Posted March 8, 2010 :: Politics, religion, and sex are the common topics-to-avoid when it comes to workplace, dinnertable, or first-date conversations. Rose George has another topic that's off limits there, as well as the places where the conversation most needs to happen.

The topic is sanitation, and in a world of 6.6 billion people, human waste matters.

Rose George, author of The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable world of human waste and why it matters (Metropolitan Books) will offer a free lecture at the Great Lakes Science Center Tuesday, March 23 at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District, the lecture comes just one day after World Water Day and includes free admission to the Science Center's special exhibit Water: H2O=Life!

For an organization like the Sewer District, which manages wastewater and stormwater for more than one million residents in Northeast Ohio, it might make sense to hold a lecture on bodily functions and the facilities we use to collect and treat sewage, but why do it?

The answer is the same as George's motivation for her book: Somebody's got to.

"We are fortunate to live in a region where water can be taken for granted, but that doesn't mean it should be," said Sewer District Director of Administration and External Affairs Constance Haqq. "Similarly, sanitation is not a right around the world, it's a privilege that we take for granted every time we flush, and that's exactly what Rose George researched and wrote about in her book."

The Sewer District and partners City of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County Board of Health, Cleveland Clinic, Environmental Health Watch, Earth Day Coalition, GreenCityBlueLake Institute, and University Hospitals are happy to have an entertaining writer speak about issues of clean water and public health. George will also discuss the future of human-waste management around the world.

Said Haqq: "In short, [George] sheds a clear light on how we are both water-rich and sanitation-blessed. Her lecture is a great opportunity and a new way for us to help people understand the importance of clean water and really the purpose of our work."

Download a printable PDF flyer | For more information, contact Public Information Specialist Jennifer Elting at (216) 881-6600