MAR 11

Right. And use a full barrel of oil per load in producing and transporting those beads.

(And the Guardian source isn't much better).

They say "for the time being they [the millions of nylon beads] will be collected and recycled" -- by whom? People doing laundry at home? Not likely. The sewage treatment works? Not happy -- or likely.

Either this is "green sorta but not really" or someone's not telling us something. ( wonder too if they've factored the net energetics of the nylon beads...

This is really fascinating- are there any numbers in regards to the machine/bead cost?

seems like you would just get pockets full of beads.

It wouldn't be that great of an idea to use beads on hospitals' laundry, unless the beads can absorb germs too ...
That's definitely not the way to go green people.

Maybe Nylon beads help in water conservation, but they sure won't help with the sewerage system- andthe wildlife therein.

I question whether this is green. How many of these beads will end up in the bellies of fish and foul and how many of the rest will end up circling the great garbage vortex in the ocean? How many will trash perfectly functioning washer to switch to this? Interesting way to continue our reliance on oil under a green umbrella.

The promise of water-use reduction and the supposed cutting of CO2 emissions are very appealing, but I have to agree with the others in the nylon beads' production doubts and their treatment once disposed of or recycled. I can imagine myself making regular trips to some specified store or location to recycle and whatnot my washing machine's beads, but I really don't see many other mexicans doing the same thing as I would. And I'm just talking about my own country.
That's is a very sharp double-edged sword there.

1. what guarantees efficient bead draining? I see lots of beads in clothing pockets
2. Won't the beads tear up the more delicate clothes?
3. How often would they have to be changed, and how expensive is that? (And how much carbon is created by producing and transporting them?)
4. The beads may work on the visual stain, but can they absorb or deal with odor? Will the clothes smell fresh?
5. Can they be used in conjunction with soap or fabric softener?

I agree with the consensus here that there are some serious problems with this. However, the promise is great too.

Combined with high heat (maybe steam) for sterilization this sounds like a great way for the linen services that every hotel and motel use for sheets and towels to save money and water and energy.

1. Less pockets in the sheets to collect beads.
2. Large scale in one place makes the service of bead recycling more efficient.
3. They have a profit motive
4. Since I live in California, saving water sounds very attractive.

This is a great idea...I love all of the innovation that's going on now for conserving one of our most valuable resources WATER!!! I would love to get your thoughts on our $20 device that saves at least 16,000 gallons of water a year per toilet...www.greenflush.net

While I agree that there are potential issues, a lot of these comments seem to be missing the point that the beads are only recycled after 100s of loads.

Although I'm all for cutting water costs and reducing what is being used, I think the use of these 'beads' may need to be re-thought. Like Andrew said, I question whether this is 'green' as currently the beads can't be re-used so where will they end up?...
Please take a look at my blog and leave comments: http://victoriaelmore.wordpress.com
Also take a look at www.birminghamrecycled.co.uk

Any idea on the price of this machine?

Lots of interesting comments. How about the cost to the environment to replace all those washing machines out there? You are talking millions. There is the cost of manufacturing the new system and the cost of disposing of the old ones. Sounds like a bunch of green-washing to me.

You all do know that the world isn't going to turn green overnight? There's no magical "green switch" that we can flip and suddenly make everything environmentally friendly. By putting washers like these into new homes and developments, it's a great step forward in the conversion process to a more environmentally friendly world.

I'm sure they could find way to produce the beads from recycled bottles or other plastics, meaning no increased oil dependency, and like the article says the beads are reused for hundreds of washes and the company is working on a solution for how to deal with the beads once they've been used up.

It's not as though the company is claiming this is a perfect product that will end all carbon emissions and save all the water on the planet, but it's a step in the right direction and I honestly think it's disgusted to see people on a green community like this bashing a company that's trying to use new technology and innovation to help us take steps toward a greener world. Unless you all would rather that we just keep on building water hungry washers in every new home, hotel, and hospital that's built around the world.

You're right (all you nay-sayers above) they don't have all the kinks worked out yet, but isn't it cool that someone has proposed and whole new vision for washing-strike that- cleaning clothes.

Good luck and great work.

so how do the beads not get stuck in all of the pockets and everything else? i mean, are we to expect that ALL of the beads will get rinsed back down? I mean, that's the biggest thing for me I think.... I wouldn't want a ton of plastic balls constantly being in my pockets whenever I try to get my keys out... It's a good idea, but not very practical I don't think..

I remember being shocked and almost killed by my mother-in-law's wringer washing machine. I plugged it in whilst standing in a puddle of water. It sent me flying across the utility room after it was through zapping the blue blazins out of me, and I crashed into the wall. I'll take the beads any day of the week, thank you...

What about all of the beads that get stuck in the clothing? you can not tell me that when I wash cargo pants with tiny beads that drain away tons of those beads are not going to end up in the pockets... so do I have to empty out every little crevice of my clothing post wash? then dump the beads back into the washer? or drop them on the ground by accident?

I like that people are thinking of great wash to help the environment, keep up the work, I just don't think this device has hit fool proof yet.

Let's look at all the implications here.
1. If 10 people in my condo block did their laundry all at once with these micro-beads, might we not cause water pipe blockage and water back-up that will flood our laundry rooms and homes? A poor way to conserve water, I say.
2. These beads are made of nylon, you say. Guess what nylon is made of: petrochemicals.
3. I'm not submitting MY dry-cleanables, or my washables, either, to being pounded by millions of micro-beads. Clothes washed this way will literally "erode" after several washings. My dry-cleaner already uses a super-friendly system without chemicals, and my dry-cleanables last for decades with their careful cleaning system. Most of my washables last for decades, too.
Conclusion: Saving water is important, but not if I have to spend half my annual income replacing my entire wardrobe a few times a year. (I earn less than $10K a year right now. Thanks to great investments I made in clothes many years ago, I only spend about $100 a year on my wardrobe these days.)

There is am alternative to using beads. These are the nearly waterless washing machines that change the pH balance in water to that of the pH balance of laundry detergents. It works in much the same way as detergents in getting rid of soil, dirt and grime in your clothes. These washers are now available. Haier has a model now out in the market.

i also heard of a detergentless washer ...imagine that no detergent and no water !!!!! smart appliances doing what we want when we want them sounds interesting. I heard from a friend installing the new smart grid in people’s homes – how this smart grid thing would alert you by phone when you get low of milk in the fridge!!!! pretty cool having reminders like this automatically

Wow that results in a hugh saving in water. Would be happy if i get one...

whe can save water, that's great, but are those plastic things safe? Imean with little children and all, I do carea about the water and all, but my kids are the most important things in the world.
I know all the other parents can agree with me

I agree with Tk's comment. I think you've got to give credit for the fact the company is trying to innovate and make changes in the right direction.

We had to buy a new machine recently and although it purported to meet high energy saving standards etc, the basic quality of it is rubbish. I can that we are going to have to replace it within only a very few years. That kind of 'built in obsolesence' approach to manufacturing is a disgrace.

i heard of this alternative but I am wondering what is the cost of using it to save water.

i think if these kinds on things are launched in countries like pakistan and bangladesh then the inventors could make huge profits out of their sales as electricity in these countries are very expensive.

In principal this sounds like it would be great because it saves so much water. But how hard are these beads on the clothes? Would clothes wear out faster?

As far as commercial applications go I would like to comment on 3 points. First, many commercial laundries run driers from 500 to 600 deg F inlet temperatures to 300 to 400 deg F outlet temperatures. With the inevitable prospect that these beads will wind up in the driers, I can see real problems developing with melting. Just a few of the issues would be ruined clothing and melted plastic within the drum area not to mention putting those carcinogens into the atmosphere.

Secondly, soil content would be a major issue. The beads are usable for hundreds of washes or so the claim goes, but at what soil level? I would imagine that heavy soils such as in bar mops and kitchen related fats and oils would do a number on the life-span of the beads. There needs to be a serious level of saponification to bring these heavy soils to a manageable level.

Third, the majority of commercial laundries outside of the Mom and Pop operations, are running tunnels with enormous throughput. There would be high level of difficulty associated with the engineering aspects of that sort of endeavor. Who is going beta test that?

Lastly, I’d like the cyclic pollution problem associated with these beads addressed fully prior to a large scale distribution of these beads, i.e. are they going to be classified as toxic waste by the EPA if they are used to clean petroleum products from clothes?

These are just a few of the obvious things that poped into my head when I looked into this technology. All in all it seems like unproven technology in the early stages of scaleup. Who knows...with proper development and control...it may turnout to be a good thing.