Two more things related to the above, though one only tangentially so.
1. Talked to my sister who's found some online store advertising "sea sponges" as a reusable replacement for tampons. To clean it after use, you apparently rinse and squeeze out the water. Can also soak it in water containing dissolved natural/safe household cleaning products (the online stores selling the sea sponges list what natural household cleaning items will suffice).
Although the site my sister pointed out as an example store described sea sponges as plants, the ones I ever heard of don't photosynthesise: not a plant. It may just seem a clump of cooperating cells but IIRC sponges are still classed as animals (e.g. Attenborough still refers to them as animals too <- "argument from authority"). And cooperating cells clumping together to form a single life-form were the early animal forms before the rise of more complex animal life forms (eventually consisting of specialising cells). [FL, from memory]
The sea sponges are "sustainably" "harvested": large clumps are cut off from sea sponges or else entire sponges are uprooted (kidnapped?). I thought doing so should make the harvested parts form their own new life-form, i.e. a distinct new sea sponge, but maybe they die when they're taken out of the water/"harvested"? That's just sad. Should mention that I really don't know much about sea sponges except the occasional stuff I read about.
In any case, the sea sponge seems to be considered (somewhat or all?) dead - by the marketers - by the time the sellers aim for humans to use it.
Personally, the idea doesn't sit well with me - think I actually turned green with sea sickness when I first heard of it. But still, the above is to state that such stuff is out there.
Maybe Hindoos can think of alternatives that are less living-tissue/life-forms forced into lowly labour (as "replacement tampons") and instead come up with other sponge-like, natural, non-life materials that could be as effective.
Maybe man-made spongy materials made of natural fibres/cloths or whatever, you know what I mean. Something compostable/biodegradable. I really know nothing about this subject. But supermarkets here sell man-made sponges to wipe the floor etc with, that are "100% biodegradable" as per the packaging. <- Maybe such spongy materials are a starting point for further investigation? (As long as they don't fall apart/"biodegrade" inside the human host...)
2. On the subject of western industries creating markets where end-users are required to keep purchasing 'refillables' (and I don't just mean printer refills):
Sonic and other waterless washing machines were repeatedly designed and made viable by Japan, but western companies suppressed them. Not the whiteware industry but the washing machine liquid industry: the sonic washing machines didn't need any detergents or soaps or whatever, and factually cleaned clothing far better than water-based washing machines combined with detergents.
After all, the industry that manufactures detergents and the like, make huge quantities of dough from selling people dishwashing liquid, soaps and detergents, washing machine powders and liquids etc.
In India, I think it is a view firmly entrenched among many that "washing" and "cleaning" implies or necessitates or means "with water". Certainly, the sonic showers in Star Trek are the one thing I didn't like about it's projection of an otherwise positive future. Could just be because I like splashing about. But also have this notion that heathen Indians like washing themselves with water (washing in water is also a daily religious rite for traditional Hindoos, and they have mantras associated with it).
Sonic washing machines are perhaps a different matter to Hindoos compared to sonic showers. In any case, in a land that in some places and sometimes is strapped for water, waterless washing machines that clean at least as well (and rather better) than water-based washing machines may be preferred.
On the other hand, a great many people in India don't use a washing machine anyway, but wash their clothes by hand, some even still do so at waterways. But would be a good idea to avoid polluting said waterways with detergents.
Also sonic washing machines may be a good thing for mankind to consider when water becomes scarcer as the global population size grows: water is the *first* thing humans will want and the *first* thing that is projected to be in shortage. So better to spend water on the bare necessities then, to free up more water from being stuck in the water reclamation cycle.
web.archive.org/web/20041223110440/http://www.designnews.com/article/CA200975.html
A more recent one from 2013 has Korea's LG try their hand. Not much is said about the details, so not sure if this one still requires detergent or not. Probably will need it, as western detergent industries will kill all detergent-less washing machines before they're even launched:
engadget.com/2013/04/17/lg-senior-vp-washing-machine-no-water/
1. Talked to my sister who's found some online store advertising "sea sponges" as a reusable replacement for tampons. To clean it after use, you apparently rinse and squeeze out the water. Can also soak it in water containing dissolved natural/safe household cleaning products (the online stores selling the sea sponges list what natural household cleaning items will suffice).
Although the site my sister pointed out as an example store described sea sponges as plants, the ones I ever heard of don't photosynthesise: not a plant. It may just seem a clump of cooperating cells but IIRC sponges are still classed as animals (e.g. Attenborough still refers to them as animals too <- "argument from authority"). And cooperating cells clumping together to form a single life-form were the early animal forms before the rise of more complex animal life forms (eventually consisting of specialising cells). [FL, from memory]
The sea sponges are "sustainably" "harvested": large clumps are cut off from sea sponges or else entire sponges are uprooted (kidnapped?). I thought doing so should make the harvested parts form their own new life-form, i.e. a distinct new sea sponge, but maybe they die when they're taken out of the water/"harvested"? That's just sad. Should mention that I really don't know much about sea sponges except the occasional stuff I read about.
In any case, the sea sponge seems to be considered (somewhat or all?) dead - by the marketers - by the time the sellers aim for humans to use it.
Personally, the idea doesn't sit well with me - think I actually turned green with sea sickness when I first heard of it. But still, the above is to state that such stuff is out there.
Maybe Hindoos can think of alternatives that are less living-tissue/life-forms forced into lowly labour (as "replacement tampons") and instead come up with other sponge-like, natural, non-life materials that could be as effective.
Maybe man-made spongy materials made of natural fibres/cloths or whatever, you know what I mean. Something compostable/biodegradable. I really know nothing about this subject. But supermarkets here sell man-made sponges to wipe the floor etc with, that are "100% biodegradable" as per the packaging. <- Maybe such spongy materials are a starting point for further investigation? (As long as they don't fall apart/"biodegrade" inside the human host...)
2. On the subject of western industries creating markets where end-users are required to keep purchasing 'refillables' (and I don't just mean printer refills):
Sonic and other waterless washing machines were repeatedly designed and made viable by Japan, but western companies suppressed them. Not the whiteware industry but the washing machine liquid industry: the sonic washing machines didn't need any detergents or soaps or whatever, and factually cleaned clothing far better than water-based washing machines combined with detergents.
After all, the industry that manufactures detergents and the like, make huge quantities of dough from selling people dishwashing liquid, soaps and detergents, washing machine powders and liquids etc.
In India, I think it is a view firmly entrenched among many that "washing" and "cleaning" implies or necessitates or means "with water". Certainly, the sonic showers in Star Trek are the one thing I didn't like about it's projection of an otherwise positive future. Could just be because I like splashing about. But also have this notion that heathen Indians like washing themselves with water (washing in water is also a daily religious rite for traditional Hindoos, and they have mantras associated with it).
Sonic washing machines are perhaps a different matter to Hindoos compared to sonic showers. In any case, in a land that in some places and sometimes is strapped for water, waterless washing machines that clean at least as well (and rather better) than water-based washing machines may be preferred.
On the other hand, a great many people in India don't use a washing machine anyway, but wash their clothes by hand, some even still do so at waterways. But would be a good idea to avoid polluting said waterways with detergents.
Also sonic washing machines may be a good thing for mankind to consider when water becomes scarcer as the global population size grows: water is the *first* thing humans will want and the *first* thing that is projected to be in shortage. So better to spend water on the bare necessities then, to free up more water from being stuck in the water reclamation cycle.
web.archive.org/web/20041223110440/http://www.designnews.com/article/CA200975.html
Quote:Ultrasound turns clothes "ultraclean"
By Dennis Normile, Japan, Global Design News
Design News
March 25, 2002
Tokyoââ¬âIn the effort to improve the performance of appliances, two Japanese companies have hit upon the idea of applying ultrasound to washing machines, though they came up with very different applications of the technology.
Sanyo Electric Co. recently put on sale a washing machine that doesn't require detergent to clean lightly soiled clothes. Instead, electrodes on the side of the tub electrolyze the water. An ultrasonic wave generator at the base of the machine uses sonic waves to generate millions of tiny air bubbles to help loosen grime and grit on clothes in a purely mechanical action.
Electrolyzing the water produces active oxygen, or forms of oxygen such as hydrogen peroxide and ozone, and hypochlorous acid, a mild bleaching agent. Hypochlorous acid kills bacteria while active oxygen dissolves such dirt as the residue of body sweat. Sanyo claims this is enough for cleaning things like shirts, underwear, pajamas, and towels. Detergent can be used in the machine to clean clothes heavily stained with dirt or grease.
Sanyo claims users can halve the cost of doing normal laundry. Reducing the amount of detergent sent into waste water streams is also environmentally friendly. The 8-kg load capacity washer sells for about $1,100. Currently it is only available in Japan, but Sanyo may consider overseas sales in the future.
Rather than applying ultrasound waves on the entire wash, Sharp Corp. chose to use the technology in a spot washer intended to remove rings of dirt from collars and other stains. The Sharp washer features a small ultrasound generator that mounts in an arm positioned above a tray above the washer tub. Users position the stained part of the fabric between the washing head on the arm and a small trough on the tray, something like positioning fabric under a sewing machine needle.
With the trough filled with water, the fabric is saturated. The washer head oscillates up and down 34,000 times per second. On the downstroke, water molecules are pushed away; on the upstroke, cavitation results in bubbles in the water. As these cavities combine and explode within the fabric fiber, stain-causing particles are blown away. After treating the stains, the garment is washed normally. The ultrasound arm and tray can be folded away.
"This same principle has been used in washing machines for commercial laundries and for jewelers," says Kazuo Tajima, general manager of engineering for Sharp. Tajima says the company spent three years adapting the technology for a home washing machine.
Sharp's 8-kg capacity washer with the ultrasonic spot washer will be put on the market in November at a list price of $1,125. The company currently has no plans to offer the machine outside Japan.
(Well, can't offer it internationally if they want to stay alive...
The detergent industry may not be as well-known a mass-murderer as the weapons, pharmaceuticals and tobacco industries, or as heavily into [child] labour and torture as the chocolate and diamonds industries, but one never knows what bigwigs will do if someone tries to render their products/market irrelevant...)
<snipped the 2nd story about a western waterless washing machine: it's one that still requires detergent of course, else the west wouldn't be manufacturing it for public use in the first place.>
[...]
A more recent one from 2013 has Korea's LG try their hand. Not much is said about the details, so not sure if this one still requires detergent or not. Probably will need it, as western detergent industries will kill all detergent-less washing machines before they're even launched:
engadget.com/2013/04/17/lg-senior-vp-washing-machine-no-water/
Quote:LG is building a washing machine that doesn't use water
blogger-avatar by Mat Smith | @thatmatsmith | April 17th 2013 at 6:15am