SDG #6 - Creating Incentives around Sanitation with Grace Kwak

Grace Kwak is currently in her final year of undergraduate studies as a Life Sciences major at Yale-NUS College. Grace has had a special focus on research public health projects such as adolescent suicide in South Korea and vaccination confidence in Singapore. After graduating in May 2020, she will be starting medical school in Duke-NUS Medical School (https://www.linkedin.com/in/research-assistant-health/)

At UNLEASH, Grace’s team created a unique idea around incentivizing people in India to use bathroom.  "PoopIT" seeks to create a digital credit-based system where users gain credits for using the toilets; these credits can be used to buy desired products at retail stores. The “poop card” will be a physical and digital card, linked to a digital wallet (which can be accessed by both more high-tech smartphones and simple Nokia phone users, alike). Users simply need to tap in and tap out after using the toilet to earn credits. PoopIT is planning to use a system with simple radio frequency identification technology and a time algorithm to monitor toilet usage and prevent people from tapping in & out at toilet facilities to just earn credits without actually using them. We believe that this external motivator of rewards, coupled with educational campaigns to educate people on the issue of open defecation, will instill an internal motivation to start using toilets and promote sanitation.  To learn about the solution, considering viewing this link: https://unleash.org/solutions/poop-card/