Although the toilet is a small place that can be easily ignored, it is a key factor in the creation of a culture of health and closely related to people’s living conditions.
A “Toilet Culture Forum” was held at the Loujiang Experimental School in Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, on November 6th. The forum was hosted by the Shenzhen International Philanthropy Institute and the Kunshan Yuting Foundation, and also gained support from Tsinghua University’s Ecological Design Centre and Beijing Normal University’s Toilet Culture Research Centre. Guests could not only visit an exhibition on “toilet culture”, but also participate in a discussion on students’ health and the Foundation’s free toilet paper project.
The Kunshan Yuting Foundation is a charitable organization that aims to advocate and promote a revolution in the field of toilets and sanitation. This foundation, cooperating with the departments of education and civil affairs in Kunshan, initiated the Free Toilet Paper Project to provide free toilet paper in public toilets, especially in schools, in order to improve public services and enhance the levels of sanitation and care of the individual. By September 2016, 424 schools in seventeen provinces had been covered by the project. In Qinhuangdao, with the support of the educational bureau, twelve schools benefited from the project in just a few months.
A waste paper-for-toilet paper exchange plan has also been launched by the Yuting Foundation. The Foundation’s founder Qian Jun explained that they are now working on developing a toilet suitable for the remoter Western areas of China, so that sanitation in the local schools can be improved in the future. Qian added that he was looking forward to cooperating with more foundations, universities and companies.
Since China’s 11/11 “single day”, a massive online shopping event invented by Alibaba, is coming up, the Yuting Foundation will work alongside Alibaba to conduct a pilot project for recycling the carton boxes used for online deliveries in Kunshan. All the profits will be used to help more children access free toilet paper when they are at school. If successful, the project will be promoted in more areas in the future.
