The relationship of SDG 6 with other SDGs:
We achieve this by providing hygienic, Next Generation Sanitation products that are user friendly and provide the “flush and forget” experience while serving the community and honouring the environment.
We prefer the term Reinvented Sanitation, because none of our innovations are new technology.
In fact, there are countless reports and research articles, prototypes and proof of concepts that have demonstrated over the past 2 decades that these technologies work. Sanitation Ambassadors is unique in that we bring all these technologies together. Our approach is to look at sanitation holistically, considering the whole value chain.
It is not just a toilet, it is not just a wastewater plant, it is a tuned system based on the cradle-to-cradle philosophy.
- A non-sewered Toilet that is modern, elegant and affordable, separates waste streams at source, and contains them hygienically.
- A prefabricated, robust ablution structure manufactured with innovative technology and materials, and transported as a flat pack with simple instructions allowing them to be erected in minimal time frames.
- Training and mentoring of Sanitation Ambassadors who perform a dignified, regular, subscription-based collection service, taking the full containers away and replacing them with clean ones, as well as provide education of communities and cleaning services, following a “Sanitation As A Service” community franchise model. This collection service is crucial for the system to work correctly.
- A decentralised Resource Treatment Centre which applies a simple, cost-effective, sanitising solution for treating faeces and neutralising all pathogens and bacteria, converting it into safe, nutrient and carbon-rich resources that can be used for several different applications.
The system was initially designed for rural schools in areas experiencing water scarcity and an unreliable access to electricity. This complete plug and play solution is versatile in that different components such as structures made from other materials or different models of Container Based Sanitation toilets, can be substituted to suit individual requirements and geographical needs. As long as we take the water out of wastewater, we can then take the waste that is left and consider its uses, once the excreta have been treated sufficiently to inactivate pathogens and make it safe.
Throughout the entire value chain, we focus on the well-being and protection of our Sanitation Ambassadors, the backbone of our entire organisation and the jewel in our crown. They are the locally based, predominantly female entrepreneurs who provide the essential services of waste management, sanitation maintenance and WaSH education in communities, and who have taken back the power and responsibility for health and environment in their own communities.
As a non-profit company, we are driven by our passion to change the world through sustainable development, resource protection, gender equality, and community upliftment.
Our goals are to install sanitation systems that people can be proud of. To keep all kids of all genders in school, where they have the facilities they need so they can say “bye-bye pit latrines”!
To minimise our use of precious water resources and protect the environment on which we depend to be healthy. To create dignified and sustainable careers, and to fully realise the benefits of the closed-loop Ecological Sanitation system.
Our purpose is:
Address some of the shortfalls in the water and sanitation services while protecting public health and maintaining environmental integrity. Make a positive impact on our society.
Our vision is:
Grow in such a way as to create value right through the value chain, providing end beneficiaries with essential products, while simultaneously transferring skills and creating employment to support delivery.
Our core values:
Integrity, determination, commitment, respect, ethics, resourcefulness, adaptability, collaboration, tolerance, social ecology, and transparency.
Our goals are:
- Install sanitation systems that people can be proud of.
- Keep all kids of all genders in school where they have the facilities they need.
- Minimise our use and pollution of precious water resources.
- Create dignified and sustainable jobs
If you have some time, watch Birger Lundgren on SABC News on talking about: “New technologies and new thinking to solve SA’s sanitation problems: Birger Lundgren”
You can watch the video on Youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dqKq3K2jow
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