Better Tomorrow Challenges

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Kitchen Bacteria: First dish sponge that can be, after being rinsed and most of the excess...

...water squeezed out of it, safely microwaved for one minute after each use to kill micro-bacteria in the sponge. [One of the two most bacteria-infested things in a kitchen is the dish sponge. It comes into contact with dirty dishes and its moist environment combine to make a perfect breeding ground for bacteria. However, if you could microwave it for just a minute, you can kill all the micro-bacteria in the sponge.

And in case you’re curious, the second most bacteria infested thing in your kitchen is the can opener that is rarely ever cleaned, very difficult to hand clean, and makes contact with the food and juices in canned foods and thus is a major spreader of food poisoning. This is why the first thing that health inspectors inspect in commercial kitchens is their can openers and inspectors will fail a commercial kitchen if just one of its can openers is dirty. It is for this reason that you should only buy can openers that are dishwasher safe and toss it into the dishwasher every time the dishwasher is run. In fact, where you should store your dishwasher-safe can opener should be in the silverware basket in your dishwasher. Just give it the frontmost section of it and only put it in that section. Then whenever you need it, you get it from the dishwasher and then return it to the dishwasher when you're done with it. That you might not use it between runs of your dishwasher is fine. Better to have a clean one go through a dishwasher run than forget to put a dirty one into the dishwasher for when you run it.]

Future Challenges:

1) First major retail chain (1000 stores or more) that only sells dish sponges that are microwavable.

2) First major retail chain (1000 stores or more) that only sells dish sponges that are microwavable and can openers that are dishwasher safe.

3) First maker of dishwasher silverware baskets to offer one with a special holster for a dishwasher-safe can opener and include the dishwasher-safe can opener with the basket. This package must be for sale over the Internet and in at least one major retail chain (at least 1000 stores in the chain).

4) First dishwasher sold to the public that comes with a dishwasher-safe can opener and has a special holster in the dishwasher's silverware basket specially designed just for it.

5) First dishwasher manufacturer to have all of its dishwashers come with a dishwasher-safe can opener and has a special holster in the dishwasher's silverware basket specially designed just for it.

First health radio talk show host to champion this challenge and:

6) Get a dish sponge manufacturer to come onto the host's show and announce they're making a microwavable dish sponge and that it can be ordered (or pre-ordered if it isn't in existence yet) from the company's website.

7) Get the CEO of a major retailer (1000 stores or more) to officially announce they are only selling microwavable dish sponges in their stores.

Discussion:
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