There are roughly 3,000 homes
in rural Alaska that lack piped
water and sewer systems,
leading to higher rates of
infection and illness. In
Kivalina, for example,
households use “honey
buckets” 5-gallon buckets lined
with plastic bags that need to
be emptied by hand every day.
Bags of waste often sit outside
during the winter and get buried
in the snow. Bags often leak or
are ripped apart by animals,
spreading waste into surface
water and streets where
children play.
