Above, a week ago on the boat. Below, yesterday in Milan. I came home on Monday with four loads of
laundry to do. It is now Thursday and load two is still drying on the rack and hanging from the rafters because, uh, nothing is going outside to flap in the sleet. I've been telling Cristiano for years that I wanted to come up with an ecological clothes dryer operated by a Stairmaster, bicycle or elliptical machine. He'd be the engineering mind behind it. He did some calculations and told me that an exercise machine could not generate enough power and I'd have to cycle or Stairmaster for a few days just to dry one load. Having dry laundry would be the perfect incentive to work out, right? I'd be slim AND wearing dry, wrinkle-free, non-musty smelling clothing. Well, of course, I saw on CNN yesterday that someone has "stolen" my idea. If only Cristiano had listened to me and we'd made it happen!
4 comments:
So where can one acquire one of these bad boys?
I don't know! Not sure if they are available for commercial sale yet but the story I saw was about a gym using spin bikes to generate power in the gym. As you pedaled, you got a readout of exactly how much power you were generating and that provided extra motivation. This story is similar:
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2008/09/01/1817107-pedal-pushers-power-innovative-gym
The story I saw was in New Jersey so this guy in Oregon is not the only one doing it. Granted, an entire spin class generates more energy than one person but there has to be some way to harness and store energy over time, right? Not that I am that scientific but I bet they will come up with it soon! Ciao ciao cardboard jeans!
i had that idea about gyms using all the energy produced while exercising for their own benefits whilst at university a good 15 years ago. it struck me as really funny that they had all these heaters in a place that people came to work out and sweat in (granted it was cold outside though!). What would be good (totally useless for your purposes though) would be to hook up exercise bikes etc to TVs so you'd need to do something to make them work. TVs use much less power than dryers...
I also had another idea to make a portable potty for toilet training babies (spent 3hrs during a road trip discussing how it could be designed) but when i googled it discovered lots of others have already 'invented' them for me. oh well, at least i get to benefit from their products.
Good luck with the washing. Vanessa
Vanessa,
How are you? Still waiting expectantly? I keep meaning to write but I've been getting caught up after our cruise. I'll email you!
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