The Dishmaker
Never wash or put away another dish again!



Many of you may have heard of MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), one of the leading placing for technological innovations around the world.

In a recent quest to promote and enable a better environment MIT Media Lab's Counter Intelligence Group, which develops innovative kitchen designs, came up with a plan to reduce landfill waste and power usage. The Dishmaker (Designed by MIT grad student Leonardo Bonanni) has the potential to revolutionize kitchens and restaurants.

This very neat machine (about the size of a standard dishwasher) will actually create acrylic dishes for you..on demand. After everyone is done, place the dishes back into the machine and Viola! They are recycled into an acrylic disc and stored inside the machine until you ask it to make another dish.

As with any new invention, there are some advantage and disadvantages:
The other problem concerns cleaning the dishes. The heating process gets rid of some food and sterilizes the dishes, but doesn't solve the problem of food grease, which tends to settle into the plastic.

"We can obviously just stick a dishwasher on the machine, but we're still investigating ways that would wash dishes without water," Bonanni says. "That would be a real breakthrough for us."

One big advantage the DishMaker offers is the production energy it saves.

"If you made and recycled one of our plates three times a day for a year, the energy that goes into that is comparable to the energy required to make one ceramic plate (in a factory) because the ceramic is fired at about 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit," says Bonanni.

Once some of the 'bugs' are worked out and, of course, depending on the cost,
I think this is a great way to help do our part in the world. I would probably still keep my ceramics around for company and holidays, but overall I think they really found a great way of making it easy for people to be environmentally friendly.

I found this video on YouTube showing how the machine works. It is a little boring at just under 4 minutes, but presents a really interesting look at this concept.









So what do you think?
Would you be willing to trade in your regular dishes for The DishMaker?


8 comments:

Bee said...

Forget the dishes the guy is cute! Just kidding, I would totally use this machine, I love the being able to design your own plate idea too.
For people that don't care about our enviorment they can think about the money they would save.

Anonymous said...

This is so much better than anything I saw growing up during the cartoon of the Jetsons!! What a wonderful world my grandbabies will enjoy. As to trading in my dishes... hmm? Well, I've been to a few holiday feasts where I'd have agreed on the spot. Seeing one of my loves is collecting old turn of the century (the turn before this one), I'd have a hard time parting with all there little nic's and chips. But, then again, their value would increase! Besides, the demo color on the YouTube does match my pattern - so I'd add it and hold onto my growing stash.

Lisa said...

That is just wild. If they found a way to wash dishes without water, it would blow my mind!

Anonymous said...

Bee - ROFLMAO. You crack me up! And I think it would be a blast to design your own plates!

Diane - You are not allowed to give up your dishes. Sorry. Nice try ;-)

Lisa - Agreed! Although it still seems a bit scary!

Tracy Rambles On And On said...

I think it's a great idea. I just hope that they find a way to make the machine a little prettier. Maybe make it look like some retro machine from the 60s?
Oh and if Diane decides to get rid of her plates, give her my name will you?

Anonymous said...

Tracy - That's a great idea! Isn't funny that it's 'futuristic' but the 60's retro look would fit best?? LOL. As for Diane's plates...nope :-) They are mine! Sorry. I love you as my twin and all...but I know where she lives and you don't ;-) *evil laugh*

Anonymous said...

What a cool concept! I would love that! It does sound so futuristic though!

Although the grease not coming off right now kind of creeps me out! I don't want dishes with last nights meat sauce mixed into it!

Anonymous said...

catwoman - It will be really cool if they can figure out how to fix that. They are a little smaller looking than I'd like too..but I guess that means I'd loose weight from not having so much piled on ;-)