No Tech Magazine

A Mattress that Lasts a Lifetime

"Our mattress is worn out. We need a new one, but I’ve been dreading buying a new one. I don’t like the waste of it all: The ignoble dragging of the old mattress to the curb. The prospect of sleeping on a brand new construct of toxic foam and fire retardants... In Greece, Italy and France mattresses are made by local craftsmen, and are stuffed with 100% wool. These mattresses basically last for life. When the wool gets compressed the mattress guys will empty it out, fluff it up, and re-stuff it, adding more wool if necessary." [1]

"The bed Mary bought was made by Signor Oldani, a Milanese bed-maker and upholsterer. He made beds the Italian way, and the way we used to make mattresses in England before the introduction of short-lived internally sprung ones.

The beauty of the mattress is that when it needs a wash, the wool can be pulled out, stuffed, in batches, into pillow cases, put through the washing machine and after drying, carded back into fluffy pile before being returned to the mattress cover.

Every few years, it needs to be re-carded, as the wool slowly compacts, says Mary. In Italy during the summer, the mattress man, il cardatore, tours Italian homes, pulls out the wool from their mattresses, re-cards it, adds some more, as the process reduces the stuffing a bit, rebuttons and then sews the mattress cover back up again. Mary submitted her mattress to this process four times." [2]

"Totally by chance, I found two places in Paris that still make their own 100% wool mattresses by hand... It was ready two days later. They told me to come back in 10 years to have the mattress redone: they pick it up in the morning, take out the wool stuffing, clean and refluff it, put a new cover on it, and then deliver it back to you before bedtime." [3]

Read more: 1 / 2 / 3. Via Root Simple.

Micromachines: Decentralized Urban Services in South-Asia

Architects Damien Antoni and Lydia Blasco have compiled an interesting document that focuses on small-scale technology in countries like India, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. They photographed, and made technical drawings of miniature taxi's, family run water turbines, domestic rain harvesting systems, pedal powered kitchens, home digesters, and the like.

The architects consider their work to be a toolbox, a starting point for thinking outside the conventional norms and recepies. They argue that decentralized services are more flexible, provide more autonomy, and are more efficient in space, energy and materials.

Antoni and Blasco present, in their own words, an equivalent to Neufert's "Architect's data", the book for architects that records standardized dimensions for centralized systems. "Micromachins" is written in French but the visuals dominate.

"Micromachins", Damien Antoni and Lydia Blasco, 2011 [download the page to get the high resolution PDF-document]. Thanks to Yann Philippe Tastevin. Update: the architects have added a new link with colour pictures and English translation.

Human Powered Washer & Spin Dryer

The GiraDora is an interesting design for a foot powered washer and dryer that costs less than $40. More here:

"GiraDora is a blue bucket that conceals a spinning mechanism that washes clothes and then partially dries them. It’s operated by a foot pedal, while the user sits on the lid to stabilize the rapidly churning contents. Sitting alleviates lower-back pain associated with hand-washing clothes, and frees up the washer to pursue other tasks. It’s portable, so it can be placed nearby a water source, or even inside on a rainy day. It reduces health risks like joint problems, skin irritation, and mold inhalation. Most importantly, it uses far less water and cleans clothes faster than conventional hand-washing."

Hat tip to Kaan Ozdurak.

How to Keep Beverages Cool Outside the Refrigerator

In the industrialized world, we know only of one way to cool beverages: place containers in refrigerators. This practice, which occurs on a massive scale, is utterly dependent on fossil fuels.

However, people obtained the same result much more sustainably before the advent of the Industrial Revolution. In hot, dry climates, we used porous earthenware jugs that were not only re-usable, but also kept water cool by taking advantage of natural energy sources.

The best known example is the Spanish 'botijo', an unglazed ceramic container that cools beverages by evaporation. Similar drinking containers can be found in other Mediterranean countries, as well as in Mexico (where it is known as a 'búcaro') and on the Indian subcontinent (where it is called a 'ghara', 'matka' or 'suhari').

The ceramic water cooler probably originated in the Indus Valley Civilization, which would make it 5000 years old.

Saving Food From The Fridge

Korean artist Jihyun Ryou, a graduate of the Dutch Design Academy Eindhoven, translates traditional knowledge on food storage into contemporary design. She found the inspiration for her wall-mounted storage units while listening to the advice of her grandmother, a former apple grower, and other elderly. Her mission: storing food outside the refrigerator.

Castration Might Bring Us Better Politicians

"The major role of the eunuch in ancient societies was a political one. Eunuchs were the perfect guardians of harems and provided safe companions and secretaries for royal ladies. They could also be entrusted with the very highest offices of state with no fear that they would want to muscle in and start their own dynasties. Less susceptible than other men to corruption and persuasion by sexual means, they were the ideal politicians and civil servants. Their reputations could not be sullied by the accusations of rape, paternity suits and other scandals that so often blight the careers of public figures."

"The first civilization deliberately to select eunuchs as officers of state was the Assyrian Empire, which dominated the Near East during the early first millenium BC. The practice was continued by its successors, including the Persian Empire, founded by Cyrus the Great (559-529 BC) who, according to the Greek writer Xenophon, 'selected eunuchs for every post of personal service to him, from the doorkeepers up'. Eunuchs were becoming powerful in China during the same period. They were especially influential under the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), when some held tremendous power simply because of their looks, and it was normal for emperors to have as many male favorites as the recommended magical number of wives. But most were of the professional variety, trained for a career in government."

"The Roman civil service also employed eunuchs, despite the bans on castration imposed by various emperors. And, although the custom was condemned by the Church, the zenith of 'eunuch power' in the Roman world actually came after it was Christianized, under the Eastern Roman (Byzantyne) Empire, which ruled from Constantinople (Istanbul) between AD 395 and 1453. Thousands of young men entered public service by being castrated, providing the empire with some of its most distinguished  state secretaries, generals and even Church leaders."

Quoted from: "Ancient Inventions", Peter James and Nick Thorpe, 1994. Image: the Roman castration clamp, an invention that enabled much safer castration than earlier methods by avoiding damage to the penis.

Medieval Warfare in Egypt

The catapult seems to be en vogue these days. Following the drug catapult confiscated at the US-Mexican border ten days ago, here is a device used by the anti-government protesters at the Tahrir square in Egypt. Source: Al Jazeera. Via Liz McLellan.

Drug Catapult Found at US-Mexico Border

"Drug smugglers trying to get marijuana across the Arizona-Mexico border apparently are trying a new approach - a catapult. National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence last Friday evening." Read & watch.

Pedal Powered FlatBed Truck

"Originally designed to serve the load carrying requirements of the Tri-Sled factory, the FlatBed Truck is a high-bulk load carrier. We use one of these for getting around our local industrial estate, transporting frames and fairings to our powder-coating and painting contractors, or picking up steel and other oversized materials."

"The FlatBed Truck is far more convenient than carting large items to and from a car or van. With this maneuverable vehicle, you can simple roll straight in and out of your business or factory. It even serves as a handy rolling work bench for working outside on sunny days."

"The FlatBed Truck is also incredibly easy to store. Just flip it up on its end when not in use, and use the rear rolling wheels to move it against a wall or into a small space. The rolling wheels also serve as a back bump stop." Trisled FlatBed Truck.

Tax Resources, Not Labour

"In our society, high taxes on labor drive businesses to minimize the number of employees. Resources remain untaxed, so we use them unconstrained. This system causes both unemployment and scarcity of resources." Read. Via Femke Groothuis.

The Rest Saving the West

Our fellows in the first world often come to visit and give us their well intentioned but often very problematic “solutions”. We thought, why don’t we pay back? Dx1W is a competition for designers, artists, scientists, makers and thinkers in developing countries to provide solutions for First World problems. Design for the first world. Via Wired.

A Low-tech Trick to Eliminate Standby Power Consumption

Standby power use is the electricity consumed by appliances and other equipment when they are switched off or not performing their primary purpose. It is responsible for 3 to 12 percent of residential electricity use worldwide (source, pdf). Freelance journalist Robert Buzink has a low-tech solution for this - all you need is a pair of scissors and a screwdriver. The text is in Dutch but the pictures speak for themselves.

Smarter Technology

"No, I’m not some old hippie or off-the grid survivalist. I’m a big city guy who really likes modern technology, especially computers. But when does the heavy application of technology become overkill? The more I started poking around, the more I found others thinking along the same lines. It’s too early to pronounce this a trend, but there are budding signs." Read 1 / 2 / 3. Sponsored by IBM !

The Flying Oven

That is how they call it, and they ask me what I think of it. Honestly, I have no clue.

"This research project proves a new and novel method of winter solar heat gathering. Based on February to December 2008 UK tests, a solarsphere of this type can produce enough heat to make a well insulated house self sufficient in both space heating and hot water."

Kicking the habit: the Oil Depletion Protocol

"By agreeing to reduce oil imports and exports by a specified amount each year, about 2.6 percent, signatory nations will help mitigate the negative consequences of an over-reliance on cheap oil and help prepare for a global decline in the world’s oil supply.

The premise of the Protocol is inherently straightforward: oil importing nations would agree to reduce their imports by an agreed-upon yearly percentage, referred to as the World Oil Depletion Rate, while oil producing nations would agree to reduce their rate of production by their National Depletion Rate.

This simple and sensible formula will produce, in effect, a global rationing system. If the entire world adopted the Protocol, global consumption of oil would decline by almost 3 percent per annum, thus stabilizing prices, preserving the resource base, and reducing competition for remaining supplies."

The Oil Depletion Protocol (via).