Written by Kareya Saleh | From Beta Boston

While we fret over our first-world problems, there are nearly 2.5 billion people without access to something we’ve long taken for granted in the United States—adequate sanitation. And it’s a deadly problem: An estimated 1.6 million children die yearly from diarrheal disease as the result of inadequate sanitation.

Makeshift solutions such as the “flying toilet” (a plastic bag discarded in the street) have become the norm in Kenya and other parts of the world, and result in disease. However, David Auerbach and his team at MIT spinout Sanergy believe they’ve found an alternative—by sparking entrepreneurialism as a way to combat the problem.

The nonprofit startup began as a Development Ventures class at MIT and early on incubated at the MIT Media Lab. But Auerbach says the initial inspiration came on a trip to gain a better understanding of the sanitation challenge within Kenya’s urban slums. “We saw that people in the community were extremely entrepreneurial and determined to change their community, but didn’t have the right technology or the right business model,” he said.

It was there that Auerbach and his colleagues, Ani Vallabhaneni and Lindsay Stradley, realized the potential for a franchise model for selling toilets.

Sanergy designs and builds low-cost toilet units, dubbed Fresh Life Toilets, and then sells them to local entrepreneurs who become franchise partners. The franchisees charge for usage of the toilets, and can make up to $40 a week by running two toilets. Every franchisee gets training, marketing support, and a daily waste collection service.

Read more at Beta Boston