The French have been credited with inventing the bidet and popularising pissoirs or public urinals, and now they can add the biodegradable and portable toilet to their name.

Frenchman Laurent Helewa designed the lightweight, easy to construct and carry toilet after Hurricane Katrina, when thousands of displaced people were crammed into a stadium for a week, with hardly any access to facilities.

"It's a taboo subject, but necessary in case of natural disasters," he told the reporters at the annual International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva, pointing to the earthquakes in Japan and Haiti that displaced tens of thousands of people.

"The first problem is to have access to a toilet. Because if not, people will do their business wherever, and you end up with epidemics such as cholera," said Helewa, who is a doctor.

Weighing about two kilogrammes (4.4 pounds), his invention is essentially a piece of cardboard that folds into a boxed seat in a minute, and comes with plastic bags that each contain an absorbent pad to soak up liquids.

Helewa, who gamely climbed atop a sample, claimed that the heavy-duty version is able to withstand a weight of 200 kg and usage of 20 hours a day, after it was tested by four armies.

The French invention is among more than 1,000 creations showcased by inventors from 45 countries at this week's inventions fair in Geneva.

(Read by Lee Hannon. Lee Hannon is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

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(Agencies)