#womenempowerment

91: The Washing Machine Project – Let’s Engineer a More Sustainable Future

70% of the world’s population lacks access to an electric washing machine.
Hand washing clothes sounds like a simple task but for many women around the world, it poses a significant obstacle to their wellbeing and livelihood.
Navjot Sawhney was a curious child always trying to figure out how things worked. He grew up to be an engineer and wanted to use his engineering and design skills for good. He quit his secure, highly respected job at Dyson to volunteer for Engineers Without Borders Uk and Prakti (an Indian NGO). He saw his friend Divya spend hours doing household chores and he promised her that he would design and make a hand-cranked washing machine for her. He returned to Uk and after a short stint with Jaguar he went to the drawing board to make good on his promise. He designed a hand-cranked washing machine that used fifty percent less water, saved time, avoided touching the detergent and completely off the grid. By providing displaced and low-income communities with an accessible, off-grid washing solution, The Washing Machine Project’s mission is to empower women with the time to take charge over their lives. They believe that when women rise, we all rise.

https://thewashingmachineproject.org/
https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

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Design and Innovation
91: The Washing Machine Project - Let's Engineer a More Sustainable Future
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42: Phool Co – Made From Temple Flowers

It was the day of Makara Sankranti, an ancient Indian festival marking the end of the winter solstice, celebrated by bathing in the sacred waters of the river Ganges. On that cold winter morning in 2015, Ankit Agarwal, founder of Phool Co took his friend Jakub, who was visiting him from the Czech Republic to see Ghats of the River Ganges. They watched as truckloads of temple flowers were being dumped in the river, and at that very moment, they saw sunlight hit the water and an oily chemical film float onto the surface of the water. Ankit struggled to explain to Jakub, why a river so revered was ignored and polluted and why he couldn’t do anything about it. Ankit visited the temples the next to assess and understand the magnitude of the problem. That day he decided to be the change to create a movement. He founded Phool Co and became the genesis of the ‘flowercycling’ technology. Through innovation, they began to offer products made from temple flowers.

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Design and Innovation
42: Phool Co - Made From Temple Flowers
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