The Big Necessity The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters

by George, Rose

• ISBN13: 9780805090833
• ISBN10: 0805090835
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-07
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks

Summary

"One smart book . . . delving deep into the history and implications of a daily act that dare not speak its name." NewsweekAcclaimed as "extraordinary" (The New York Times) and "a classic" (Los Angeles Times),The Big Necessityis on its way to removing the taboo on bodily wastesomething common to all and as natural as breathing. We prefer not to talk about it, but we shouldeven those of us who take care of our business in pristine, sanitary conditions. Disease spread by waste kills more people worldwide every year than any other single cause of death. Even in America, nearly two million people have no access to an indoor toilet. Yet the subject remains unmentionable.Moving from the underground sewers of Paris, London, and New York (an infrastructure disaster waiting to happen) to an Indian slum where ten toilets are shared by 60,000 people,The Big Necessitybreaks the silence, revealing everything that matters about how people doand don'tdeal with their own waste. 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.

Author Biography

Rose George is a freelance writer and journalist who has written for The New York Times, Slate, and The Guardian. She lives in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Examining the Unmentionables	p. 1
In the Sewers	p. 15
The Robo-Toilet Revolution	p. 39
2.6 Billion	p. 65
Going to the Sulabh	p. 89
China's Biogas Boom	p. 109
A Public Necessity	p. 129
The Battle of Biosolids	p. 149
Open Defecation-Free India	p. 173
In the Cities	p. 199
The End	p. 225
Notes	p. 239
Further Reading	p. 275
Filmography	p. 277
Acknowledgments	p. 279
Index	p. 281
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