World Toilet Summit takes seat

The eighth annual World Toilet Summit and Expo convened today in Macau, China. I suppose you expect a joke here - sorry. The fact is, 2.5 billion people don't have access to sanitary toilets (and this doesn't include you when stranded between two McDonald's), and the misery that stems from that lack is enormous. The U.N. has declared 2008 The International Year of Sanitation, and the American Restroom Association (yeah, I was surprised too) is a supporter of the conference.

The only Platinum sponsor of the conference is the Swiss company Geberit International AG (VTX:GEBN), which sells sanitary tech throughout the world. It might be worth considering for your green portfolio.

According to the World Toilet Association, 60% of the world's rural disease can be traced to poor sanitation. Legendary killers such as cholera and typhoid thrive when human waste is not properly contained and processed.

The issue also goes hand in hand with the availability of clean drinking water. The WTA promotes the use of dry toilets, for the simplicity, cost efficiency and protection of water resources.

The World Health Organization funded a study to put numbers to the cost of providing toilets and clean water to the world's deprived. The costs were amazingly slight- $22.6 billion to provide minimal services to all of those in need, chump change in the era of bailouts. The savings in public health could translate into economic growth, as well as reduce the cost of disease treatment.

How seriously does the founder of the World Toilet Association, Sim Jae-duck, take the issue? Check out the photo of his own abode, built in the shape of a commode.