Printable Karens Korner #1225

This is the time of year when we see 'top 10' lists of all kinds of things. According to Gimundo, this $3 invention is on the list of 'top inventions' for 2007 (in part). Katie Couric is quoted as saying, "It's a straw…As we go about trying to discover the next big thing, we should remember to first simply look around us before looking at the stars or into a microscope."

The $3 Invention That Could Save Millions of Lives

"Most of us take clean drinking water for granted – heck, many of us even have the choice of drinking bottled water or clean tap water. But for one-sixth of the population – about a billion people – the essential act of taking a drink of water is fraught with risk. Each day, about 6,000 people – mostly children – die from waterborne diseases such as typhoid, cholera and dystentery.

"Enter a Denmark company called Vestergaard Frandsen Group, whose main business is malaria prevention – its primary product is insecticide-laced mosquito netting and sheeting. Working with an Atlanta company called The Carter Center, it came up with a personal water filter, dubbed the LifeStraw, that uses a series of mesh filters that block bacteria, plus iodine and carbon to kill what's left. The result is water that's cleaner than many developed countries' tap water.

"The 9-inch blue plastic straw can be carried or worn around the neck. Each straw, estimated to cost approximately $3, cleans a person's drinking water for about a year. It's no wonder that Time Magazine named it an invention of the year, and Forbes put it on its list of ten things that will change the way we live.

"And it's so simple.

"LifeStraw is not being mass-produced yet, but several nonprofit organizations are distributing them."