Residents of Sharjah – the Emirate just north of Dubai – enjoy drying off in giant human dryers like these pictured above, which reportedly slash carbon emissions by half in some situations.
With average temperatures of 104 degrees Fahrenheit during summer months, you’d think residents of Sharjah – an Emirate just north of Dubai – would be content to stay wet after dancing in Al Qasba’s musical fountain. Not so. It turns out that the latest attraction at this upscale waterfront theme park is a giant human dryer that uses infrared technology to dry off revelers, according to Gulf News.
The paper described the Haystack Dryer – a prominent feature in fitness clubs and theme parks around the world – as an “egg-shaped Fast Drying Machine [that] looks like an alien space capsule or teleporter from sci-fi movies.” Children and adults alike are said to enjoy the experience of standing in the 113 degree Fahrenheit capsule while their clothes and bodies dry. Mohammad Rashidi told the paper, “My friends talked me into getting wet in the fountain and started laughing at me because they didn’t follow… But it’s OK, I used the machine and was dry again in minutes.”
Haystack Dryer literature suggests that these machines are more than just a gimmick and that they have the potential to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
According to their website, a 2500 member fitness club that uses this machine in lieu of towels can spare the atmosphere up to 71, 224 kg of carbon each year. This is based on America’s National Energy Foundation’s claim that it requires approximately 1.15 kg of carbon to dry four towels.
Today climate scientists, journalists, activists, and government representatives from around the world have gathered in Durban to attend COP 17, where they are working on an unhopeful plan to drastically cut global emissions in order to curb the worst effects of escalating climate change.
We don’t think they’ll be convinced by these infrared human dryers, but we do hope they’ll come up with something worth writing home about.
:: Gulf News
Author: Tafline Laylin
As a tour leader who led “eco-friendly” camping trips throughout North America, Tafline soon realized that she was instead leaving behind a trail of gas fumes, plastic bottles and Pringles. In fact, wherever she traveled – whether it was Viet Nam or South Africa or England – it became clear how inefficiently the mandate to re-think our consumer culture is reaching the general public. Born in Iran, raised in South Africa and the United States, she currently splits her time between Africa and the Middle East. Tafline can be reached at tafline (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
