I was watching the Colbert Report the other day, where Mr. Colbert dedicated his entire show to water. His guest was Dean Kamen, a famous inventor/entrepreneur. His most well-known product is the Segway - you can see Mr. Kamen and his famous invention in the photo (courtesy of Wikipedia).Anyway, Kamen had an interesting invention to share: a vapor compression distiller that is a chemical-free, membrane-free, and filter-free water purifier. It can purify the nastiest of liquids (including those that contain poisons, or 50 gallons of urine, as Colbert asked). His goal is to distribute these systems to impoverished, third world countries to improve living conditions.
His appearance on the Colbert Report is timely, as Greenpeace just released a new study indicating that by the end of this century, 125 million South Asians could be displaced due to rising seas and water shortages. I’ll be interested in seeing whether purifiers such as Kamen’s can be used for the greater good and on a larger scale in these third world countries, as water becomes more scarce.
Today, consumers have a wider array of electronics to choose from, such as LCD monitors, thin laptop computers, high-resolution digital cameras, larger high-definition televisions, cooler iPods, and slimmer cell phones. As a result, hundreds of tons of electronics are thrown away each year as consumers rush out to get the latest technology in their hands. Although electronics represent 2 percent of America’s trash in landfills, they cause 70 percent of overall toxic waste due to heavy metals and other toxic substances. Old electronics disposed in our landfills are a huge burden to the environment.
