Toilet Hackers Announces Its Inception & Sanitation Hackathon December 1-2, 2012

NEW YORK, NY, November 15, 2012 (Press-News.org) For the past 18 months, John Kluge and Michael Lindenmayer have worked on, researched and sought partners for what they call the "War on Poop." As co-founders of the non-profit Toilet Hackers, their mission is to find solutions for the nearly 2.5 billion people who do not have access to sanitation and hygiene and to create international awareness around the global toilet crisis. With the launch of Toilet Hackers and the announcement of next month's Sanitation Hackathon, they are doing just this.

The War on Poop is an ugly one, but one that is important to spotlight. In the past 10 years, diarrhea has killed more children than all the people lost to armed conflict since World War II, mostly due to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, or insufficient hygiene. 90% of all deaths caused by diarrheal diseases are children under the age of five in developing countries. Toilet Hackers was formed to change these statistics, stressing that clean water, improved sanitation and hygiene are basic human rights.

Toilet Hackers presents a three-pronged approach to fight this crisis. They are enlisting a community of leaders and builders to develop breakthrough innovations with Toilet Hackers' first Sanitation Hackathon on December 1-2, 2012, which will take place in 14 US cities and 10 international locations. They are also launching a grassroots advocacy campaign to raise awareness about the world's toilet crisis. Lastly, they are raising money. Donations to Toilet Hackers, whether from individuals or corporations, directly fund life-saving sanitation and hygiene programs.

John Kluge says, "Although the majority of Toilet Hackers' work is focused on international development, the destruction from Hurricane Sandy highlighted our mission. For the first time many people, including our friends and neighbors in New York and New Jersey, experienced life without a running toilet." He continues, "Due to the in-depth media coverage of Hurricane Sandy, people in the US are just realizing how hard it is to manage without a toilet. Then consider that nearly 40% of the world's population is without proper sanitation; the global nature of this problem feels more urgent. The Sanitation Hackathon will create disruptive methods to combat this."

Kluge and Lindenmayer have recruited top talent to work with them and also have found important and willing partners: World Bank's Water Policy and Information & Communications Technology units in partnership with Eirene, Random Hacks of Kindness and Second Muse will lead the hackathon; Ideo.org and Gensler are contributing their design capabilities; and Water for People and UNICEF are supporting Toilet Hackers with their sector expertise. This hackathon will address information and communications technology and mobile solutions.

Toilet Hackers is a global partner of the December 1-2 Sanitation Hackathon and is coordinating the North American sites with Random Hacks of Kindness and Angel Hack. Site locations include New York, NY; Hartford, CT; San Francisco, CA; Toronto and Vancouver, CA; and Washington, DC. For additional North American cities, hackathon locations and registration, please visit http://www.toilethackers.org. For details on the World Bank-hosted international locations please visit http://www.sanitationhackathon.org

Toilet Hackers is a not-for-profit joint program of Giving Water, a 501(c)3 charity, and Eirene, a for-purpose LLC, and is operated entirely by volunteers and 100% of online donations directly fund the programs. In addition to the website, please see our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/SanitationforAll and Twitter feed @ToiletHackers.

Contact:
Kristin Moses Murray
press@eirene.com / 215-817-4187

The non-profit Toilet Hackers' mission is to find solutions for the nearly 2.5 billion people who do not have access to sanitation and hygiene and to create international awareness around the global toilet crisis. Toilet Hackers is a joint program of Giving Water, a 501(c)3 charity, and Eirene, a for-purpose LLC, and is operated entirely by volunteers and 100% of online donations directly fund the programs. For additional information on Toilet Hackers, the hackathon (including specifics for locations and registration), please visit http://www.toilethackers.org. Also please see our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/SanitationforAll and Twitter feed @ToiletHackers.