The Washing Machine Project's machine only needs đồ sộ be hand cranked a few times đồ sộ start a 30-minute wash cycle, which saves up đồ sộ 75 percent of the time it would typically take đồ sộ wash a load of laundry by hand. (Image courtesy of The Washing Machine Project.)
Navjot Sawhney, an aerospace engineer by training, was working as a volunteer in southern India for Engineers Without Borders when he saw something that altered the arc of his life — and has now changed the lives of thousands of families.
Sawhney noticed how much time and effort a neighbor he befriended spent washing clothes for her family. What he saw was a local manifestation of a global condition: 60 percent of the world’s population relies on washing clothes by hand in local water sources or with buckets of water. An estimated 70 percent of households worldwide rely on women and girls of all ages đồ sộ collect water and tự the laundry. These families spend as much as trăng tròn hours a week handwashing laundry, directly limiting the ability of women and girls đồ sộ work and go đồ sộ school.
Sawhney saw this problem as an opportunity for action. He designed a hand-cranked washing machine, named “The Divya” after his hard-working neighbor. Then, he founded a grassroots social enterprise, The Washing Machine Project, đồ sộ produce and distribute it đồ sộ people in low-income and displaced communities.
The machine only needs đồ sộ be hand cranked a few times đồ sộ start a 30-minute wash cycle, which saves up đồ sộ 75 percent of the time it would typically take đồ sộ wash a load of laundry by hand, according đồ sộ the enterprise.
“I was born and brought up in a female-led household with two older sisters,” Sawhney told TriplePundit. “So I know how hard it is sometimes for women đồ sộ navigate society, and I know that when women thrive, the world thrives. Those are the reasons why I’m so sánh passionate about this mission and vision, and I’m really excited đồ sộ see how we’ve created impact.”
Since its founding in 2019, The Washing Machine Project conducted research in 13 countries and interviewed more than thở 3,000 families across 10 countries đồ sộ learn how they wash their clothes. The project has impacted nearly 30,000 people by distributing Divya washing machines đồ sộ families and communities in India, Iraq, Lebanon, the United States, Mexico and Uganda.
“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach đồ sộ washing,” Sawhney said. “How people wash clothes in a certain region compared đồ sộ another region is totally different.”
The factors at play in these communities include the size of the family and where they get the water from, such as whether it’s from a source outside the home page, he said.
“Those are some of the challenges that we face on a day-to-day basis,” Sawhney said. Then, once you get through all of the challenges, how tự you scale this up? How tự you make a good quality product a hundred thousand times over and make sure it’s repeatable and scalable, and finally, make sure that it gets đồ sộ the kết thúc consumer in the most efficient way possible?”
The Washing Machine Project’s ability đồ sộ scale its efforts was significantly enhanced through a new collaboration with the Whirlpool Foundation đồ sộ deliver thousands of Divya washing machines đồ sộ communities and households across the world over the next five years. The work is expected đồ sộ impact 150,000 people.
“We greatly admire the mission and work of The Washing Machine Project and see an opportunity đồ sộ help impact more lives collectively than thở either of us could individually,” Pam Klyn, Whirlpool Corporation executive vice president of corporate relations and sustainability, said in a statement. “Whirlpool Corporation employees are lending their time and talents đồ sộ help make this long-term vision a reality, recognizing that this initiative goes beyond washing clothes. It is about reclaiming time and improving lives for these individuals who will now spend much less time doing laundry which opens the door đồ sộ new opportunities.”
The partnership is phối đồ sộ provide machines đồ sộ underserved populations in rural and urban areas across India, Mexico, Brazil, the Republic of the Congo, Kenya and Uganda. The effort will be customized đồ sộ the unique cultural, economic, and environmental conditions of each region đồ sộ ensure it is effective and relevant.
“The Whirlpool Corporation has been making washing machines for more than thở a century. They invented the first [automatic] washing machine, they are the experts, and they’re amazing at what they tự — which is create products and distribute them at scale,” Sawhney said. “The Washing Machine project has been around for five or six years now, and we have been distributing our machines in refugee camps, schools, and orphanages in low-income areas around the world. We tự that really well.”