Illustration by Kagan McLeod

9. BAG DRYER
Admit it: You’ve always longed for an easy way to dry plastic bags after you wash them.
Actually, I haven’t.
You don’t mean to say you just toss them after a single use?
Plastic bags make up a tiny fraction of the volume of landfills. And landfills are hardly our biggest ecological problem anyway.
You must know that the big reason for reuse and recycling isn’t to reduce solid waste—it’s to reduce energy use.
What about the energy you’re using to heat water to wash the bags?
I use cold water, and I just wash the ones with crumbs, I throw away the greasy ones.
You know, you’ve won me over. I was going to say this is just another stupid, overspecialized contraption that’s going to end up clogging a landfill somewhere, but I was wrong. Because, you know, it would be really great for drying condoms, too.
Very funny.
See? Everyone draws the line somewhere.

VERDICT: If you’re seriously considering this item, you have too much time on your hands. Go canvas for Greenpeace instead.

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Table of Contents: Jun 18, 2007 issue of New York | Subscribe!