''The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters'' (published in the United Kingdom as ''The Big Necessity: Adventures in the World of Human Waste''), written by

Rose George Rose George is a British journalist and author. She began writing in 1994, as an intern at ''The Nation'' magazine in New York City. Later, she became senior editor and writer at ''COLORS'' magazine, the bilingual "global magazine about local c ...

, is a descriptive representation of the history, advancement, cultural variation, solutions, and international need of

sanitation Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

. This work, written for the purpose of global awareness of sanitation, highlights the current state of a global crisis. George gives insight into how sanitation around the world depicts the standard of living in that area. George uses her own personal experiences as examples to explain the sanitary conditions of areas around the world. Worldwide, 2.6 billion people (40% of the world's population) do not have sanitary facilities or systems to dispose of waste; Studies show that 95% of human waste is released into lakes, rivers, and ponds in

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

. George discusses the lack of sanitation and toilets for the majority of the world and the resultant infection of water supplies causing 10% of the world’s communicable diseases, while access to a toilet adds 20 years to the average life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Necessity American non-fiction books Books about health 2008 non-fiction books Metropolitan Books books Portobello Books books