sustainability Archives

Written by Safaa Aouil Ghamzi on Digilah (Tech Thought Leadership)

Ever since humans started wearing clothes, women have been delegated to wash them. This unpaid labour trap has disproportionately affected women from the beginning of time. During the industrial revolution, a ground breaking invention changed the way humans washed their clothes forever. It was the electric washing machine. Whilst millions of people benefited from the time saved, a gap of inequality was forming in the Global South, where many people still handwash their clothes to this day. Lack of access to electricity, water, and cultural norms mean that 70% of the world’s population does not have access to an electric washing machine and is often not a sustainable option.

Furthermore, 4.2 billion people do not have adequate sanitation and hygiene access globally. Unsafe and inadequate Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene practices are the main reason for disease in low-income countries. The top diseases spread by poor hygiene include body lice, diarrhoea, pinworm, and bacterial skin infections.

When combining all these factors, handwashing can get incredibly burdensome. Women and children face many health risks associated with handwashing clothes, notably skin irritation and contracting infections and water-borne diseases from direct contact with contaminated water sources. They often lead to health implications further down the line.

The Washing Machine Project was created to combat the issues associated with handwashing clothes. Fast forward three years, we have carried out research in 16 countries and have piloted our novel manual washing machine in Iraq and Lebanon.

Our ethnographic research with 3,000 families, including 900 in Uganda 800 in Jamaica, Nepal and the Philippines, prove that handwashing clothes are disproportionately placed on women and children as young as 6. For children, this burden is detrimental to their education and childhoods. It is a laborious task that inflicts chronic pain for those who spend up to 20 hours per week handwashing clothes. Handwashing clothes is time spent away from family, education, paid work and risking their health. Something had to be done.

We created Divya, an efficient manual washing machine that saves 50% of water and 70% of the time, resulting in 750 hours saved annually per household.

It’s a front-loaded washing machine with a 5kg drum capacity that uses no electricity. Divya spins at 500 revolutions per minute and spin-dries clothes with 75% of the water coming out in the dry cycle. The device is made predominantly from off-the-shelf components that can easily be replaced or fixed in poor communities. With Divya, women can now spend their free time pursuing paid work and benefit from an education instead of spending hours handwashing clothes.

For people who are burdened by handwashing clothes, a Divya washing machine is simply a miracle. Here are some testimonials below:

“I have three girls who stay two or three hours a day washing by hand. We suffer from pain in our hands, back and legs. It’s a fantastic invention.” – Kawsek, a refugee in Lebanon.

“After this washing machine came to us, things got easier for us. We don’t get exhausted anymore. We are very grateful. Thank you.” – Lamiya, a refugee in Iraq.

We have now received orders and interest from 25 countries for our Divya washing machines. Our vision is to create a world-leading organisation that brings together Innovation, Research and Development to solve the world’s most pressing humanitarian and development challenges. Whether it’s washing machines, air conditioning or refrigeration, we want to do it all.

Donate here to create more Smart Technologies to change lives : https://www.gofundme.com/f/thewashingmachineproject

Written by Priyanka Prajapati, Dr Meenakshi Garg and Dr Rajni Chopra

Digilah (Thought Leadership)

Author’s Email: meenakshi.garg@bcas.du.ac.in

Global Meat consumption continues to perceive an upward surge as demand is driven by population growth, individual economic gain, and urbanization. However, meat production would have a severe environmental impact and high ecological footprint due to increased land and water resources used during livestock rearing. Moreover, a shift in consumer preference has been observed towards consuming plant-based products due to awareness about health hazards associated with red meat. This created a significant break for food industries to develop a plant-based meat analogue that contains similar textural and nutritional attributes present in meat. According to the report published by Mordor Intelligence, the market for meat substitutes is expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.91% up to the year of 2026. The term “meat analogue” is defined as a meat-free food product resembling texture, flavour, haptic experience, and nutritional status to original meat products. The result obtained from life cycle assessment studies depicts that meat analogues could be proved as a sustainable alternative to animal-derived meat as they have considerably lower environmental footprints. Different types of Plant protein currently employed in manufacturing meat alternatives are soy protein, Wheat gluten protein, and pea protein. Many nutritional components like high-quality protein (egg protein and whey protein), vitamin B12, calcium and iron have been incorporated in meat analogues to compete with original meat nutritive value. However, manufacturers have to depend on extensively processed ingredients or/and genetically modified (GMO) material in endeavoring meat-like texture and other sensory characteristics. Leg hemoglobin is a legume protein that carries heme molecule. This molecule is produced from GMO yeast and governs meat analogs’ color, texture, and flavour. Based on the study of Egbert and Borders (2006), the given formulation produced meat analogue having improved sensory qualities.

S.No	Ingredient	Amount (%)
1.	Water	(50%- 80%)
2.	Plant- based Protein	(10%-25%)
3.	Non textured Protein	(4%-20%)
4.	Flavour compounds	(4%-20%)
5.	Lipids	(0%-15%)
6.	Binding agents	(1%-5%)
7.	Colouring Compounds	(0%-0.5%)

Texturization of plant protein is an important step in achieving similar texture, appearance, and taste as like original meat products. Plant-based proteins need several transformational changes to achieve the fibrousness of meat muscles. The native globular shape of plant protein is converted to the linear shape of textured protein by applying different texture profiling techniques (e.g., extrusion technique, electro-spinning, proteins hydrocolloid blends, high temperature conical simple shearing, freeze structuring, and 3D Bio-printing). The standard method of modifying plant proteins are electro-spinning and extrusion. Electro-Spinning produces thin fibers of plant protein by using a blend of protein solutions assembled into meat analogues through binding materials. Due to its complexity and high manufacturing cost, this method was not suitable for large-scale production.

The extrusion technique is predominant because of its robustness and versatility to produce different kinds of products. This technique involves modifying the protein configuration by undergoing several changes in its structure like (denaturation, unfolding, crosslinking, and alignment). The viscoelastic mass of plant protein is extruded in one or twin-screw extruders and involves various operational steps like (compression, shearing, heating, and cooling) to impart meatiness. This process offers several advantages like high product yield, affordability, and is energy efficient.

Bio-printing and freeze structuring are some of the emerging techniques to modify plant protein’s structure. Bio-printing is also known as 3D printing, which involves digital modeling of food formulation. Paste of Plant protein is filled in the cartilage that builds the structure of meat analogue. The major drawback faced by the Bio-printing technique is its high cost of production, complexity in spatial structure, and scalability. On the other hand, freeze structuring produces meat analogues that mimic the original meat product by freezing the protein solution, followed by the formation of ice crystals that produce porous, well-aligned and interconnected fibers of plant-based protein.

The primary requisite of a plant-based meat analogue is the proper textural profiling which mimics the texture of muscles fibre and is responsible for the characteristic meaty flavour. The intended applications of meat analogue and type of plant protein determine the technique used for texture profiling. The ongoing research has already overcome many challenges of meat analogues products like (improving microstructure, taste, and healthiness) and affordable product price and increased product convenience. However, certain technological barriers and devoid of regulatory measures are some of the sectors that need improvement.

REFERENCES

Boukid, Fatma. (2021). Plant-based meat analogues: from niche to mainstream. European Food Research and Technology. 247. 10.1007/s00217-020-03630-9.
Kyriakopoulou, K., Dekkers, B. and Van der Goot, A.Z. Plant-Based Meat Analogues. Sustainable Meat Production and Processing, Chapter-6, 103–126. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-814874-7.00006-7
Sun, C., Ge, J., He, J., Gan, R., & Fang, Y. (2020). Processing, Quality, Safety, and Acceptance of Meat Analogue Products. Engineering.7(5): 674-678
Mordor Intelligence, Meat substitutes market – growth, trend and forecast (2021 – 2026). https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/meat-substitutes-market
https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2019/12/20/what-the-fdas-decision-about-soy-leghemoglobin-means-for-impossible-burger/?sh=21d7f89957f6