This Tech Company Bets You'll Buy Diapers or Tampons Made of Jellyfish

[Buster's Uncle]

This Tech Company Bets You'll Buy Diapers or Tampons Made of Jellyfish
Takepart.com
By Liana Aghajanian | 2 hours ago



Israelis who have spent years been dealing with the world’s most invasive species clogging up their shores will be happy to hear that a nanotechnology startup has devised a way to turn jellyfish into more than just a reason to avoid the beach.

Cine’al Ltd is developing technology to turn jellyfish into a broad variety of paper products that can benefit from the jellyfish's absorbency, including diapers, paper towels, and even tampons. Yes, a tampon made of what was once marine life. Something tells us that is going to need a heckuva marketing campaign to sell.

The jellyfish explosion is a fast spreading byproduct of warm ocean temperatures in the country. Though 900 million pounds of jellyfish are regularly caught for human consumption, Cine’al is interested in turning the animals into “super absorbers” by using a conversion process called Hydromash. The products can also have all the bells and whistles of regular paper products, with anti-bacterial qualities, colors, or scents.

Ofer Du-Nour, chairman and president of the company told the Times of Israel that the product was inspired by Tel Aviv University research on the dirty, but sobering facts about diapers.

“One third of disposable waste in dumps consists of diapers,” Du-Nour said. “In its first year, a newborn baby generates, on average, 70 kilos of diapers a year, maybe more.”

Facts compiled by the Real Diaper Association put the environmental impact of regular diapers into an even more sobering perspective: Over 300 pounds of wood, 50 pounds of petroleum feedstocks, and 20 pounds of chlorine are used to produce disposable diapers for one baby each year.

The jellyfish has provided a perfect solution when it comes to reducing waste. Composed of over 90 percent water, their ability to absorb large amounts of liquid is the key, which means jellyfish diapers would be able to take in twice as much liquid and biodegrade in less than a month. Normal diapers which are made from synthetic material would take eons to properly break down.

Of course, biodegradable diapers aren’t new, with several brands currently on the market, but the jellyfish’s invasive status makes the potential product all the more sustainable. Their growth as an invasive species has been partly due to the shipping industry, who draw water full of jellyfish and algae from one area of the ocean and then release it in a completely different one. Their presence can be as damaging as oil spills, according to the World Wildlife Federation, and “their effects much more persistent.”

As for future customers showing interest in putting diapers on their infants made of jellyfish? Well, that might be still up for debate.


http://news.yahoo.com/tech-company-bets-youll-buy-diapers-tampons-made-210302561.html