Toilet paper record attempt

By Sunny Liu

Stacking up toilet paper rolls is much harder than it looks.

On World Toilet Day on November 18, Melbourne Water held this quirky competition at its Docklands headquarters to raise awareness of toilet sanitation around the world.

Three teams – Melbourne Water, WaterAid and Who Gives A Crap – attempted to break the world record of a 28-toilet-roll tower. At one point the “Who Gives A Crap” team got to 31 rolls but it crashed to the ground with disappointed yelps from the audience.

WaterAid’s CEO Rosie Wheen said it was a great attempt and the main goal of this competition was to turn toilet sanitation into an everyday topic.

“I’m delighted that people got to talk about toilets on the World Toilet Day. WaterAid will continue to bring about change to unsafe toilets from around the world,” Ms Wheen said.

“Asking Australians to focus on the toilets for a whole day may seem funny. But for millions of people around the world it’s no laughing matter.”

WaterAid is a not-for-profit organisation that works with government, the private sector and local communities to build sanitised toilets in disadvantaged regions.

About 2.3 billion people in the world do not have access to clean and safe toilets and 900 children die everyday from diarrhoea caused by unsanitised water.

Ms Wheen said WaterAid hoped every city and town around the world could prioritise building sanitised toilets for their residents.

“Many people have no choice but to face the indignity of going to the loo in the open, where they are exposed to disease and vulnerable to harassment and attack,” she said.

Toilet paper retailer Who Gives A Crap donates 50 per cent of its profits to WaterAid.

“We think it’s crap that billions of people in the world don’t have a toilet. That’s why we donate 50 per cent of our profits to help fund sanitation and hygiene projects for those in need,” co-founder Simon Griffiths said.

While the teams did not break the world record, they went home with some toilet rolls and water bottles from Melbourne Water.