🌏 Is the Era of 'Just Walking' for Weeding Upon Us?──Imagining What Lies Beyond Real-Life Handy Tools
The other day, I participated in a local volunteer activity to weed a junior high school playground.
Using a sickle by hand is incredibly hard on the lower back.
Electric weed whackers are convenient, but you have to prepare fuel, carry the heavy unit, and be careful with the rotating blades.
I wondered, 'Wouldn't it be nice if we could weed more casually, like taking a walk?'
As I was working and thinking about that, a thought suddenly popped into my head:
“Shoes that weed just by walking”
That was my daydream.
Of course, I laughed at myself right then and there.
“No way, there’s no such convenient tool.”
However, when I got home and looked it up, I was surprised.
In fact, humanity had already realized the concept of 'weeding by walking'.
And so, I began to imagine the future beyond that.
👟 Tools for weeding by walking actually existed
When I looked into it, I found that weeding tools for rice paddies and chain/spike-type attachments for shoes were actually on the market.
The mechanism is simple.
Attach chains or spikes to the soles of your shoes,
Walk.
Kick.
Shuffle your feet forward.
Using just that force, you pull out weeds or stir up the soil to remove them.
The moment I saw it, I thought:
Human leg strength does more work than I thought.
In other words,
the concept of 'using walking power to weed' was already a reality.
If so, couldn't we take it one step further?
💡 What I thought of is a 'just walk to weed system'.
If I were to design it, I wouldn't aim for a lawnmower.
It would be a 'wearable tool that finishes ground maintenance just by walking'.
The point is to use neither engines nor electricity.
I want to finish everything from
using only the power of human walking to
cut,
turn over,
and collect.
I want to get it all done.
1. 'Snip-snip' just by walking
First, the shoes.
Evolving existing chain-style attachments,
I would attach small blades to the four sides of the shoe soles.
When people walk, they don't move their feet straight up and down.
In reality,
kicking backward,
and swinging forward.
It makes a movement that draws an ellipse like that.
With that natural movement,
it's like a sickle for weeds,
snip, snip
cutting them away.
The very act of walking becomes weeding.
② Flattened grass is lifted by a sled
However, naturally, you can't cut all the grass.
Grass lies flat when stepped on.
So, a small sled is attached to the back of the shoe.
At the tip of the sled is a rake-like device.
First, it lifts the flattened grass.
Immediately after, it shears the base.
'Lift then cut'
This sequence is performed automatically just by walking.
③ I want to eliminate the most troublesome part: 'gathering'
Weeding is,
It's often harder to collect the weeds than it is to cut them.
That's why I attach a collection net to the rear.
What's more, I intentionally put a heavy iron frame at the opening of the bag.
It clings tightly to the ground like a dustpan,
and as you walk,
it gobbles up the cut grass
rustle...
rustle...
as you go.
If the 'final grass collection' that was the most troublesome part of volunteering disappears, that alone would be a revolution.
🚶 The future of volunteering might look like this
A weekend morning.
From the local junior high school,
an announcement plays:
'It's time for grounds maintenance volunteering.'
In the past,
you might have thought,
'Weeding... that sounds hot.'
But today is different.
At the front door, you put on your sneakers,
The 'Just Walk Weeding Attachment'
clicks right on.
You walk across the schoolyard while chatting with friends.
When you look back,
the path you walked is perfectly clear, like a single trail.
Someone says,
“Oh, that row is already done!”
Looking at your smartphone,
Steps: 8,642
And below that, a new record.
Weeded area: 512㎡
Walking becomes healthy,
walking becomes a contribution to the community,
and walking becomes as fun as a game.
That is the future.
🔧Of course, there are challenges
Naturally, it won't become a product as it is.
For example,
What happens if you hit a rock?
What about a safety structure to prevent cutting your own feet?
How can we prevent the sled from getting snagged?
What kind of weeds can it handle?
There are a mountain of things to consider.
But for me,
when I see challenges like this,
instead of thinking,
'It's impossible,'
I think,
'This is where a designer's true skill shines.'
The history of technology is also a history of solving 'reasons why it can't be done' one by one.
🌍 Adding new value to the act of walking
Building a new motor.
Building a new battery.
Of course, those are wonderful technologies too.
But for me,
taking an action that people have always done naturally, adding just a little bit of structure, and creating new value,
I am strongly drawn to inventions like that.
Walking for health.
Walking to earn points.
Walking to walk the dog.
In that case,
shoes that clean the neighborhood as you walkcould also exist.
What I want to create is not a lawnmower.
a system that turns the basic human action of 'walking' into a contribution to societyis what I want to create.
A few years from now, if a product called
'Just-Walk Weeding Attachment'
is sitting on the shelves of a hardware store's work supplies section.
I would like to say this with a hint of pride, remembering those days when I broke a sweat on the school grounds.
'Actually, this is a vision I saw in my head back when I was weeding as a volunteer.'
▼ You can check out other articles on this theme in this magazine
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