If Good News had a patron saint,it would be the Swedish professor of global health Hans Rosling.

Rosling, who died in 2017, was a wizard at using data and storytelling to challenge misconceptions around global development and progress. With statistics in hand, Rosling could convince the most determined pessimist that the world was, on balance, getting better. And there’s no better example of the Rosling touch than a TED talk he gave in 2010 called “the Magic Washing Machine.”

“Laundry day” used to actually mean an entire day of soaking clothes, heating water, hauling, scrubbing, rinsing, wringing, and hanging. but standing on the stage next to the most basic washing machine you can imagine, Rosling described the day his family first used one. His awed grandmother watched the tumbling drum like a movie as his mother sat down and did something unheard of on laundry day: she read a book.

That’s the point. For people of Rosling’s mother’s generation, a washing machine wasn’t just a washing machine, it was a time machine. It created time – time to learn, earn, rest, and parent. and the past century of advances in what we might call household technology have given people – and especially women – the freedom to fill their hours as they wished.

In the US, the household appliance revolution of washing machines, dishwashers, and microwaves – plus the electrification that made them run – cut the burden of housework from something like 60 hours a week at the start of the 20th century to around 28 hours by 1970 and under 20 by 2005. Food work alone went from around 65 minutes a day in 1965 to around 37 minutes a day in 2014.

As it is indeed women who overwhelmingly did – and still do – all those hours of housework, the appliance change represents a big, underappreciated enhancement in women’s lives in particular.It might potentially be arduous for us to recognize that now, after decades of g

The Hidden Costs of Hand-Washing clothes

Hand-washing clothes isn’t just about the laundry itself in many parts of the world-it frequently enough means a difficult and dangerous search for water. In Kampala, Uganda, a single load of laundry can use around 14 gallons of water. Mexico sees even higher usage, ranging from 16 to 53 gallons per load, which is often more water than people use for drinking. According to the CDC, the average person drinks about 44 ounces of water a day.

Fetching water isn’t a simple task; it can be risky. Surveys in Greek refugee camps revealed that 35 percent of people worried about harassment or theft while collecting water. In the Congo, people face dangers ranging from robbery to gender-based violence.

The work itself is physically demanding. A study in a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesvos found that 87 percent of people experienced physical pain from washing clothes-pain in their hands and backs was common, as were leg aches and injuries from using rough tools. Skin damage was also frequently reported.

“the soap was harsh on the skin and nails,” one refugee shared. It’s not just a matter of time; it impacts physical health too.

The convenience of a modern washing machine isn’t just about saving effort-it’s about safety and health.