Styrofoam

Recently Matt got a new desk (I got his old one) and it had all these sheets of Styrofoam, aka polystyrene foam, packaging in with it. Which kinda sucks because that stuff isn't the most environmentally friendly material. It's production involves toxic chemicals, it takes a good while to break down and it's not widely recyclable, although places like UPS and FedEx may take and reuse clean packing peanuts.

Given these facts I didn't want to just toss the sheets in the trash so I decided to search the Internet for ways to recycle/reuse the stuff. I found a few ideas and came up with some of my own.

First, a lot of people use the foam to make decorations and crafts. Ideas were thrown out to cut them into tombstone shapes and paint them up for Halloween use. A hot wire was suggested to make clean cuts. Other decoration ideas include bridal showers, baby showers, Christmas, Easter, artificial flower arrangements (poke the stems in the foam and the list goes on. Also parade floats might use the stuff as well.

One could also see if local schools or kids groups would like them to use as arts and crafts projects.

Another idea was to mix it in with potting soil for potted plants and such to serve as drainage and filler.

Some said they used polystyrene foam as insulation for smaller out buildings, although there is a risk doing that because the foam can be highly flammable.

Another very interesting solution that has been proposed involves using d-Limonene, which is found in citrus peel extracts. Reportedly polystyrene could be liquefied using d-Limonene. I haven't seen wide verifications of this information and the process may have unknown aftereffects, but if it comes to bear good fruit then that would be very cool.

While I was thinking about all this I wondered if shredding the pieces up and then utilizing them as stuffing for clothing or pillows would work out nicely...they'd probably insulate pretty good. That's what the "beans" in bean bag chairs are after all. I may try it out by making a kittybed from my cats.

If you have any suggestions for how to recycle or reuse polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) please leave your comment below.

Note: Use caution when dealing with the packaging used for raw meat. The packaging can hold germs that could pose a health risk.

There are many places that will take packing polystyrene. Look for a location near you.

I think in the future I will just try to stay away from packing plastics as much as possible by buying secondhand locally, which is better anyway.

Reclaimed=Awesome

These bookcases were made with reclaimed wood. I'm jealous.

http://www.reclaimedcreations.com/DSCN1865.JPG

http://www.reclaimedcreations.com/Bookcases.htm

A Hairy Situation

Since last I wrote, I have decided I am through with shampoo and conditioner. Those products shall not occupy my grocery list anymore. It just started to seem like a big waste. Bottles and the chemicals and transport and money and everything.

So I started to look up how to make one's own shampoo. I found lots of information. One of the more repeated recipes involved baking soda and apple cider vinegar. But some involved eggs or bananas or even mayonnaise.

When I finally got around to experimenting, I put in baking soda, oatmeal, vanilla and thyme (which is supposed to be good for dry or coarse hair and since I have thick, curly hair I figured I'd toss in a bit). It smelled like one of those Milk 'n Cereal bars. Everything was fine except that the oatmeal was not as fine ground as maybe it ought to have been.

Then I tried like a conditioner-type rinse with bananas and strawberries, which didn't turn out as well. The strawberry seeds didn't want to come out of my hair, so I ended up with little seeds in my hair afterward.

Overall though I liked the effect. It felt better than when I washed with store bought shampoo. I didn't have to wash my hair again for several days too. Then when I finally did I just used baking soda and vanilla. Smells good. I think my curls are better too, but that may be because I've started combing my hair with a wide toothed comb when it's wet.

So long Simply Orange

Plastic bottles. I think that will be my Earth Day Resolution. No more plastic bottles.

Well, sort of. If it winds up no more plastic bottles then so be it, but basically I plan to cut down the amount of plastic bottled products I buy. Which means, bye-bye to Simply Orange.

Even though I love the stuff I will distance myself from it. Instead I will trade the juice for actual oranges, preferably local, which reminds me the ASU Farmer's Market will be opening soon. Exciting!

For some reason though, my Earth Day resolution seems incomplete...

Maybe I will figure something out.

Earth Day Resolutions

Earth Day is coming up and I am super excited. April 22nd folks mark your calendars.

I think that this is a very under-appreciated holiday. Most people don't even bother to remember it and others recognize it with the blanket Plant-a-tree events.

Don't get me wrong, planting a tree is good, but why not go for something more radical, something longer lasting. Like a new year's resolution. I will update what my Earth Day promise will be soon. I hope it's a good one. :)

Handy and Dandy

So we survived the winter blast, ice storm 2009, whatever you want to call it.

It was crazy how many people were out and about Thursday after the roads had cleared up. I had to go out and get ice for the fridge since the power outage was causing the food in the fridge to thaw.

First stop: Kroger. It was closed.
Second stop: Wal-Mart. It was a mad house. Didn't even try to find a parking space.
Third stop: Target. Yay it was open and not that packed. So we went in to look for ice and flashlights. It's kind of hard to find stuff in the dark. Who knew?

No ice. Bummer. But we did find some flashlights. And neat ones too. There were solar powered flashlights, flashlights that floated, flashlights that floated and turned on when wet. We decided to get a little one that you had to crank on. No batteries! There were some other ones like the one we bought that also had a cell phone charger plug in like in cars. How nifty.

I feel liberated by my flashlight. I no longer have to find batteries! The light is powered by me. I have the power! Okay enough of that. Calming down.

I think for one thing that this is a great way to cut down on waste--batteries. Even with rechargeable batteries, you lose them or they somehow fail. Then you replace them and the cycle begins again. And batteries cost a lot, too. So you save money too.

I am happy with my flashlight.

Recycle, reduce, reuse and renew

It's a new year and time to begin a rejuvenation, a renewal if you will in how we see "the green movement."

In an article by another student journalist, she expressed her opinion that individual action is inconsequential in the grand scheme of things when it comes to pushing the green issue. She says that action on the part of government is where results will be seen.

She's right. In part.

It's true that how governments decide to handle the environmental issues and global warming will greatly affect the outcome. Without government support it would be hard to make lasting progress.

But on the other hand, individual people can make a difference too. By this I mean individuals as part of the whole of society. One person can influence another person who can influence two people who can...do you see where I am going with this? With a vast amount of people of a similar mindset changing from the old ways of thinking to the new, businesses will have to change to meet the demands of the public, government ruled by the people will have to listen to those people, people will have to listen to each other.

So while merchandising the green movement so that you can buy a "green" shirt made in China of materials grown using nasty pesticides and child labor that is then shipped overseas all because it says "I recycle" is not progressive. Alternatives that endeavor to be more responsible and renewable are.

So in this new year I will endeavor to be more responsible with the way I live, choosing renewable and recyclable instead of disposable, opting for goods made in good and accountable manner, and by reducing my consumption of those goods.