In discussion of the things that we can do, and the small steps in the right direction of change, I have been thinking about what is being done. One thing that I realized, that I think is a step in the right direction, is the installation and use of the new Dyson Airblade hand dryers we now have in our restrooms at the University. At first glance, I was surprised to see these new and futuristic looking dryers. I almost had a confused feeling of how to approach it, but it was very easy to use. I slipped my hand inside, and almost instantly, powerful jets completely dried my hands. The directions said, “Insert hands and slowly remove”. The machine was loud but did its job very efficiently.
So what is so special and unique about these hand dryers past their futuristic design? Well, they are environmentally friendly. They use less energy, save trees, and promote clean hands through “airblade” technology. According to their specifications listed on the Dyson website, they use up to 80% less energy compared to traditional hand dryers, use a clean air HEPA filter that removes 99.9 % of the bacteria in the air used to dry our hands, and can dry 22 pairs of hands for the same cost of one paper-towel. This is a great improvement in efficiency, which is a crucial step to the environmental changes we as people need to implement on our plan for change. Twenty-two pairs of hands dried for the same cost of one paper-towel. Just think how many paper towels we each used to use to dry our hands just one time. This is a great step in efficiency, most certainly, in respect to the number of trees that will be “saved” from being cut down to be “manufactured” into paper-towels. These dryers save time (which is critical to our faced paced lives today), trees (valuable resources), and energy, which we know is a very limited resource.
One thing I do not know is who made the push for these new dryers; this small but valuable step. Was this the work of students? Or some sort of administrative decision to save the University that other valuable (yet imaginarily valuable) resource: Money. Either way this shows us that something seemingly small can affect our global environment and although on a small scale currently, what if everyone adopted these new dryer’s throughout the world? …. Think about it.
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