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Summary Laurent Helewa designed a biodegradable and portable toilet that can be carried anywhere.
Frenchman Laurent Helewa designed the lightweight, easy to construct and carry toilet after Hurricane Katrina, when thousands of displaced people were crammed into a stadium for a week, with hardly any access to facilities.Its a taboo subject, but necessary in case of natural disasters, he said at the annual International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, pointing to the earthquakes in Japan and Haiti that displaced tens of thousands of people.Weighing about two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds), his invention is essentially a piece of cardboard that folds into a boxed seat in a minute, and comes with plastic bags that each contain an absorbent pad to soak up liquids.Helewa claimed that the heavy-duty version is able to withstand a weight of 200 kg and usage of 20 hours a day, after it was tested by four armies.The French invention is among more than 1,000 creations showcased by inventors from 45 countries at this weeks inventions fair in Geneva.The rule of the exhibition is that the invention can only be exhibited once in the Swiss city, and must have some form of intellectual property rights protection.While Helewas product is more or less ready for the shop shelves, other inventors have come armed with prototypes to seek investors who could commercialise their products.Licences negotiated at the fair can reach $40 million each year.
