Main content

Toilets in Haiti and Circular Runways

A scheme to solve the problem of human waste disposal in Haiti and a radical suggestion for airports.

There are no sewers in Haiti. 26% of Haitians have access to a toilet, so a lot of the sewage ends up in the water supply. Currently, Haiti is battling the biggest cholera epidemic in recent history and thousands are dying. We travel there to meet a team of women who are trying to solve this massive problem. They have set up an NGO called Soil which delivers dry, compost toilets to peoples’ homes. Alternatives to water guzzling flushing toilets - which need infrastructure such as sewers - are drastically needed in many parts of the world. And there’s a bonus to this scheme too.

Also on the programme, a radical suggestion for airports: build circular runways. Are the current straight ones really the best way to take off and land?

Presenter: Sahar Zand
Reporters: Gemma Newby & Dougal Shaw
Producer: Charlotte Pritchard

Image: The women of Haiti who work for the NGO Soil / Credit: ´óÏó´«Ã½

Available now

23 minutes

Last on

Tue 28 Mar 2017 19:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Sat 25 Mar 2017 03:06GMT
  • Sat 25 Mar 2017 05:06GMT
  • Sat 25 Mar 2017 09:06GMT
  • Sat 25 Mar 2017 22:06GMT
  • Sun 26 Mar 2017 08:06GMT
  • Tue 28 Mar 2017 01:06GMT
  • Tue 28 Mar 2017 06:06GMT
  • Tue 28 Mar 2017 07:06GMT
  • Tue 28 Mar 2017 13:06GMT
  • Tue 28 Mar 2017 14:06GMT
  • Tue 28 Mar 2017 19:06GMT

People fixing the world on YouTube

Watch stories of people changing their world on the World Service English YouTube channel