peepoo more than once, resulting in room for spread of diarrhoeal diseases and for leakage of waste into the environment. Furthermore, after use, bags may not be disposed of correctly. The designated bin for disposal may not be located close enough for the user to be encouraged to dispose of correctly at the time, leading them to randomly disgard the used product. Although Peepoo is biodegradable, it is still not safe to leave the used product outside of designated bins as they could be torn open, played with by children or leak, allowing bacteria to spread between people and within the environment. 

Overall, Peepoo is a sanitation product which, if used correctly, can be a short-term solution to sanitation issues whilst development of facilities takes place.