frugal innovations: a “necessary” trend for the future!
DESCRIPTION
World population is growing continuously with more people living on the Earth than ever before. In 2007, humanity’s total ecological footprint was estimated at 1.5 planet Earths. Resources are becoming increasingly valuable as the Earth is the only source till date and others planets are still to become a viable source of these resources. Projections estimate that we will need the equivalent of two planets by 2030 to meet our annual demands. The only way, we can reduce our footprint is by producing more with less, and consuming better, wiser and less - the way forward is better and 'frugal' choices! In this report, we present the trends that encourage better choices; trends in Frugal Innovations, 'Jugaad' and Do-It-Yourself are explored to see how and where we can make our better choices for the future. We conclude our report with 3 thought provoking future scenarios.TRANSCRIPT
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A “Necessary” Trend For The Future!
Frugal Innovations
Prepared by: Ankush Samant,Kiran Patil.ICE, India
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The Bigger Picture
• World population is growing continuously with more people living on the Earth than ever before
• In 2007, humanity’s total ecological footprint was estimated at 1.5 planet Earths;
– Humanity uses ecological services 1.5 times as quickly as the Earth can renew them!! (Source:- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecological_footprint)
• Resources are becoming increasingly valuable as the Earth is the only source till date and others planets are still to become a viable source of these resources.
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Ecological Footprint
• World-average ecological footprint in 2007 was 2.7 global hectares per person, in total 18 billion.
• Biocapacity is the capacity of an area to provide resources and absorb wastes.– World-average biocapacity is 1.8 global hectares per person.– Leads to an ecological deficit of 0.9 global hectares per
person.– Total world-average biocapacity deficit is 6 billion!
• Projections estimate that we will need the equivalent of two planets by 2030 to meet our annual demands.
• We can reduce our footprint by producing more with less, and consuming better, wiser and less.
• Increasing the efficiency of our buildings, cars and factories can cut our total energy use by half.
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The Way Forward: Better Choices
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And “Frugal” Choices
• With the current consumption rates, some ecosystems will collapse even before the resource is completely depleted.
• This is why we need to make better choices in the usage of resources.
• Frugal mindset: Doing more with less should become a trend!– Frugal - “Sparing or economical with regard to money or
food.”– Frugal Innovation – “Functional solutions through few
resources for the many who have little means.”• Major trends that encourage better choices:
– DIY (Do-It-Yourself) movement– Frugal Innovations– Jugaads
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Key Principles
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Frugal @ Home
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Self Repair - iFixit
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Alternate Uses of Discarded Stuff
One can make this beautiful lamp using an old toy truck, boat or even a plastic barn letterbox, and the simple tools widely available.
Tools used are wire strippers, screwdriver, piece of wood for plug, hole-saw drill bit, thread pipe and piece of copper pipe that will slide over it, lamp kit, light bulb.
Source : http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/how-to-make-a-lamp-from-an-toy-tugboat/index.html
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You can make this shelf in your home by using tools and materials like saw, level, drill gun, tape measure, palm sander, studfinder, vintage floor boards, metal shelf brackets wood glue, paintbrush, paint, wire brush, and scraper.
Source:- http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/how-to-make-shelves-from-old-wood-flooring/index.html
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Making Furniture Using Old Wooden Crates
Using materials and tools like drill or screwdriver, glue sticks and hot glue guns, scissors, vintage wooden box, mirror, glass adhesive, picture hanger kit, and rope, one can transform an old wooden crate into a fashionable mirror!Source:http://www.diynetwork.com/decorating/how-to-make-a-mirror-from-an-old-wood-crate/index.html
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With tools like saw, scale, screws, and a hammer, old wooden wine crates have been turned into a MiniBar in just eight easy steps!Source: http://blog.diynetwork.com/maderemade/how-to/transform-wooden-wine-crates-into-a-great-minibar
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Making Handbags from T-shirts
Using your old T-shirts and a sewing machine, you can make amazing handbags in just nine easy steps!
Source: http://blog.diynetwork.com/maderemade/how-to/upcycle-t-shirts-into-handy-bags/
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Tech for the Home
Remya Jose from Kerala has developed a washing machine which washes clothes while letting you exercise at the same time!
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/tools-and-equipment-articles/green-grassroots-innovation-manual-washing-cum-exercise-machine-4739028.html
Mohammad Rozadeen has modified the normal cooker and made it into an espresso coffee making machine.
Source:http://creativityatgrassroots.wordpress.com/2012/11/17/498/
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“Downloading” Your Own Furniture
AtFAB is one of the pioneers of a new model of making things that are known as “distributed manufacturing.”
In AtFAB’s version of distributed manufacturing, plans for their chairs, tables and stools exist solely as “cut files” which can be sent to a CNC router. Customers can head to a nearby CNC router and get their furniture made.
Customers can download the plans for free, purchase the raw materials and head to their garage workshop to put together a new furniture set all by themselves.
Source: http://qz.com/97059/atfab-future-of-manufacturing/
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Frugal Innovations For Social Causes
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Bringing Light to Darkness
This simple Solar Bottle Bulb designed by MIT students from plastic water bottles, clean water and bleach is lighting thousands of homes in the Philippines.Source:http://phys.org/news/2011-09-bottle-brighten-millions-poor-homes.html
N Das Jethwani of Darjeeling has invented a tubelight consisting of a tubelight frame without any choke or starter. It is capable of using 80% fused tubes which are considered waste and are usually thrown away.
Source: http://www.indiabookofrecords.in/records-gallery/science-and-technology/ajooba-tubelight
Martin Riddiford and Jim Reeves, two London based designers, have come up with GravityLight, a simple device charged by a bag that is filled with approximately 9kg of material and hung from a cord below the light. As the bag descends, a series of gears inside the device translates this weight into energy, providing 30 minutes of light.Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2012/dec/14/gravity-light-sand-powered-lamp
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Alternate Energy SourcesMathew K Mathew has developed a solar mosquito killer, which makes the use of the smell from the septic tank to attract the mosquitoes. Once mosquitoes get trapped inside the device, they cannot get out and the heat built up inside the device as a result of direct sunlight exposure, kills them.
Source:http://www.technologyreview.in/energy/24113/
Mehtar Hussain and Mustaq Ahemad have developed a drag type, low-cost, low-height wind mill for lifting ground water and can pump water from the depth of about 50 feet.
Source: http://www.nif.org.in/bd/product-detail/low-cost-wind-mill
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Making Water More Accessible
Hippo Water Roller is a barrel-shaped container; its innovative design allows for 90 liters of water to be placed inside a rolling wheel.
Region – Africa
Source: http://www.hipporoller.org/product/what
In Japan, the social enterprise Nippon Basic has developed the Cycloclean -- a bicycle that purifies water. Taking one of the greatest needs of poor communities and using a ubiquitous piece of technology -- the bike -- designers use pedal pressure to force water through a carbon filter, pumping up to six liters a minute.
The bicycle is now in heavy demand in Bangladesh as well!
Source:http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation http://cycloclean.com/
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Use of Mobile Tech
Cardiopad is a touch screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations such as the electrocardiogram (ECG) to be performed at remote, rural locations while the results are transferred wirelessly to specialists who can interpret them.Region - Africa
Source:http://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2012/02/09/young-african-invents-touch-screen-medical-tablet/
M-PESA is a service that enables people to save, spend, transfer money using their cell phones without having a bank account. Region - Kenya
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa
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Making Use of Waste
Swedish Peepoople has developed the Peepoo bag, a portable low-cost latrine. The bags are safe for burial underground, and within 2-4 weeks, their contents are converted into fertilizer.
Source: http://www.peepoople.com/
EcoFaeBrick turns cattle waste into bricks that are greener, stronger and 20% lighter than regular clay bricks. The Indonesian organization was set up in early 2009 to tackle the problem of excessive waste in local farming areas.
Source: http://www.designother90.org/solution/ecofaebrick/
Los Reciclados is an orchestra of 25 children from Cateura, Paraguay performing everything from Beethoven to Beatles in concerts around Central and South America, using violins, cellos, saxophones and drums handmade from trash like empty oil cans, cello frames, etc.
The project was started by social worker Favio Chavez, who wanted to keep local kids occupied and away from selling trash.
Source: http://www.forumforthefuture.org/greenfutures/articles/making-music-trash-paraguay
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Child Healthcare
Dr. S. R. Daga, formerly a pediatrician at Cama Hospital Mumbai, India, has developed a low-cost incubator from polystyrene boxes for preventing hypothermia among babies.
Source:http://www.bu.edu/today/2008/a-cooler-for-beer-no-a-warmer-for-babies/
At $200 (£123) each, the Embrace baby warmer is a far cheaper alternative to expensive incubators for use in rural hospitals such as the SVYM Hospital in Sargur, Karnataka, India, shown here. Initially designed in California and further refined in Bangalore, the reusable sleeping bag-style warmer can maintain infants’ body temperature by using phase-change wax that stays around 37 degrees celsius for up to six hours.
Source:- http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation
Odon device is a suction cup with a polyethylene bag that’s used to pull out a baby from the birth canal. Invented by Argentinian Jorge Odon, it assists with tricky childbirths.
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation
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Boon For Farmers
Bhagwan Singh Dangi of Madhya Pradesh, India, has developed this machine which makes harvesting easier and reduces manpower requirement along with being cost effective.
Source: http://www.hindu.com/seta/2010/09/02/stories/2010090250011400.htm
Bullock-operated sprayer designed by Radhey Shyam Sharma in Madhya Pradesh, India, can cover 3.5 acre/h and thus reduces the labor cost drastically as well as avoid the hazards of traditional spraying.
Source: http://www.indiabookofrecords.in/records-gallery/science-and-technology/bullock-operated-sprayer
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Frugal Digital Initiatives
Frugal Digital’s Clock Sense, designed in Copenhagen after research in India, uses an analog alarm clock body to measure the amount of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood. Thanks to two LEDs and a simple light sensor -- from a TV remote -- the device can provide a simple reading of the overall health of a patient. Other sensors -- such as a temperature-gauge pad -- can also be connected via USB.
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation Frugal Digital has often developed products in
India from mobile devices: it used a 3G smartphone to create a battery-powered projector, using locally-sourced components, for use in remote schools. Insert a memory stick to the USB in FD’s Darshana device and you’ve got a cheap, durable AV teaching aid. The projector has data connectivity, and the touchscreen of the phone can be used as a track pad.
Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation
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Frugal Innovations in Small Scale Industries
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Lemon Cutter
M. Nagarajan, from Tamil Nadu, India, has developed a lemon cutting machine that can help in the pickles industry, which is suffering from huge shortage of labor.
Source:http://www.nif.org.in/lemon_garlic_machine
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Milking Machine
Raghav Gowda from Kerala, India, has developed a manual milking machine that can milk 1.5 to 2 liters of milk per minute!
Source:http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?227940
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Mini Sanitary Napkin Making Machine
A. Muruganathan has developed a technology to prepare sanitary napkins with industry standard raw materials while cutting down the cost of production. It is a set of four different small machines, viz., defibration unit, core forming unit, sealing unit and UV sanitizing unit.
Source: http://newinventions.in/
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Rural Egg Incubator
An egg incubator developed by Milan Jyoti Das from Assam, India, runs on electricity as well as kerosene, and is much cheaper than the ones usually available in the markets, thereby providing a good alternative for rural poultry farmers.
Source: http://www.nif.org.in/bd/product-detail/rural-egg-incubator
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Reversible Reduction Gearbox-Marine Engines
Mohanlal from Kerala, India, has developed a reversible reduction gearbox and a manually tiltable Z-drive system for small capacity diesel engine. The use of this system reduces the daily fuel cost by about 60 to 70% by enabling fishermen to shift from a kerosene-run outboard engine system to a diesel-powered inboard engine system.
Source: http://www.nif.org.in/bd/product-detail/reversible-reduction-gearbox-for-marine-diesel-engine
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Frugality In Private Sector Innovations
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Siemens - Healthcare
Siemens has developed a low-cost Fetal Heart Monitor for developing markets that uses inexpensive Microphone Technology rather than costly ultrasound technology.
Source:http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/news/2011/fetal-heart-rate-monitor.htm
Digital X-rayCreated by Siemens engineers in China, the Multix Select DR Digital X-ray is a third cheaper than comparable machines. Costs were cut by dropping features such as wireless data.Source: http://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2013/05/features/frugal-innovation
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GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare’s MAC line of electrocardiogram (ECG) systems is a success story of innovation in India, for India and the world.
The MAC 400 is designed for developing market conditions. It is highly portable and can be easily carried to a patient’s home. It has an easy two-button operation that makes training quicker, and it can operate on battery. Above all, the MAC 400 costs around $800, compared to other hospital-class units from GE Healthcare that range from $2,000 to $10,000.
Source: https://www.scu.edu/socialbenefit/innovation/frugal/corecomp.cfm
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Electronics Devices
Zeebo is a low-cost gaming console targeted at consumers in developing markets. The console uses only one watt of power!
Source: http://www.zeeboinc.com/
Aakash is a seven inch, touch screen, Internet-enabled tablet computer launched in 2011. Datawind, a UK based company, is supplying the first 100,000 devices to the Government of India at $50 each. Aakash is built on a three-pronged strategy: data compression technology that shifts the burden from the device to servers; a monetized-, app-based, operating system and most importantly high levels of vertical integration in Datawind that keep manufacturing costs low.
Source: http://www.nesta.org.uk/news_and_features/frugal_innovations/aakash
Cherrypal Africa is a 7-inch mini laptop, designed for developing countries and sells for USD 99. The company buys excess inventory and discounted components to keep the price down, which means that only minimum specifications are promised on the site.
Source: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/functionall/
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Lighting Solutions
• With the goal of replacing dim-lighting kerosene lamps, the Kiran solar lantern provides up to eight hours of bright light after a day's solar charge. Both durable and weather-resistant, the Kiran lantern is designed based on research in rural India. It is available for 10 USD.
• In June 2009, Swedish furniture and lifestyle brand IKEA launched a functional lamp called the SUNNAN. It uses solar cells. The product retails for USD 19.99, and for every unit sold in IKEA stores worldwide, another one is donated to UNICEF to give to children without electricity in refugee camps and villages in remote areas.
• Philips has developed a range of lighting solutions aimed at consumers without access to electricity. The Uday mini solar lantern provides 4-5 hours of bright white light from a full solar charge and the Dynamo Multi LED is a flashlight which offers 17 minutes of light from two minutes of winding by hand.
Source: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/functionall/
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Godrej - Chotukool
Godrej Chotukool is a low-cost refrigerator weighing just 7.8 kgs. The appliance uses half the power of a conventional device and can also be run on a battery!
Source: http://www.chotukool.in
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FLAP Bag
Timbuk2, the messenger bag company, has designed a bag in collaboration with Pop!Tech and Portable Light, featuring photo-voltaic panels for capturing solar energy, an internal USB charger for electrical gadgets and a flashlight for night-time vision.
Source: http://blog.timbuk2.com/2009/08/13/portable-light-on-your-flap/
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Drinking Water Solutions
TataSwach is a water filter and purifier that produces clean drinking water through the use of common ash and doesn’t require electricity!
Source: http://www.tataswach.com/
The Waterward solar water purifier is an economic, chemical-free way to guarantee that you have ultra pure, potable drinking water. It uses no filters, has no electrical or moving parts and each panel can produce clean water on a moderately warm day and much more in tropical climates or when the impure water supply is pre-heated. By using both infrared and ultraviolet rays from the Sun, the WaterWard purifier can convert any source of contaminated water into clean, drinkable water.Source: http://ideasbaby.com/ideas/7668
PureIt is a battery-powered portable water-purification system developed by Hindustan Unilever. The system, which costs USD 43, is sold through a network of 45,000 women who demonstrate the product in their homes and sell it in their local villages.Source: http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/functionall/
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Scenarios
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Scenario 1: Joy’s GRAVITY Powered Gaming
Joy is a gaming addict and is gearing up for a big tournament in 2025. He is aware about his huge energy requirements to run big gaming devices, and has implemented many solutions in order to save on those expenses.
He has connected his keyboard to a charging station – so each click not just kills the enemy, but charges a mini-station as well. Of course, he realized that this will be a little too less for his giant processors!
He researched a lot and finally found a mechanism to generate power using gravity – GRAVITY powered lamp. Using this concept, he created an elevated platform where he plays all his games. He will use the platform as the weight to pull the pulley down to generate power.
The platform will be pulled up using a hand-pulley. As his platform comes down, the levers charge his bigger power station. In fact this trick has been so useful that he has been feeding back into the grid instead of taking something from it!
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Scenario 2: NextGen Community
NextGen Society is a housing society that has come up after a lot of crowdsourcing of ideas. People from many professions came together with planners and architects to build a self-sustained community.
All the apartments in the community are of the same area but they all have movable walls based on the concept of space saving flat by Chang. The movable walls give the house owner the capability to give a different look and feel and at the same time the flexibility allows to transform spaces between the kitchen, bathroom, living rooml and bedroom, saving unnecessary space going waste. In effect every person requires much lesser area than required.
All the community work is done by the people themselves. They have all embraced the self-repair manifesto and also employ the concepts of TaskRabbit, therefore all the work is done within the community. The members register themselves with their skill set and according to their skills they get task allocations.
In this manner, NextGen society has become a truly self-sustained community.
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Scenario 3: Wandering Doctors
Aakash calls himself the ‘wandering doctor’, though he is a data gatherer by profession who picked up bio-hacking as a hobby.
He goes to remote places that have no access to a ‘real’ doctor and sets up his clinic. He uses his Smartphone as the diagnosis tool, collects important data of his patients and puts it up on his collaborative medical forum using the connectivity of Google Project Loon
Within minutes, he gets a crowd-sourced diagnosis of the patient’s health and recommendations on the medical care to be taken.
More importantly, he gets information from his database and other ‘wandering doctors’ on local medicinal substitutes that he can use for the cure of his patients. So, he recommends ‘local cures’ to his patients.
He is now moving one step ahead and creating a ‘wandering ambulance’ that takes the doctor to the patient rather than the other way round!
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Conclusion
• Effective use of resources at each front—home, social and business—is the need of the hour!
• The countries or organizations that are able to improve their efficiency by utilizing less resources efficiently are more likely to thrive.
• “Frugal Innovation” can play a decisive role in crafting of future scenarios.
• Frugal innovation is a trend to watch out for in the 21st century.
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