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He’s already conquered the world of computers. Now, Bill Gates is looking to revolutionize the toilet. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has launched a new initiative to improve the health of billions of people who have no clean, safe way to get rid of their waste.
Approximately 40 percent of the world has no access to flush toilets and over a billion people still defecate in the open, according to a CBS News report. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children under the age of five die every year due to diarrhea, mainly caused by contact with human feces.
The foundation is providing $42 million in grants to develop new methods to “capture and store waste,” such as waterless toilets and turning human waste into fertilizer, fuel or even safe drinking water.
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