Waste not, want not
Experts say improving the poor sanitary facilities in the country's rural areas through the use of eco-friendly toilets will raise residents' standards of living and protect the environment, as Yang Wanli reports from Changshu, Jiangsu province.
Compared with many of his middle-aged peers, who are conventional and wary of new developments, Wang Yuanyuan is an exception. In the early 1990s, the 67-year-old farmer was the first to install a flushing toilet in his home in Chentang, a village in Changshu city, Jiangsu province. Decades later, Wang again was at the forefront of another ecologically friendly sanitary revolution when he purchased a vacuum toilet.
In January 2011, with the help of an expert team from Beijing, Wang's family became the first in Chentang to experience the "high-tech" toilet, which is made of white porcelain and looks no different from the regular thing.