Sitting on a toilet isn’t the best way to get things done, except for one particular thing, but it was the perfect way for Simon Griffiths to raise $50,000 for his commendable project.
Australian Simon Griffiths is a man on a mission. He’s planning to solve a big part of the world’s sanitation problem by building toilets where they’re needed the most, and he started his big plan by spending two days sitting on a toilet bowl, with his pants around his ankles. You’re probably thinking this guy must be crazy, but Simon is actually a man with university degrees in engineering and economics, who chose to turn his back on a white-collar career in order to try and change the world, one flush at a time. He’s traveled to places where toilets aren’t what you’re used and by sitting on a bowl for 50 straight hours he tried to attract attention and funds to a worthy cause.
His “Who Gives a Crap” campaign is aimed at raising funds for toilets in third world countries where over four thousand children under the age of 5 die of diarrhoea-related diseases every day. It’s a grim statistic, but Simon hopes his effort will be the unlikely start to a very serious change. But how does sitting on a toilet help solve the world’s toilet problem, right? Well, Simon thought it was the perfect effort to raise $50,000 needed to fund his toilet paper business, Who Gives a Crap. 50% of profits will be donated to Water Aid, an organization that’s going to be sending its experts to build toilets where they are needed.
If you’ve ever spent more time on a toilet bowl than needed, you know sitting on the hard surface becomes uncomfortable after a while, but Simon didn’t let a little thing like lack of comfort deter him from reaching his goal. He livestreamed the whole event and got tens of thousands of page views, as well as a great number of donations. Although he wasn’t able to sleep the whole time he was on the throne, Simon was fed and caffeinated by his girlfriend, Melissa, and was actually able to do interviews.