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

by Rose George

book data

164 ratings, 3.96 average rating, 70 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		28%
4		43%
3		25%
2		1%
1		1%

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published

October 14th 2008 by Metropolitan Books

binding

Hardcover, 238 pages

url

http://rosegeorge.com/site/books/the-big...

isbn

0805082719 (isbn13: 9780805082715)

description

An utterly original exploration of the world of human waste that will surprise, outrage, and entertain.

Produced behind closed doors, dispo...more

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12/30/08

John rated it:

Read in December, 2008

If you glance over my previously listed books, you'll have noted that I'm on a "end of civilization as we know it" reading jag, and this book fits right into the series. In fact, in many ways it's the best of the lot. Excreting is something we all do and almost none of us like to think about it, let alone talk about it, let alone read a whole book on the subject. But, because of this, our ignorance is immense. Who would have guessed, for example, that the world divides between those wh...more

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02/03/09

Brooks rated it:

Read in February, 2009

The book starts as a travelogue on different sewer systems and then moves toward more of a Polzin type book on the importances of sanitation systems. As an engineering who watches too much Modern Marvels, but of this was not interesting. It never went too detailed, which is more my interest. So, what are the different options for human waste sanitation? Open defecation and the helicopter toilet (shit in a bag and throw into the street). This is a big problem. A lot of poor people actu...more The book starts as a travelogue on different sewer systems and then moves toward more of a Polzin type book on the importances of sanitation systems. As an engineering who watches too much Modern Marvels, but of this was not interesting. It never went too detailed, which is more my interest. So, what are the different options for human waste sanitation? Open defecation and the helicopter toilet (shit in a bag and throw into the street). This is a big problem. A lot of poor people actually prefer this (some sort of cultural induction and alternatives can be as bad). Pit Toilets – same as the old boy scout handbook. However, if they are permanent, they need to be pumped out. Typically, most poor people just let them overflow when the monsoons come (then they have the cholera season). Toilet blocks – Build a beautiful shared toilet block in the middle of a slum. Many NGOs do this but then they never get water to the block (worst) or the block is never maintained and it becomes more disgusting than pooping in the street (common). Two-part toilets – This has a split bowl with liquid waste for the front and solid waste in the back. The solid waste is sent to a two pit system which generates compost. Biogesters – this is a closed pit in the ground. You dump in the human and animal waste (really only works in rural areas with the waste of pigs) and it generates methane gas via anaerobic digestion. This provides cooking and lighting gas to avoid deforestation. A good affirmation of why I live in the first world. Of course, many first world cities still dump raw sewage into the ocean. And most first world cities dump sewage into lakes and rivers after any rain due to linked sewer and storm water systems. One of the arguments was trying to apply water based flush systems to the entire world when water is in short supply. Further, it takes a tremendous amount of work to clean water used for flushing. If it is cleaned to the current levels, it is typically cleaner than most surface water. But no one wants to drink processed sewer water (even if that is what happens on any long river). (less)

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03/03/09

Maureen rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in February, 2009

Yes, I am a science geek. This is terrific read. When I was a kid, I would read "historical" books, like Little House on the Prairie, and I would be thinking, hmm, where did they go to the bathroom? What did they use for toilet paper? Dad said they used leaves and I said no way! How could that work?

I guess I was destined to become interested in microbiology and tolerant and compassionate enough to work with people's poo samples and try to figure out what was making them ...more

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10/10/08

Emily rated it:

Read in November, 2008

I just thought of a weird fact about myself. When I was little, instead of using the word ‘poop’ we called it ‘rocks’, as in “Mommy, I need to make rocks.” When I grew up I studied what in college? Geology.

I think this book should have been called, “The History of Toilets and Sewers Around the World” or “Poop: How To Get Rid of a Whole Lot of It’. It really wasn’t so much about human waste itself, but how it makes people sick and what the world does with...more I just thought of a weird fact about myself. When I was little, instead of using the word ‘poop’ we called it ‘rocks’, as in “Mommy, I need to make rocks.” When I grew up I studied what in college? Geology.

I think this book should have been called, “The History of Toilets and Sewers Around the World” or “Poop: How To Get Rid of a Whole Lot of It’. It really wasn’t so much about human waste itself, but how it makes people sick and what the world does with it. FYI: India creates 200,000 TONS of human waste per day!!!

Ok, some parts of this book was interesting, some parts were just informative. But you should read it. I had no idea that so many people in the world did not have toilets or any kind of sewers. I guess it makes sense, but it had just never occurred to me. I am very grateful for my throne. Actually, I have two of them in my house. I’m thankful for both. Neither is stinky and I don’t have to share them with people who will trash it. And I
don’t have to pay a good chunk of my day’s wages in order to use it.

When we were in China we went to the village where Tom Cruise runs across the roof tops in Mission Impossible 3. Remember that? (I didn’t. I had to re-watch the movie.) Anyways, it is a little village along a river. While there, I really had to pee. On a scale of 1 to 10, I was at a 40. So we finally found something that was a bathroom. I had been trying not to go because I knew where we were only had squat toilets. (I have a great fear of accidentally peeing down my leg!) I paid my 30 cents and went in. That was the best 30 cents I ever spent. A little while later we went on a boat ride down the river. We noticed the river was pretty murky. Then we saw the pipes coming straight out of the building and pouring right into the river. The water from those pipes came out in spurts, often yellowish. There were also women at the river’s edge washing dishes and laundry. What disturbs me the most is that we ate at a restaurant there, right along the river.

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12/13/08

Julie rated it:

bookshelves: social-political-commentary

Read in April, 2009

recommended to Julie by: NY Times

With passion, humor and integrity, Rose George makes a rock-solid case for sanitation as the world's most critical development issue. Without easy access to safe and effective sanitation, communities cannot provide clean drinking water or food free from contamination or lower the risk of life-threatening diseases. Without access to sanitation, women are chained to the Sisyphian drudgery of seeking out and carrying water, girls are too shamed to attend school once they begin menstruating, village...more

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11/19/08

John rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommended to John by: heard interview of the author on radio
recommends it for: anyone interested in public policy

Did you know that out of 6 billion humans, 2.6 billion have no bathroom, toilet, latrine or other place to tidily and privately relieve themselves? They use a vacant lot, walk a way down a railroad track, or "go" in a plastic bag that they then toss on a roof or over a fence.
"The Big Necessity" is full of such interesting facts.
But more than that, the book is an important overview of the current state of sanitation in the world, be it the robotic toilets of ...more

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12/30/08

Paul is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

Anyone who knows me understands why this jumped off the shelf at me. Even at that it really is interesting to better understand just what a huge role crap plays in our lives. And how um...poorly we still dispose of it.

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12/27/08

Kathy rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This was a very thought-provoking book to read at a time when the media are full of reports about cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe. Human waste disposal from the developed world to the undeveloped.

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01/04/09

Enid is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

Not extraordinarily well-written, but an interesting global perspective on something that most Americans probably don’t think much about. Where does all the shit go?

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02/09/09

Leigh rated it:

Read in February, 2009

A fascinating look into how the world manages human waste. Sewer systems in cities such as London and New York, third world farmers, astronauts in space..

Some of the stories are really alarming. A lack of basic sanitation (toilets) in third world countries leads to incredible infestations of dystentery, worms, you name it. In western countries, disposal of so called "bio-solids" is terrifying. You might think that water treatments plants separate water from human waste but ...more

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12/11/08

The Possessive rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This book is fascinating, although those with more delicate stomachs might want to skip it. George doesn't just write about the history of turditude; her real concern is for clean water (which, essentially, means clean toilets) for the world's population. You may want to go home and embrace your porcelain throne in gratitude after reading this book full of fecally crusted bushes and stinking holes in the ground. You'll definitely start keeping the lid down after you flush.

George quot...more

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12/14/08

Tripp rated it:

Read in December, 2008

While mostly a laughing or smirking matter in the developed world, shit is a serious concern for many in the developed world. A sixth of the world population lacks what is called clean water, which is a nice way of saying that their water is polluted by human waste. This pollution kills millions of children each year from diarrhea alone. Rose George explores the world of shit management, or as it is usually called, sanitation in the excellent Big Necessity.

Rose is funny, she has a wa...more While mostly a laughing or smirking matter in the developed world, shit is a serious concern for many in the developed world. A sixth of the world population lacks what is called clean water, which is a nice way of saying that their water is polluted by human waste. This pollution kills millions of children each year from diarrhea alone. Rose George explores the world of shit management, or as it is usually called, sanitation in the excellent Big Necessity.

Rose is funny, she has a way with people, and she writes well. This helps explain why a book about something as potentially dry as innovations in sanitation is such good reading. She makes a strong case that access to waste free water is an important issue and that the way to do it is with low cost technologies suited to the local culture and economy.

The big story is that the developing world will need to find some other means that the flush toilet infrastructure of the West, and that, the West can learn a thing or two from the developing world. The costs and resource requirements of the Western system are impractical for most of the world and so a number of solutions have arisen. She does however talk about the highest end toilets, those from Japan. In the US, you can relieve yourself Japanese style with the Neorest.

In some cases, as in the Chinese night soil approach, the waste is used to grow food. George notes that China has managed to feed it huge population for four millenia without exhausting the land thanks in part to the rich fertilizer produced by people themselves. Another approach is the biogas digester which uses the methane produced by fermenting excrement to power villages. She also shows how disgust is an important tool in convincing people to adopt new means of dealing with waste. In India, promoters of new sanitation means helped the amount of shit deposited in a village each year. As the villagers worked it out, some vomited in reaction.

George occasionally gets a bit too detailed, but for the most part, she keeps the discussion at the right level and moving at the right pace. I suspect many people will buy this as a gag, but it is a serious book that makes key debates in development accessible.(less)

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03/20/09

Staci Woodburn Lan rated it:

bookshelves: nonfiction

The title of this book is incredibly ironic (probably in an Alanis Morrisette sort of way) in that the author makes a big stink (pun intended) about how our excrement is not waste. Rather, it should be recycled and used as fertilizer or fuel.
George writes about sewers and toilet technology and Westerners' sense of bathroom propriety in order to juxtapose our world with that of 2.6 billion people worldwide who have no place to defecate and so end up doing it in open fields, behind trees, n...more

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11/28/08

Kelly rated it:

Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: anyone and everyone

This book was extremely enlightening - I cannot recommend it enough. This book is a must read for anyone who wants to be versed in sustainability, which is being increasingly important in modern society.

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03/11/09

Will rated it:

bookshelves: non-fiction, public-health

Read in March, 2009

Or as we call it, “The Poo Book.”

If you are expecting a Mary Roach approach, forget it. While there are more than a couple of yucks in George’s book, they provide spice and not substance. This is a sober examination of a crucial public health matter. George offers plenty of supportive stats, without letting them get in the way of telling her story. How do societies in diverse cultures cope with human waste? George looks at methodologies and social standards in the USA, Japan, I...more

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01/24/09

Emilee rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in February, 2009

This book was a fast and funny read both despite and because of the topic: s**t. Each chapter was devoted to a different take on a related issue internationally and in the US. I read it after learning that the Gates Foundation is promoting this book as part of an initiative to raise awareness and call attention to sanitation: it's not just about water and one of the most important determinants of our health. Of course, I found it interesting from a public health perspective, but I don't think...more

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02/23/09

Dennis D. rated it:

Read in March, 2009

recommended to Dennis D. by: Brooks

Rose George attempts to shed some light on the very dark subject of human waste sanitation. It’s an afterthought in much of the US, even if you happen to be potty-training a three-year old. But if you pay attention, it’s actually in the news a lot. We have agribusinesses using “Class B biosolids” (processed poop) as crop fertilizer, even though Class B biosolids, according to the EPA, “may contain pathogens in sufficient quantity to warrant restricted public access and special preca...more Rose George attempts to shed some light on the very dark subject of human waste sanitation. It’s an afterthought in much of the US, even if you happen to be potty-training a three-year old. But if you pay attention, it’s actually in the news a lot. We have agribusinesses using “Class B biosolids” (processed poop) as crop fertilizer, even though Class B biosolids, according to the EPA, “may contain pathogens in sufficient quantity to warrant restricted public access and special precautions.” Or sewage spills that result from system failures, like when close to a million gallons of raw sewage were dumped into San Francisco Bay in Feb. 2009 .

Worldwide, according to the WHO and UNICEF, there are 2.6 billion-with-a-b people without access to proper sanitation. Many of the 2.6 billion ‘do their business’ in buckets, piles, by roadsides, pretty much anywhere. George contends that euphemisms like ‘do their business’ are part of the problem. People don’t even want to talk about defecation and human waste using the right words. And even this level of discussion is enough to trigger disgust and cause people to seek to change the subject. Says George, “diarrhea - usually caused by feces-contaminated food or water - kills a child every fifteen seconds. That means more people dead of diarrhea than all the people killed in conflict since the Second World War. Diarrhea...is the largest hurdle a small child in a developing country has to overcome. Larger than AIDS, or TB, or malaria. 2.2 million people - mostly children - die from an affliction that to most westerners is the result of bad takeout.” Despite this, sanitation does not get the attention or the relief-dollars of the trendier causes. Where’s the outcry from Sean Penn and Brangelina? George, in this book and on her blog, is attempting to bring this problem into the spotlight. More power to her.

The Big Necessity was entertaining, engaging and thought-provoking, and although the subject matter was heavy (ha ha), it's a very easy read. The only critical thing I can think to say, was that the chapter on Japanese high-tech super-toilets, while entertaining, didn’t fit the tone or tempo of the rest of the book.
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04/18/09

Noah rated it:

This book's biggest shortcoming is the lack of any real narrative or central thesis beyond the fact that we don't pay as much attention to human sanitation as we should. George jumps around between disconnected topics like pit latrines in Tanzanian slums and the history of luxury toilet technology without even trying to justify it. And, as you might expect, the book gets a little slow as it goes on - one can only take so much sewer talk. Still, this is the sort of book that makes you look differ...more

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02/06/09

Shellie rated it:

bookshelves: environmental-issues, read-in-2009, sociology-psychology-philosophy

Read in March, 2009

I really enjoyed this book. I think, in part, it may be my inner child connecting to what we adults consider "poop humour" but in an adult way. Even though the issues in this book are not funny some of the situation described by the author are.
The book takes a look at what we in the Western world take for granted, but for others - whom do not have access to safe disposal of their waste it is a serious life and death health issue. The author interviews a large number of "uns...more

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01/13/09

Wendy rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This book is one of those excellent non-fiction scare the heck out of society in general and light a fire under people's collective behind. This is a field which I work tangentially with (water quality, contaminant transport issues) and it shocked me how truly disparate the human experience of sanitation is around the world. A MUST READ for people looking to better understand the human impact upon the environment and the world in which we live, and I would genuinely hope that this book ends up...more

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