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AS ONE OF the world’s richest men and most active philanthropists, Bill Gates usually has his hands full. Just not with poo.
So it came as a surprise when the founder of Microsoft brandished a jar of human waste at a forum on the future of the toilet in Beijing on Tuesday.
The stunt was an effort to draw attention to a problem affecting developing countries around the world: not enough toilets.
“In places without sanitation you have got way more than that,” Gates said, pointing to the feces inside the clear canister resting on a table.
“And that’s what kids when they are out playing, they are being exposed to all the time, and that’s why we connect this not just with quality of life, but with disease and death and with malnutrition,” he told attendees.
The billionaire has used part of his considerable fortune to provide clean, comfortable sanitation facilities to the nearly half of the world’s population that suffers without.
“When you think of things that are basic right up there with health and enough to eat, you think that having a reasonable toilet certainly belongs on that list,” Gates said.
Gates has previously used shock tactics to draw attention to his disease-battling efforts.
In 2009, he loosed mosquitoes at a Technology, Entertainment, Design (TED) Conference in California to make a point about the deadly sting of malaria — waiting a minute or so before assuring the audience the liberated insects were disease-free.
Gates was in Beijing today for the Reinvented Toilet Expo, a forum hosted by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation showcasing various cutting edge toilet technology in lieu of sewers, making them easier and cheaper to install the devices.
The world’s number two economy is in the midst of a drive to improve its notoriously malodorous bathrooms, a campaign President Xi Jinping has dubbed the “toilet revolution”.
“China has made great progress in improving health and sanitation for millions of people,” Gates said.
China has an opportunity to launch a new category of innovated non-sewered sanitation solutions that will benefit millions of people worldwide.
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Oh sure, he’s a hero. But when I do that in my local pub, I’m barred for life.
The world’s number 2 economy, deliberate pun or not?!
Was it marked Windows 10?
@DJ François: Windows 8
@DJ François: Windows Vista, more like…
Judging by the photo he took a dump in a Starbucks cup?
@Me_a_monkey: good point, he could compost the shite, but maybe not the cup. Maybe a paper bag would have been more impressive.
@WoodlandBard: I’m sure he thought of that but must have been a wet one and decided differently just in case like
He should visit San Francisco. I’ve been to many very poor countries and never seen anything like their homeless problem and the amount of human waste on the streets. Pot, kettle, black.
@Toomasu Sumitsu:
I’m sure his Foundation will get around to carrying out some Log Analytics in San Francisco in due course before that problem reaches crisis point.
@Toomasu Sumitsu: in fairness to the man, he HAS donated about $50 billion to charity…
@Steve B: more a criticism of the US than Bill Gates. He could use these toilets there. Example:
https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Human-waste-shuts-down-BART-escalators-3735981.php
Here is a man, and his wife, who has stood along side him through a journey most relationships could never ever imagine, never mind survive. They have made their fortune and now offer their time and dedication to make the “world a better place”.
I only wish them the best for the future and hope that people show some sort of appreciation for their efforts. I’m sure they live an opulent life with everything at their fingertips, but what they are providing to the widespread communities less fortunate than most is amazing. It is their choice and their decision to do this. We should all be thankful for their generosity!
Howard Hughes did something similar…
People asking for selfies is cringe asf
This was deffo a class Journal article to rush to the comments first.
My question, does Microsoft no longer support Windows 2 in Africa?
He’ll use his flush dns command prompt to get rid of it
@David O’Rourke: ipconfig /flushdns
Fixes a lot of problems.
Well if he is that concerned, buy a 1000 portable toilets and a truck to go around and empty them until a permanent solution is found
@Mick Hannigan: 2.4 BILLION people don’t have access to a toilet… so more like a few hundred million or so toilets needed- than 1000.
The dump failed to load, got a blue screen of death and had to reload another into the jar.
The paper clip kept asking if I needed help.
@Baron Adams TD: clippy: it looks like you’re writing a suicide note
In India around 600 million openly defecate in public. Its probably eco friendly, so sophisticated these people
That crap.
@Pounamustone: yes but who’s ???
Anyone else seeing a tall latte from Starbucks in his hand?
A can o pss with a jar of sh! t
He’s so full of shite already.
This is a shite story
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