No stain, no pain – A multidisciplinary review of factors underlying domestic laundering

Today\u27s washing appliances are much more efficient than those of a decade ago, but the environmental benefits of this efficiency are counteracted by shifts in consumer behavior. Initiatives to reverse these shifts have often proven futile, indicating a basic lack of clarity on why we clean our clothes. This article is an explorative review with the aim of identifying dominant factors that shape how we do our laundry. The results can be used both as an introduction to laundry research in general, as well as a baseline for future interdisciplinary research. Three guiding principles are presented that describe the most influential factors underlying laundering: (1) technology changes conventions, while social context dictates technology acceptance; (2) technological solutions are often suggested to influence consumers, but individual concerns seem to override the effect of such interventions; (3) consumers are guided by social conventions, rooted in underlying psychological dynamics (e.g. moral dimensions of cleanliness). Looking at these principles it is understandable why interventions for sustainability are failing. Many interventions address only a part of a principle while disregarding other parts. For example, consumers are often informed of the importance of sustainability (e.g. “washing at lower temperature is good for the environment”), while questions of social belonging are left out (e.g. “many of your neighbors and friends wash at lower temperature”). To increase the possibility of a lasting change, it would be beneficial if instead all of the three principles could be addressed given the specific consumer group of interest

Effect of Sensory Cues on Hand Hygiene Habits Among a Diverse Workforce in Food Service

Poor hand hygiene is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses in the foodservice industry. A series of complex motivational interventions must be employed to permanently change the behavior of workers, to increase their compliance and sustain appropriate levels of proper hand hygiene. Unlike the healthcare industry, which uses large, costly multi-modal behavior modification strategies, the foodservice industry must deploy rapid, cost-efficient strategies that are focus on accommodating these goals with the constraints of high employee turnover rates and diverse demographics. This research was twofold, 1) examining differences in emotions and hand hygiene behavior among participants of two cultures when handling common foods and 2) comparing prospective memory reminders across three basic senses (sight, hearing and smell) for individuals of Hispanic / Latino descent. Results showed hand washing behavior was affected by the type of food being handled and the intensity of the emotion of disgust. Individuals washed their hands more frequently after handling foods they perceived as more hazardous, and their motives to wash varied among variables of gender (self-protection for men, carryover effects for women), culture (self-protection for Caucasians, texture for Hispanics) and the type of food (self-protection for chicken, smell for fish). Additionally, as the feeling of disgust increased among individuals their probability to wash their hands also increased. In our second study, we showed that common, non-provoking visual cues are not as effective at increasing hand hygiene compliance as disgust-induced sensory cues. Furthermore, olfactory disgust, which is an underutilized motivator in interventions, showed a significantly higher probability that individuals would engage in hand washing behaviors than all other stimuli. This knowledge is important for future behavioral interventions that may need to be modified by food type or diversity, and extends current intervention techniques by introducing and comparing disgust-related sensory cues to decrease miscommunication and the intention-behavior gap associated with preforming required routine behaviors such as complying with proper hand hygiene

Indoor air quality in California homes with code-required mechanical ventilation.

Data were collected in 70 detached houses built in 2011-2017 in compliance with the mechanical ventilation requirements of California's building energy efficiency standards. Each home was monitored for a 1-week period with windows closed and the central mechanical ventilation system operating. Pollutant measurements included time-resolved fine particulate matter (PM2.5 ) indoors and outdoors and formaldehyde and carbon dioxide (CO2 ) indoors. Time-integrated measurements were made for formaldehyde, NO2 , and nitrogen oxides (NOX ) indoors and outdoors. Operation of the cooktop, range hood, and other exhaust fans was continuously recorded during the monitoring period. Onetime diagnostic measurements included mechanical airflows and envelope and duct system air leakage. All homes met or were very close to meeting the ventilation requirements. On average, the dwelling unit ventilation fan moved 50% more airflow than the minimum requirement. Pollutant concentrations were similar to or lower than those reported in a 2006-2007 study of California new homes built in 2002-2005. Mean and median indoor concentrations were lower by 44% and 38% for formaldehyde and 44% and 54% for PM2.5 . Ventilation fans were operating in only 26% of homes when first visited, and the control switches in many homes did not have informative labels as required by building standards

The social and technical development of toilet design

Thesis (Master)--Izmir Institute of Technology, Industrial Design, Izmir, 2004Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 75)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and Englishxii, 129 leavesToilet is a critical link. The problem of body waste disposal is a subject that has always necessarily been the prime concern for humans living in society. Considering the evolution of the toilet is important for comprehending toilet design today and especially the deficiency of it. The idea of toilet is distinctly connected with the concept of cleanliness. The theory of bacteria and the rise of scientific thought gave rise to the concept of 'hygiene' and its appearance in daily life, which in turn altered the inside view of dwellings. Toilet is a vital part of this home system, distinctly related to human and environmental factors. Basically, the toilet is a machine for mixing faeces, urine, toilet paper, and water. This machine can be equipped with a number of accessories, but whatever its shape, in fact the WC is more than an object based on the idea of disposal of flushing away and hiding or diluting something we do not want. It is obvious that the disposal of waste can only be a part of 'toilet design'.In the history of the toilet, the main problem has remained the disposal of human waste at city level. This was assumed to be solved when the sewerage system was introduced. In fact, the world has yet to deal with environmental problems. Ecological sanitation offers a solution to toilets' share of pollution. Moreover, the addition to ecological conditions, it is important to design a toilet by thinking in a way regarding human psychological and physiological needs.For taking toilet design a step further, this research aims to reveal criteria to solve sanitation problems by focusing on the entire mechanism including, the toilet and toilet system, which should be considered and designed to serve all needs of cultures, ages, differences as a part of everyday life, to be adopted in varies occasions adding to global needs and realities.especially to reach 'the ideal toilet'

Water, sanitation and agriculture linkages: impact on health and nutrition outcomes in peri-urban Gujarat, India

In the rural and peri-urban settings, where agriculture is one of the main sources of livelihood, the multi-purpose character of irrigation and drainage infrastructure creates several interlinks between water, sanitation (WATSAN) and agriculture. These interlinkages have health and nutrition impacts. This study looks at the determinants of household water quality and child health outcomes among households in areas where communities are using different irrigation water types. Using econometric models based on an original survey done for this research, we analyze household water quality, longitudinal diarrhea prevalence, malnutrition and parasitic prevalence among children under 5 years in the study area. The survey conducted collected information on anthropometric measures, stool sample testing for the presence of parasites and a biweekly follow up survey to collect information on diarrhea among under 5 children. In addition, assessment of the microbial quality of stored drinking water and source drinking water were done. The number of Escherichia coli (E.coli) colony-forming units per 100ml water was used as an indicator of fecal contamination and the results demonstrate that the microbiological water quality was poor, with water at both point of use (80 %) and point of source (73 %) cannot be considered potable. Drinking water quality was positively impacted by proper storage and water treatment practice such as reverse osmosis. Safe water storage and point-of-use water treatment should be the focus of intervention to ensure the quality of water being consumed. Hygiene and sanitation indicators had mixed impacts on the quality of drinking water, and the impacts were largely driven by hygiene behavior rather than infrastructures. Community open defecation and high village-household density deteriorate household stored water quality. Household improved toilet had no significant effect on water quality but lead to 8 percent reduction in diarrheal incidence. Stunting, an important indicator of chronic malnutrition, was affected by household improved toilet and open defecation in the community. Efforts to improve the sanitation infrastructure will prevent poor health outcomes. The mean longitudinal prevalence of diarrhea per person years is 1.6. Among the variables having a significant impact on diarrhea were wastewater irrigation, household stored water quality, and sanitation infrastructure. We found that the under 5 children of farmers using wastewater in irrigation have a statistically significant higher incidence risk ratio of 2.19, a two times increase in the diarrheal incidence in comparison to canal water irrigators. With the unprecedented population growth, measures should be undertaken to scale up the existing sewage treatment plants and exploring alternative ways as river bed filtration for wastewater treatment. The study observed that as the stored water quality deteriorates, the diarrheal incidence risk ratio increases significantly. Stunting rates in the study were high with 52 % stunted under 5 children. Stunted kids had a significantly higher incidence of diarrhea and vice versa increased diarrheal incidence increased stunting with a marginal effect of 7 percent at a significance level of p<0.05. Parasitic prevalence was high (26%) with hygiene and water quality significantly affecting parasitic prevalence. Agriculture, WATSAN, and health are closely interlinked and the AG-WATSAN nexus requires a cross sectorial engagement to design interventions with wastewater management, WATSAN infrastructure and behavioral interventions to improve child health and nutrition outcomes in rural and peri-urban settings of India

None of My Idols Were Worth Worshipping

None Of My Idols Were Worth Worshipping is a personal narrative that uses fiction literary techniques - dialogue, scenes, etc. to tell the story of a black girl who becomes a music journalist instead of a novelist like her idol, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is divided into chapters, and the first 16 chapters constitute the following thesis. There is a critical introduction, which is followed by the tex

None of My Idols Were Worth Worshipping

None Of My Idols Were Worth Worshipping is a personal narrative that uses fiction literary techniques - dialogue, scenes, etc. to tell the story of a black girl who becomes a music journalist instead of a novelist like her idol, F. Scott Fitzgerald. The story is divided into chapters, and the first 16 chapters constitute the following thesis. There is a critical introduction, which is followed by the tex

A baseline protocol for personal hygiene

Personal hygiene protocol for man in spacecraft environmen