Elevating the Mundane: The Carpet Sweeper

Thanks to eco-innovations like these, your daily chores just got a whole lot sexier.

Leave it to the English to elevate – indeed, ecovate – the Hoover. While certain blogs in the United States have questioned the durability and sustainability of the cardboard carpet sweeper pictured above, they are underestimating the tenacity of the Brits, who are especially persnickety and cheeky about the erotic art of vacuuming. Why, the last time I was at Victoria station (during peak hours, no less) there was a queue several commuters long waiting for a go at the new Dyson.

Here it is:

That ring does something extraordinary; even more noteworthy, perhaps, is the man pictured inside of the circle, Sir James Dyson. Yes, Sir. He’s the Elton John of the broom closet and the Jamie Oliver of the sitting room. Need further evidence that the English take vacuuming far too seriously to muck up the world’s first cardboard vacuum cleaner?

Meet 30-year-old James Brown, a.k.a. Mr. Vacuum Cleaner. Last year, he opened a museum dedicated entirely to the vacuum cleaner and can identify each brand by sound alone.

“I’ve been fascinated by vacuum cleaners since I was a small boy,” he told The Telegraph. “My mum probably thought I’d grow out of it, but once I got my hands on our Electrolux I knew I never wanted to let go.”

By the time he was a teenager, he had 30 vacuum cleaners to his name.

Keep the preceding information in mind as we take a closer look at the Vax ev.

Created by industrial design student Jake Tyler from the packaging of another vacuum model, industry leader Vax was so impressed with its spunky, urban, youthful and eco design that they are putting the model into production.

The 22-year-old from Loughborough University said, “I have really high hopes for the product. It is very cheap to manufacture.”

Its price tag for consumers, meanwhile, is still TBD. But as Paul Bagwell, Director of New Product Design at Vax, puts it, at this stage it’s a matter of innovation.

“With sustainability becoming an increasing concern for manufacturers, the Vax ev shows just what can be achieved when young designers are encouraged to think creatively and push the boundaries of product design.”

Considering the vacuums of our past looked something like this:

An eco-minded approach like the Vax ev elevates the mundane, and makes us consider vacuuming from an English point of view.

Images: The Daily Mail; Reuters; Helga Weber

K. Emily Bond

K. Emily Bond is the Shelter Editor at EcoSalon and currently resides in southern Spain, reporting on trends in art, design, sustainable living and lifestyle.