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Biodegradable bags made w/ Cassava

8/18/2017

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Some of you are thinking about your 2017-2018 classroom or planning how to approach the school year.  The blog posts listed below have ideas:
 
07/06/2014      Decorating Your Classroom
07/13/2014      Chemistry Laboratory Safety
07/20/2014      Classroom Grading Programs
07/27/2014      Classroom Ideas –Daily Announcements
                           and Teacher Websites
08/03/2014       Lab Report Help
08/28/2016       The First Days of School



​The book Chemistry on a Budget contains inexpensive chemistry labs that are useful with easy to obtain materials.
 
It will take a few weeks for the book to get to you, so ORDER NOW!  You’ll want to have some time before the school year starts to see how you can use the book Chemistry on a Budget in your class.
 
There are two versions of each lab, one with a ten-question conclusion and one with directions for a full lab report.  This way the teacher has the option!  Each lab is two pages to allow for one two-sided handout. 
 
You can buy this lab book for $23 at amazon.com or lulu.com. It will take 1-2 weeks to get to you.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Budget-Marjorie-R-Heesemann/dp/0578129159/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389410170&sr=1-1&keywords=chemistry+on+a+budget

http://www.lulu.com/shop/marjorie-r-heesemann/chemistry-on-a-budget/paperback/product-21217600.html
 
*Some of you have already purchased Chemistry on a Budget – be sure to check out Page 141 !
 
 “From bags washing up on Bali's beaches to food packaging scattered across roads and clogging waterways in cities, Indonesia is facing a plastic waste crisis driven by years of rapid economic growth.

Now an entrepreneur from Bali, disgusted at the rubbish littering the famous holiday island, is trying to tackle the problem with alternatives to conventional plastic.

His company, Avani Eco, produces goods including cassava carrier bags, takeaway food containers made from sugar cane and straws fashioned from corn starch, which founder Kevin Kumala says biodegrade relatively quickly and don't leave any toxic residue.”
https://phys.org/news/2017-02-cassava-carrier-bags-indonesian-entrepreneur.html
 
“Every year, an estimated of 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide, and Avani’s cassava-based eco bags are the perfect replacement to mitigate this horrible worldwide epidemic. Avani bags are made from purely 100% bio-based material and it is also widely considered as one of the lowest cost for cassava-based bioplastic…”
http://www.avanieco.com/product/eco-bags
 
“[Kevin] Kumala and his school friend partner studied the emerging field of bioplastics, and took inspiration from new materials based on corn and soy starch. They devised their own recipe using cassava starch, vegetable oil, and organic resins.

The resulting "100% bio-based" material was biodegradable and compostable, breaking down over a period of months on land or at sea, or instantly in hot water. Kumala claims the bioplastic leaves no trace of toxic residue, a point he demonstrates by dissolving and drinking it.

"I wanted to show this bioplastic would be so harmless to sea animals that a human could drink it," he says. "I wasn't nervous because it passed an oral toxicity test."

The entrepreneur launched a company in 2014 selling cassava-plastic ponchos. Today, Avani Eco produces four tons of material a day that is used for products including plastic bags, food packaging, and covers for hospital beds.”
http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/16/world/cassava-plastic/index.html
 
Here is an interview of Kevin Kumala where he talks about his background and the purpose of his business:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in5y5vDWQUM
 
It is always interesting to see the new ideas being developed to try to reduce/reuse/recycle the waste in our world, and to do this takes a knowledge of Chemistry.
 
Past blog posts continuing this “Reduce/Reuse/Recycle” theme include:
05/19/2017        Edible Water "Bottle"
02/17/2017        The Ocean Clean-up Project Revisited
05/29/2016        New Uses for Waste Glass
06/25/2015        Ocean Clean-Up
 
*This Blog contains several entries that would be helpful to your chemistry classroom.  Check out the Topic List to help you to find past Blog entries.
 
Also, Write To Me about your successes, challenges, or questions in the Chemistry Classroom.
 
Remember, buying a copy of the lab book Chemistry on a Budget can be very useful to your Chemistry classroom with labs and class article ideas.

Have a great weekend!

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    Marjorie R. Heesemann is a chemistry teacher with 15 years of experience who is now working to develop resources for the Chemistry classroom.

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