Giving a crap about saving lives

(Updated to link to the WHO factoid)

I try to run a classy column here at the Examiner, I really do. So please know that all the feces references that follow are for a good cause.

First, the heavy stuff: what kills more children in developing nations than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined? Poor sanitation and insufficient clean water resources. (source: World Health Organization via BBC News)

Simplest way to save those lives? Proper toilet facilities.

Simplest way for you to help? That’s where Twitter for Sh-tters comes in. Thanks to them, saving lives in developing countries can be as easy as tweeting. About poop.

Yes, Twitter for Sh-tters

Twitter for Sh-tters is an awareness-raising campaign masterminded by Bay Area marketing firm Skadaddle Media in support of nonprofit health organization Wherever The Need (WTN). WTN collaborates with developing countries like India, Kenya, Uganda and Sierra Leone to provide sanitation and water through specialized “eco-san” toilets. These eco-potties not only provide more sanitary facilities, but help convert the waste for local agriculture usage.

For this, WTN is asking people to tweet on behalf of TwitterforSh-tters.com. Their goal is to raise awareness and raise funds to build more facilities. No easy task for a issue most folks don’t like to discuss.

The issue of human waste is not a sexy one. It’s something most folks wouldn’t talk about, at, say, dinner parties. That’s why Skadaddle hopes that by encouraging people to “talk sh-t,” it will help bring the issue out of the (water) closet and into the forefront.

How can you help?

There are plenty of easy, simple, natural ways to do your part.

• Go to TwitterforSh-tters.com and hit that “Donate” button.
• Tweet about the campaign. Make sure you add the #T4S hash tag next to it.
• Follow @tw_tter4sh_tter on Twitter.
• Sign up to be one of their “Daily Dumpers” and dedicate a day to tweeting about the issue. The site encourages their Dumpers to “Tweet about anything they want, from the best ‘potty humor’ to simply just “talking sh-t.”

Why Sarah Silverman hasn’t jumped on this yet is beyond me.

As for you, gracious and sweet-smelling reader: why wouldn’t you tweet for a day to help save kids? Come on. There’s got to be at least one time a day where you have nothing but time on your hands.

Don’t make me say it.