Extreme makeover: toilet edition (courtesy of Bill & Melinda Gates)

When you flush the toilet every day, you probably aren’t thinking much about where your waste goes. But Seattle’s Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is putting that question on the international agenda.

They’re donating more than three and a half million dollars in grants and prize money to help developing countries take advantage of new waste treatment technologies. A “Reinvent the Toilet Challenge” fair kicked off yesterday.

KPLU environment reporter Bellamy Pailthorp went to check it out. (Click "Play" above to hear the elements of her story.)

You can also read our extensive print coverage of the fair on our global health blog, Humanosphere.

And here's a link to Wendy Kaufman's story about the fair that aired nationally on npr Wednesday afternoon.