Garbage 201 Plastic

Knowledge is power and once we know better, we should probably try and do better.  Now that we know the answer to the great Paper or Plastic? debate, lets learn a little more about plastic so we can make some better choices with it.


Before I start talking about the crazy amount of plastic pollution in our landfills or the health dangers plastic poses, I thought we should start off on a good plastic note.  The history and invention of plastic is very interesting and the reason why it was invented is very dear to this animal lovers heart.  You see, plastic came about as an alternative to elephants ivory, tortoiseshell and horn.  And plastic bags were a successful alternative to paper shopping bags in an effort to save trees back when they were mainstreamed. 


Plastic really is awesome when you think about it, and its qualities are amazing.  But, as with anything cheap and convenient, it comes with a price.  Plastic is made from fossil fuels and is not biodegradable, our landfills are full of it.  Our oceans are full of plastic, too.  Ever heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?  Its a HUGE mass of plastic garbage in the Pacific Ocean the size of Texas.  And plastic poses a health threat as well.  Additives that go into plastic during the manufacturing process, such as BPA, leach into our bodies, food and water.  And the alternatives they use instead of BPA are possibly even more harmful than BPA.  It is estimated that 90% of our adult population has chemicals from plastics in their bodies. What about our kids?  Our babies?  Scary. 


I now know enough to be certain of two things.  One, we want to rid our home of plastic.  Two, we cannot possibly rid our home completely of plastic.  Theres too much and its everywhere.  But we can try!  We can get rid of the plastic that comes in direct contact with our food and water.  We can get rid of the plastic that we know emits chemicals in our home.  And we can choose reusable shopping bags instead of paper or plastic.


Weve already started what were calling the Plastic Purge in our home.  It was inspired by a book written by Mike SanClements.  Over the weekend, we purged our plastic cups, plates, food storage containers, utensils and shopping bags.  We are replacing them with non-plastic kitchenware.   I ordered most of the replacement items on Amazon, and the SSL Family Dad went through my shopping cart to make sure everything was made in the USA.  If you want something REALLY challenging to do on a Friday night, try ordering kitchen gear not made with any plastic parts and made in the U.S.A. 


Once I started looking into non-plastic alternatives, I was shocked at how many options there are if I just looked hard enough.  We are also doing away with Ziploc bags and plastic wrap.  Later on, I will be sharing just what were going to be using now instead of plastic, what we purchased on Amazon, as well as some items we picked up at our local thrift shop.  We have talked about this for a very long time and are very excited for these changes in our home. 


For those of you who were like me about two years ago, thinking this is a bit extreme, I ask you to keep an open mind and ask questions.  Dont just take my word for it, find out for yourself what is best for you and your family.  Almost always, the fastest and cheapest route is usually not the best, healthiest or safest option.

Sources:

http://www.mikesanclements.com/

http://www.chemheritage.org/discover/online-resources/conflicts-in-chemistry/the-case-of-plastics/all-history-of-plastics.aspx

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Greenhouse Roof Failure!

A little mishap happened with our last snow storm.  The north facing roof buckled on the greenhouse from the snow.  From the photo, you can see that the 4 “rafter” pieces have all bent in.  The rigid foam insulation that I had installed on the inside has also pushed in.

Luckily, when I assembled the greenhouse, I had added some extra bracing inside.  This prevented it from totally caving in so it’s not a total loss.  The plants and fish are still alive!  This spring, I should be able to dismantle this section and bend the pieces back into shape….and add some additional braces inside.

Here’s a link to my blog that displays the original bracing I installed a few years ago.  Link to Blog
 

Spring can’t come fast enough!

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Garbage 201 Non Plastic Alternatives For Around The Kitchen

 

It all started with the Paper or Plastic? debate.  A couple months ago, we decided it was time to purge items containing plastic from our home.  We also decided that its pretty much impossible, so we prioritized and started with the area of our home where food is stored & prepared.  While we know its a never-ending battle, Im happy to say we did find some great non-plastic alternatives to use around our kitchen and food.

After we recycled our plasticware, the SSL Family Dad and I took a trip to some of our local thrift shops.  We just love utilizing thrift shops for a number of reasons.  First of all, they are way cheaper than buying brand-new.  But I also love buying second-hand items that didnt end up in a landfill somewhere.  And they are almost always locally owned and we always try to support local businesses as much as we can.  So thankfully, we found some stainless steel spatulas and glassware for 60 cents for each item.

After we brought our pre-owned haul home from the thrift shops, we set a budget and hopped online to find non-plastic replacement items for our kitchen.  We had a couple rules of thumb to follow.  First, no plastic parts (as much as possible).  And secondly, try to find items made in the USA (unfortunately this was extremely difficult). 

We also learned how to use some items we already have a little differently.  And after two months of using these items, I can honestly say we are still very happy with each purchase we made.  Heres what we found.

Food Storage



Instead of plastic storage containers, which we had tons of, we now use Mason jars and glass storage containers.  I have always hated the fact that you cant use canning lids again, so this is a great way to reuse your lids.  And although these Pyrex glass storage containers do have plastic lids, they almost never come in contact with our food.

School Lunches

School lunches were a little challenging for us.  We pack the girls school lunches everyday in reusable lunch boxes, but every piece of food we packed was almost always wrapped in plastic or put in a plastic container of some sort.  Thankfully, we found some nice alternatives to use. 

These stainless steel containers work perfectly for sandwiches.  We just love these containers.

We also found these waxed paper bags.  We are amazed at how much food can fit into each bag, they are definitely big enough to hold a large sandwich. 

Since we no longer buy water in single-use plastic water bottles, the girls take stainless steel reusable water bottles to school.  The only problem is the spout is still plastic.....still hunting for that perfect water bottle.


Before we move on to more replacement items, let me just remind you again why we are choosing to downscale on plastic.  EVERY SINGLE piece of plastic that has ever been created and thrown away is still in existence today.  It does not decompose.  It leaches chemicals into our food, bodies and animals.  It is also cheaper, faster and easier to make.  And Lord knows, anything that comes easy and cheap aint ever good for us.  Okay, moving on......


Food Preparation

We just love, love, LOVE our new stainless steel measuring cups and measuring spoons.

And these silicone spatulas are my first experience with silicone and they are wonderful.  They have a steel core so they are very sturdy.  There are also coated with silicone with zero seams so there are no cracks or crevices for food to get stuck in. 

 

 

 

 

These stainless steel bowls are stackable and the sizes are all perfect for our needs.

 

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Here are some very well-made, heavy-duty stainless steel items (whisk, grater, & spatula) that we just love using everyday.  The spatula is just gorgeous, so shiny I didnt want to use it!  They all clean easily and the handles are sturdy and do not bend. 

 

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And here is part of our cast iron cookware from The Lodge.  We love our cast iron especially this brand because its family-owned, made in the USA and a great price.

 

 

Our new cutting board is also made in the USA and especially beautiful when freshly oiled.  I love keeping it out on the counter.   This picture doesnt do it justice, trust me.

 

 

We also included something fun for the kids that they just love, these stainless steel straws.  They use them almost every single day.  I wash them in the dishwasher, but they come with a long brush to clean them with, too.

 

 

 

And last but not least, our favorite purchase is our new coffee pot.  The entire inside is stainless steel.  No plastic parts touching hot water.  The other non-plastic coffee pot options were just way too expensive for us. 

This pot contains a stainless steel filter and included several paper filters that fit this model with an order form to order more filters.  But we found our regular coffee pot filters fit just perfectly, we just have to pop a hole in them which is done very easily.  This saved us money because their filters were a bit more expensive.

I hope this article doesnt give anyone the impression were too good for plastic.  Or worse, too good to visit our friends and family who cook with plastic spatulas.  We still have plastic items in our kitchen that we use everyday, lots of it.  Most of our groceries come in plastic.  The choice to be conscious about plastic is one weve decided to make for our family, and if our story inspires you, or the information helps you on your journey, awesome.  Please, please let us know if you have any suggestions on these items or any others.  Your comments are always welcome and appreciated!



"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit"  Romans 14:17



This post has been shared at:  HomeAcre Hop, Homestead Blog Hop, Country Fair Blog Hop

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DIY Plywood Flooring An inexpensive hardwood alternative

Plywood flooring? Check out this inexpensive alternative to traditional wood flooring that you can do for less than half the cost. Although plywood flooring is not as durable as a solid wood floor it is by far less expensive and with the proper treatment can last many many years in great condition.

I started this project in order to give some relief to my middle daughter who suffers from allergies and asthma. The carpet was old and when you walk on carpet, no matter how clean you think you get it, it kicks up dust and allergens. It was time for something different for her. Although this was a priority we didnt have the  money in the budget for a new hardwood floor and after looking into other options (reclaimed wood, laminates, etc.) we decided to give the plywood flooring a try. I have seen a few other videos and posts around on the net and it seems most have pretty good results.

So, with a budget in mind I was off to our local building store (you guess which one). Our room was 165 square feet so I needed to get about six sheets of plywood to cover the area. That is based on 32 square feet per sheet with a little bit extra. I ended up going with a thicker plywood than I had originally thought because I really liked how flat the sheets laid and also for long term durability. I chose 23/32" pine sanded plywood for $29.98 per sheet. There are lots of choices here and you can go with a hardwood plywood or a thinner softwood to cut cost even further but I would recommend spending the extra money and at least getting the sanded ply that is about 3/4" thick.

Once I had the plywood chosen I loaded up with the help of some of the associates there and asked if they could hook me up and cut some of the plywood for me. After all, who wants to cut 6 sheets of plywood into stripes:) I was going for 8" planks since this divided evenly from 32 and it seemed like a good size for that farmhouse look. They said they could cut it into 16" stripes for me but no less due to safety concerns. ( I went back for more on a second trip and they did cut it down to 8" except for the last cut on each piece of plywood).

Back home I had already removed that nasty carpet and padding and also took out the moldings along the floor. I then laid down some roofing paper or tar paper that I had left over from another project to cover the subfloor. I used a staple gun to secure it to the floor. This will provide a sound barrier and also liquid barrier for the OSB subfloor below.

Out in the garage I used my $5 super fancy table saw to rip the boards that were not cut at the store into 8" strips. I then carried them inside and placed them in the room for a day or so to acclimate to the humidity and temps inside.

I wanted each plank to be a bit pronounced from its neighbor and my wife came up with the idea of rounding the edges. The thought of rounding the edges of all of those planks was a bit overwhelming at first but it actually didnt take that long at all. I made a quick sanding block from a piece of 2X4 and sandpaper and quickly knocked the edge off of all of the top edges. I went through first and picked out the best sides and stacked them accordingly to make things easier.

 Now the fun part, nailing! I started by using a chalk line to mark a line long ways down the room at close to the middle of the floor. This gave mea  good starting point to work outward in both directions with the planks. I didnt want to just start on one side and work all the way across fearing that I might be off by too much for the molding to cover once I reached the other side. I am using a pneumatic brad nailer to secure the planks with 1 1/4" nails.

I chose to use a random pattern with everything. So no two seams will line up and no two nails are right next to each other. This was easiest to layout, looks the nicest, and has the least amount of waste.

I did not leave any gaps between boards either on the sides or at the ends. Most of this wood is fairly "wet" still and will shrink a bit. Also, plywood by design does not expand and contract much vertically so I am hoping for no real expansion and contraction issues. Only time will tell and I will keep you updated on that.

 I couldnt be happier with the first stage of this process, it looks like a real old school farmhouse floor. The boards lay nice and flat and the sanded edges make them look like hardwood planks. In the next phase I will go through sanding and finishing the flooring to give them a classic hardwood look. Stay tuned for that article and video soon. Thanks for checking it out!

 Check out the full video of this project here

General Store - http://astore.amazon.com/simpsubulivi-20

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How To Build Your Own Strawberry Tower

By popular demand, heres a video detailing how I build my strawberry towers. I hope you find it helpful! Full transcript is below. Click on the video image to watch in HD!

Hello everyone.

One of the top requests I get is how to build a strawberry tower. This video will display all the necessary steps to build your own.

The first step is to place a mark on each end of the pipe, then rotate it 180 degrees and mark the other end. Then snap a line down the entire length of the pipe. You could also use a straight edge to mark a line, but I find the chalk line to be more accurate and easier. Turn the pipe over and snap a second line down the opposite side.

Along each chalk line you will place a series of marks. Starting at 2 inches, draw a mark every 8 inches. This will be the spacing between each pocket in the tower. If you are going to grow plants that need more root area, set the spaces further apart. I typically replace the strawberry plants every season. If they grow for more than one season, they can become root-bound.

Starting at the first set of marks, draw a line from one mark and connect it to the mark on the opposite side. Then turn the pipe 180 degrees and connect the next series of marks. Continue rotating the pipe while connecting each series of marks. These lines will be used for cutting the slots in the tower.

Along each cut mark, carefully cut through the pipe until you reach the measured mark you placed at the chalk line. Do not cut through more than half the pipe! Rotate the pipe 180 degrees and cut the next slot. When you are done, each slot should be on the opposite side of the previous slot.

Time for some good gloves. The pipe doesn’t become flexible until it is well above the boiling temperature of water. Please be careful!

The general area that will be heated will be an arch shape starting at one end of the slit, up about 8 inches to the back side of the neighboring slit and then back down to the other end of the slit.

Heating PVC should be done in a well vented area. If you overheat it, it can release some nasty gases. Please be careful! Continuously move the heat around the arched area. Try to avoid heating the area below the slit to keep the pipe from bending too much.

After a few minutes, the PVC will become soft. It helps to apply a little extra heat at the each edge of the slit since this is where the sharpest bend will be.

Push in the PVC so it makes a concave shape in the arched area. You will want to push it in enough so that it will touch against the back wall, but not create a seal since the water will need to trickle through that area, but don’t leave too big of a gap so your growing media will fall through it. When you let go of the pipe, it will usually spring back a little, leaving a gap around ¼”.

I found it to be very helpful to use a few spring-clamps to hold the tight bends in place while the plastic is cooling. You will want to hold the shape in place for a couple of minutes while it is cooling.

It takes me about 3 1/2 minutes to completly create each pocket.

When you are done, you will have some nice pockets alternating on each side of your new tower.

As the water flows through the tower, the surface tension in the water can cause it to flip out of the edge of the slit. To correct this, I added a collar around each pocket.

With some extra pipe, cut some rings about 1 ½” wide. Then remove enough of the ring so when it’s placed over the slit area, it extends just beyond the slit. Add some silicone adhesive and clamp the ring in place. Half of the ring should be placed above the slit line. Use clamps to hold it in place until it cures.

If you’re not going to be draining directly into a sump tank, you’ll need a way to catch the water from your towers. Take a 4” cap and add a fitting to it. Drill a 7/8” hole and thread it with a ¾” tap. There are several ways of adding fittings, but I found this to be very cost effective method.

Take a ¾” NPT to barbed fitting and screw it into the tap. If it is screwed in far enough, it will be higher than the base of the cap. This work well to help any media that as fallen through from going down the drain and clogging it.

This cross-section shows how the fitting is placed into the cap.

Place the cap on the bottom of the tower. The bottom pocket should not be filled with anything so you can clean the base cap if necessary.

To hang your tower, drill a couple of holes on both sides near the top and insert some S hooks. Use a wire or chain to hang it from a strong support.

To connect the tower drains together, you can attach them with tubing and barbed fittings. I made some stands from scrap 3” pipe to support the bottom of the tower. Then I used a 1-1/2” pipe with holes drilled in the side to catch the water from each tower. Each pipe then drained into the main sump tank.

Filling each pocket can be a challenge so I made a tray-type funnel to speed up the process. Take a section of pipe and do a cut down its length. Heat the entire piece so it can be flattened, then bend up the edges so it forms a V shape.

I created a cross-cut section so you could see the inside of the tower. Please note that this sample is done with black ABS so you could see the various surfaces easier. Each pocket will hold about 5 cups, or 1 liter of growing medium. This is enough space for most shallow root plants like strawberries or lettuce. For my strawberry plants, they will usually get water for 10 minutes every hour and a half.

Thank you for watching. Here’s a quick slideshow of my strawberry towers in action!

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Plastic Extruder for Growing Media

For several months, I’ve been developing a plastic extrusion system that has been able to take virgin HDPE resin pellets, or shredded milk jugs, and properly melt and extrude them into a shape that could be used as a low cost growing media for my Aquaponics system.

There was a lot of trial and error to get to this point. The biggest problem is that the plastic retains little moisture. If the seeds aren’t directly placed in the flood/drain cycle, they won’t get any moisture to germinate. I typically grow in stone and some of the stone above the water line is able to wick and retain enough moisture to provide water to new seeds.

Another issue with HDPE is that it’s extremely smooth (again, works well to repel water). Even adding texture to the media during the cooling process, the media still is smooth, which makes it difficult for bacteria to stick to it. I was also a bit surprised to see that the roots didn’t really care to grow in it and they would grow around the edge of the net pot instead.

On the plus side, the plastic is light, fairly inexpensive, clean, and easy to work with.

I hope some of the info in the video is useful to some of my fellow aquaponic/hydroponic growers in their quest to find a better, more cost effective growing media.

EDIT:  There is now a second blog entry with some more details about this.... Click on the "Newer Posts" link near the bottom.

Below is the transcript for the video…no need to read it if you’re going to watch the video… I just included it so some of the search engines could pick up on the keywords. ;-)



Hello Everyone. Today I’m going to show a plastic extruder system that I built. The end result was to produce a synthetic, cost effect growing medium for my Aquaponics system.

The extruder consists of a hopper for high density polyethylene pellets. An auger then forces the pellets through a dual zone heating chamber. The heated material is forced through a small die at the end of the chamber.

The temperature in each zone of the heating chamber is controlled by a Teensy AVR microcontroller which is monitored and adjusted through its USB port connected to a laptop.

The auger is driven by a windshield wiper motor and it is geared-down using an old bicycle sprocket and chain.

The hopper is filled with HDPE pellets where they are slowly forced into the heating chamber. It can also be filled with shredded milk bottles or shredded milk bottle caps to add color.

The heating chamber is covered in some fiberglass insulation to conserve heat. There are two thermal probes mounted near the middle and end which provides accurate readings to the controller as the material is heated. The heating elements draw around 16 amps at 12 volts.

The molten plastic that is extruded from the die is squeezed through a set of rollers which embed a texture into the material. A small tube blows air onto the pressed material to cool it, and to keep the rollers cool.

This is one of the rollers after I turned it on my lathe with a close-up view of the texturing.

And this is a close-up video of the material being extruded and pressed through the rollers.

Here is a close-up view of the finished material once it has been cut to length. There is a waffle pattern embedded into the plastic which provides plenty of surface area for bacterial growth. The media lies flat which helps to retain moisture during a drain cycle. The pieces have plenty of spaces between each other for water and root growth.

Most HDPE plastic is classified as food-grade. However, one problem is that nothing likes to stick to it. Even though a texture has been embossed into the plastic, a small amount of movement can disrupt anything that was clinging on it.

This is a time-lapsed video taken with my PlantCam over a 30 day period. There are 3 bean plants growing. I also planted lettuce seed which didn’t germinate, probably because the top inch of the media doesn’t retain moisture like stone or expanded clay.

After 30 days, I removed the beans from the aquaponic system. I had the net basket wrapped in foil to prevent the roots from wandering into the surrounding stone. The roots seem to have an aversion to growing in the plastic and mainly grew between the basket and foil.

Thanks for watching. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below. Also please subscribe to my YouTube channel to see future videos!

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Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Teaser

A quick preview of the next video!

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Videos on YouTube and Vimeo

We have had numerous problems with our YouTube videos being blocked in several countries. We created an account on Vimeo that should work. (www.vimeo.com/web4deb). The majority of our videos can still be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/web4deb. Thanks!

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Building a Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Part 1

Hi Everyone! Were Expanding! We are pleased to announce that we have just received the necessary permits to build a new greenhouse. This 1200 square foot, state-of-the-art building will utilize some of our latest technology to enhance the building’s energy conservation, as well as monitor and control an aquaponics growing system. The greenhouse will be used for our research and development, and it will become the focal point of the farm as a visitor center. Construction is scheduled to start this spring and we are eagerly waiting for the ground to thaw.

This video is the first part of a series Ill produce over the next year or so. I hope you enjoy the adventure! (click on the video image to view in a new window...blogspot likes to crop these grrrrr)

Below is the transcript....I put it in here for the search engines!

Hello everyone. I wanted to welcome you to my winter wonderland. A couple days ago, we received about 2’ of snow. Here it is, I’m standing in it at about knee height. Here’s a show of the greenhouse and the garden.

One of my exciting things that I’ve been working on is to build a new greenhouse. This area down in here, which is off of one of my main fields, is going to have a 900 square foot geodesic dome, along with an out-building attached to it for heating and storage. It’s pretty exciting that I’m going to be able to build this. It’s going the be a big improvement over my 120 square foot greenhouse. This wooded site here is where it’s going to be. All the old farm equipment and trees will be moved and the ground will get leveled off.

It’s going to take me about a year to build it. I’m going to do everything from scratch – no kits at all. This is the location again – it’s just off of one of my fields we use for growing corn.

At the end of my video, I’ll also show you some of the plans for the building and some of the ideas for how the aquaponics will work too. I also wanted to thank everyone for reaching a 1000 subscriber mile mark. It’s pretty good for the aquaponics folks. Not quite like some of the millions or so that some of the other guys get on YouTube, but it’s nice to see a good group of people following along with what we do in the aquaponics world. Thanks again.

This is the site plan that was needed to obtain the wetlands permit. It shows the existing land and outlines what type of grading and the types of erosion control that will be installed to protect the wetlands that are near the site.

This particular location was picked because it was near one of the fields and needed minimal amount of excavation work.

This is the side profile of the geodesic dome. It sits on a required 4’ frost wall and will have a shed on the north side that will house a wood furnace. This also shows roughly how the grow beds will be set up.

The foundation plan shows the 33’ dome, the shed area, and post footings for an open-air shed roof which will be used for wood storage.

This plan displays the grow bed locations and how they drain into a central sump tank. The sump will pump water to the larger fish tank. This tank will have a siphon that will drain through a swirl filter and into a second tank. The second tank will be used for extra water storage as a thermal mass. The water will then be pumped from this tank back into the grow beds.

Buried under the floor will be 4” perforated pipe. During the summer months, air will be blown through these to get cooler air from the ground. Over the winter, warm air during the day will be pumped underground into the thermal mass, which will radiate back up into the dome during the nights. Hopefully the wood furnace will only be needed on extremely cold,cloudy days.

That’s all for now. I hope you subscribe to this channel for future updates. I will be showing detailed plans on how the entire dome will be built. We’re hoping to get started this spring once the frost is gone. Oh, and this is our skating ring that we love to use during the winter!

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Plastic Extruder The saga continues

Last year I made this plastic extruder to try and make growing media from recycled bottles. Even though I didnt get the desired results, it has tickled the fancy of a few niche groups. This article was published in a German trade magazine that deals with plastics.

Its all in German...they said the article may be picked up by their English counterpart later this year. I have no idea what it says...for all I know, they said I was a raving lunatic!

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Winter in New England

18" of snow...well get a few more before the storm is over. Its nice to see all that money I spend on heat goes right through the roof and melts it! (sigh)

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Plastic Extruder Continued

I was a bit surprised to received so many questions about my plastic extruder. Hopefully this info will answer some of these questions:

There are 3 sections: bearing chamber, hopper, and heating chamber. These are made with a section of ¾” black pipe (gas pipe) and ¾” wood auger bit fits nicely into the pipe. There is a little bit of gap between the auger and pipe. I was concerned the molten plastic would ooze back out of the chamber, but it was never a problem. This unit can consume virgin HDPE pellets or cut up milk bottles.

The bearing chamber is about 3.5” long and is mostly dead space. The shaft of the auger bit is long and I didn’t feel like turning it down shorter. At the end where the shaft comes out, there is a thrust bearing placed on it to minimize the friction.

The hopper has half of the black pipe cut away to expose the auger. This is 4.5” long and has a metal hopper which holds around 1 cup of pellets. As the auger turns, some pellets get forced into the heating chamber while some just sort of move to the front of the hopper. Between the hopper and heating chamber is ¼” of plywood…to act as a heat insulator to minimize the heat loss through the metal.

The heating chamber has two heating zones. The main reason was to attempt to heat the plastic evenly since I wasn’t sure how it would heat as it moved through the chamber. This chamber is 5 inches long. The first temperature sensor is placed about half way through and the auger bit ends just before it (so it won’t hit against the probe). The second reason was I didn’t want to run a high voltage through the Nickel Chromium wire…too dangerous and I had a couple of PC power supplies I could run 12 volts at 8 amps. The pipe is wrapped in Kapton tape which is heat resistant….but you can see in the photo it did eventually burn through. Each zone is independently controlled by a microprocessor to maintain a consistent temp.

The heating chamber has a flange on the end which allows different die plates to be bolted on to the end. Depending on the size of the “hole” in the die, the plastic will extrude at different speeds. For the 1/4” slot, the auger turns at about 18rpm and can produce a ribbon of material at roughly 200 feet/hour.

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Garbage 101 Paper or Plastic It All Depends on What Youre Going To Do With It

We all want to be environmentally friendly and do the right thing for our planet, dont we?  But how do we know which choices will leave the smallest footprint, and which items to throw away and which items to recycle?  Finding the right answers are hard and when you do, they may surprise you.

The SSL Family Dad and I love to watch Ted Talks.  If you havent heard of Ted, click here.  Ted talks are available on all different topics but we seem to migrate to those dealing with sustainability and farming.   One talk we watched earlier this year really changed the game for us, and I just love it when that happens.  I love it when information just hits you over the head and changes the way you look at life forever. 

This talk is so powerful, I think you should watch it right now and then finish reading this article because I will never do this topic the justice it deserves by trying to explain it to you myself.  For those of you who are worried about burning up your data for the month like I would be, click HERE for the transcript of this talk.

And for those of you who didnt have time to watch or read it, Ill recap for you but only if you promise to watch or read it later.  Its seriously THAT good.

The speaker, Leyla Acaroglu, states that "everything at some point comes from nature, and its how you use the material that dictates the environmental impact....what we need to do is we need to learn to do more with less."

Biodegradable materials, such as paper bags, do not decompose in a landfill the same way they would in nature.  Landfills are anaerobic (meaning no oxygen) and biodegradable materials emit methane gas when they degrade. Some facilities actually capture the methane gas and use it to generate power, which is a good thing, and gives us an alternative to fossil fuels.   Bottom line is, if youre going to pick the paper bag but take it home and throw it in your garbage destined for a landfill that does not generate power with its methane gas, then youre not picking the best choice for the environment.  Landfills should be our last resort for items we cannot reuse or recycle. 

Reduce, reuse and recycle.  Sounds so "elementary", doesnt it? 

So the best answer to the great paper or plastic debate is actually neither.  The best option is to use reusable bags instead.  But if you really need to pick one, pick paper.  And reuse that paper bag, and then compost it.

Writing this article has forced me to look at everything were doing now with our waste as a result of this talk we watched, and I have to laugh because it seems that a majority of what we do here at Simple Suburban Living is centered around our trash.  That surprised me, a lot.  But it also reminded me that we are being good stewards of our planet by being good stewards of our garbage.  Here comes Luke 16:10 again, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much."  Its so true, isnt it?

Weve made some serious changes around our little homestead this year with regards to what we do with our trash.  So this week, well be sharing how our family reduces the amount of our waste that ends up in a landfill.

Were calling it Garbage 101.  (And dont forget to watch that video!)

This post has been shared at:  Homestead Barn Hop, The Backyard Farming Connection Hop, Homestead Blog Hop

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