July 11th 2007

We use it every day – usually more than once. It’s a convenience we take for granted, yet couldn’t imagine being without – the humble flushable toilet. But this barely mentionable essential comes at a significant cost in resources, infrastructure and impact on environmental ecosystems.

This fascinating public lecture details the challenges facing Australia in maintaining the highest standards in sanitation. It also reveals the opportunities for a revolution in managing our waste while conserving water, essential nutrients and our precious environment.

Cynthia Mitchell
Associate Professor Cynthia Mitchell is a Research Director at the UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures. Her work challenges current thinking, in technical and socio-cultural terms, when finding sustainable solutions to major infrastructure problems, in particular, water cycle management in industrial and urban settings. Cynthia has consulted widely to industry and government, won important Australian Research Council funding for her wetlands work and was recently awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden.

Resources

• flyer (PDF 52k)
• presentation slides (PDF 1.9 MB)
• audio recording (MP3 25.5 MB)

UTSPEAKS: is a free public lecture series presented by UTS experts discussing a range of important issues confronting contemporary Australia