8 MB - University of Toronto Magazine

By Patchen Barss
Photography by Chris Thomaidis
Frugal Thinking
How do you bring basic sanitation to two billion
people in low-income countries Inventing a toilet
that works for pennies a day is a start
The average North American home could barely function as
a residence if it lost its connections to the outside world.
Wires, cables and electromagnetic radiation pierce the walls
to convey electricity, television, telephone, radio and the
Internet. Out-of-sight pipes bring in gas and running water.
Even that most humble household fixture, the toilet, is
part of a network of water mains, grinder pumps and lift
stations that stretches from a reservoir at one end to a sewage
treatment plant at the other.
To most of us, a home is less like a castle and more like an
organ pulsing in a vast circulatory system of utilities and
information. This connectedness to “the grid” is so integral
to the comforts of the developed world that it would seem
impossible for low-income nations to ever attain a western
standard of living without first making huge investments in
costly infrastructure.
However, a new movement is challenging this assumption.
At U of T and elsewhere, an informal alliance of engineers,
designers, marketers and political scientists have become
champions of a concept known as “frugal innovation.” This
cross-disciplinary community of researchers seeks to develop
simple, affordable technologies that use environmentally
sustainable power sources and materials. Principles such as
reducing, reusing and recycling that are often treated as
remedial add-ons to North American lifestyles are built into
frugal innovation from the beginning. The aim is to deliver
western-style products and services in developing nations
without western-style expense and resource usage.
As unassuming – or unappealing – as it might seem, the
toilet has become a major focus of this new form of innovation.
In North America, toilets account for nearly 40 per cent
of a home’s water use, and even low-flow models use more
Autumn 2012 33