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.

法国人曾以发明坐浴盆、以及普及公共厕所而著称，如今，他们又可以因为可生物降解的“便携厕所”而让人称赞了。

France's Laurent Helewa poses with his invention, a toilet kit, during the opening day of the 39th International Exhibition of Inventions, on April 6 in Geneva.
Frenchman Laurent Helewa designed the lightweight, easy to construct and carry toilet after Hurricane Katrina, when thousands of displaced people were crammed into（塞入，填满） a stadium for a week, with hardly any access to facilities.

"It's a taboo（禁忌的） 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（霍乱） ," 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（吸收） liquids.

Helewa, who gamely（勇敢地） 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.