Bucket Story -6.1
Looking at my work all together I realized I have not updated some of my research on the blog .
MANUFACTURING PROCESS
A common bucket is manufactured by injection molding or blow molding . The main body and bail are manufactured separately.First the bail is made which is then snap fitted by hand into freshly made body.
It is made from polypropylene. Although , it’s low cost , high flexural strength, impact strength, resistance to water and electricity makes it an excellent choice for the product, it’s vulnerability to chloride makes me question the choice. Polypropylene is vulnerable to chloride as it reacts with it, and as we all know in India tap water is often treated with chloride to kill pathogens. Only in small quantities , this results in harmful carcinogenic compounds entering our bodies.
Since there is often confusion when talking about bioplastics, let’s clarify some terms first.
- Degradable — All plastic is degradable, even traditional plastic, but just because it can be broken down into tiny fragments or powder does not mean the materials will ever return to nature. Some additives to traditional plastics make them degrade more quickly. Photodegradable plastic breaks down more readily in sunlight; oxo-degradable plastic disintegrates more quickly when exposed to heat and light.
- Biodegradable — Biodegradable plastic can be broken down completely into water, carbon dioxide and compost by microorganisms under the right conditions. “Biodegradable” implies that the decomposition happens in weeks to months. Bioplastics that don’t biodegrade that quickly are called “durable,” and some bioplastics made from biomass that cannot easily be broken down by microorganisms are considered non-biodegradable.
- Compostable — Compostable plastic will biodegrade in a compost site. Microorganisms break it down into carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds and biomass at the same rate as other organic materials in the compost pile, leaving no toxic residue.
- There are two main types of bioplastics.
- PLA (polyactic acid) is typically made from the sugars in corn starch, cassava or sugarcane. It is biodegradable, carbon-neutral and edible. To transform corn into plastic, corn kernels are immersed in sulfur dioxide and hot water, where its components break down into starch, protein, and fiber. The kernels are then ground and the corn oil is separated from the starch. The starch is comprised of long chains of carbon molecules, similar to the carbon chains in plastic from fossil fuels. Some citric acids are mixed in to form a long-chain polymer (a large molecule consisting of repeating smaller units) that is the building block for plastic. PLA can look and behave like polyethylene (used in plastic films, packing and bottles), polystyrene (Styrofoam and plastic cutlery) or polypropylene (packaging, auto parts, textiles). Minnesota-based NatureWorks is one of the largest companies producing PLA under the brand name Ingeo.
PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) is made by microorganisms, sometimes genetically engineered, that produce plastic from organic materials. The microbes are deprived of nutrients like nitrogen, oxygen and phosphorus, but given high levels of carbon. They produce PHA as carbon reserves, which they store in granules until they have more of the other nutrients they need to grow and reproduce. Companies can then harvest the microbe-made PHA, which has a chemical structure similar to that of traditional plastics. Because it is biodegradable and will not harm living tissue, PHA is often used for medical applications such as sutures, slings, bone plates and skin substitutes; it is also used for single-use food packaging.
References(last visited 12–06–2020)
file:///C:/Users/Pc/Downloads/Plastic_Bucket.pdf
https://phys.org/news/2017-12-truth-bioplastics.html
https://3dinsider.com/polypropylene/
ADEQUATE AMOUNT
Prescribed amount of water to be consumed by any individual by WHO is 200–220 l per day. But in India this quantity is reduced to 135 l by the government, which is also not being met for a large portion of the population. While privileged uses double the prescribed amount, low income areas the usage can drop to 50 l per capita per day. This is often encouraged by the limited capacity of the carrier of water from distances.
References(visited 17–06–2020)
OTHER WAYS TO CARRY WATER
One very important I missed in my initial research were the ways other water carrying products effects human body. The first one is head carrying .Carrying on the head is a common practice in many parts of the world, as an alternative to carrying a burden on the back, shoulders and so on. People have carried burdens balanced on top of the head since ancient times, usually to do daily work, but sometimes in religious ceremonies or as a feat of skill, such as in certain dances.
When done right within limits , it has many physical benefits, but if more than the prescribed weight is carried ,it can result in pretty serve injuries and/or long term diseases.
References
The second method is our old ‘school’ back carrying on shoulder. Leave alone the untrained children and women carrying load, the trained soldiers also suffer from not able to carry it right.
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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00140130600757237?src=recsys&journalCode=terg20
https://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/what-heavy-backpacks-are-doing-to-kids-bodies-_n_5700485
