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In the first of a series of articles we’ll be republishing from Future West (Australian Urbanism), a new print publication considering the future of urbanism through the lens of Perth and Western Australia, editor Timothy Moore chats with Who Gives A Crap founder Simon Griffiths about creating a financially stable social enterprise and finding the fun side of sanitation.

Taking a lighthearted approach to the serious goals behind the social enterprise, in getting the organisation off the ground Griffiths live-streamed himself on a toilet for more than 50 hours. This antic helped bring attention to the crowdfunding campaign – eventually raising $66,000 to go towards producing a range of sustainable toilet paper, paper towels and tissues.

With 50 percent of the organisation’s profits donated to WaterAid (an international charity that gives access to safe water, hygiene and sanitation to some of the world’s most vulnerable people) Who Gives A Crap has donated close to half-a-million dollars to the charity to date. In spite of logistical problems around prohibitive shipping costs and storage in Who Gives A Crap’s early days, having now overcome such issues, Griffiths is focused on ensuring that his ongoing profit-for-purpose model continues to provide benefits for those in need, the customers and the enterprise.

Who Gives A Crap conceals the donation within a product that people use daily so that people give more. Griffiths remarks, “You can’t motivate a sale with guilt, but humour goes a long way.”