No Loo? No I Do!

With our partnership with Samagra, Team TUSHY has been very invested in the global sanitation efforts taking place in India. India is the second most populous country in the world, with more than 1 billion citizens. Almost half of India’s population practice open defecation. That’s 522 million people! So imagine if everyone in New York City pooped on the street… and then multiply that by 65! That’s a lot of shit. That’s a lot of bacteria and diseases. On top of the sanitary issue, the lack of proper bathroom facilities is a security risk for Indian women. Tradition requires them to get up before the sun to go to the bathroom. This has led to a number of cases where women have been raped or assaulted while searching for somewhere to go to the poop.

 In the state of Haryana however, a campaign that started back in 2005, is driving the importance of building toilets through billboards, posters and radio advertisements. Using phrases such as “No Toilet, No Bride” and “No Loo, No I do” this marketing campaign has encouraged families with woman of marrying age to demand the presence of a toilet in the home in which they are marrying into. In a village where arranged marriage is the common practice and men outnumber women, women are finding their power. With that newfound power, they are changing a culture.

The main goal of the campaign is to promote the building of toilets in rural areas where open defecation and fecal pollution have posed as health hazards for residents. The campaign has already significantly increased toilet ownership by linking marriage to what women wanted and valued. According to state officials, 1.42 million toilets were built between 2005 and 2009. Among this total, 950,000 latrines were built by families above the poverty line and 470,000 by households below the poverty line.

 If you want to help in the on going efforts against the global sanitation crisis, you can. When you purchase a TUSHY, you help contribute to providing toilet access to a family in rural India.