A new book on (human) waste management finds American toilet habits wasteful while critiquing some of the "unorthodox" waste-disposal methods of countries around the world, all in an attempt to remind the public of the importance of sanitation, according to Bloomberg.com and ISSA.com.

The book, The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters by Rose George, says American toilet habits waste water, while questioning the use of toilet paper rather than water or wet-wipes. Little is mentioned about urinals, Bloomberg's writer observes.

Among the book's examinations of global waste management practices are:

  • "Manual scavengers,'' on the lowest level of India's caste system, who collect and dispose of human waste, and are considered so unclean that even their shadows can't be touched
     
  • The practice in some parts of China of using human waste—and the America's use of "biosolids,'' or treated sewage—as fertilizer
     
  • Japanese toilets with heated seats and built-in bidets
     
  • The Kenyan concept of the "helicopter toilet''—in which people place waste into plastic bags and toss it on someone's roof.
     

The book also covers the toilet and its advancements. The book may not be for those of tender ears (or in this case, eyes) as, according to Bloomberg, George "uses a fine, four-letter Anglo-Saxon word" for feces, not to shock, but rather "to pull back the curtain on something that is usually euphemized and hidden."

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