Project Description:
Write a letter to a company informing them how to make better their product. Include a description of how your new idea will take shape, and what its physical and chemical properties are, as well as it's chemical make up. Sketch a prototype, and mail it to them.
My Letter
November 3, 2011
Carly Pierson
451 Birket DriveDurango, CO 81301
Samaritan’s Purse
Boone, NC 28607
To Whom it May Concern:
Sanitation is a big problem in slums. According to a Water Aid report in irinnews.org, ‘In Africa, diarrhea kills almost one in five children before their fifth birthday.’ “The lack of water and improper waste disposal are a big threat to our lives due to the risk of water-borne diseases. The threat of typhoid, cholera, and other diseases from poor sanitation is real,” said Nancy Wangari, a community health worker and village elder in Korogocho to Integrated Regional Information Networks, a humanitarian news agency. A Korogocho (a slum in Nairobi, Kenya) resident Miriam Wangari said, “General cleanliness in the slums is not good at all. Even as we try our best to keep our individual compounds clean, some people litter our compounds with flying toilets.”’ (A flying toilet was named so by the way residents dispose of excreta in plastic bags, which many times clutter the area.) The Water Aid report in irinnews.org continued, ‘Progress towards halving the number of people without access to safe drinking water and sanitation by 2015 has been slow… at present, there are 7.6 billion people without safe sanitation, which means countless communities where people are exposed to their own and others’ feces.’ This April, I am traveling to Nairobi, Kenya and will be going to a slum in Nairobi, called Spring Valley. While doing research on slums to prepare for the trip, I realized how urgent of a problem sanitation truly is. After many hours of research, I believe I have found a solution: A type of eco-friendly, people-friendly, natural, burnable absorbing litter that would absorb liquids and dry out feces. That way, people will dispose of their waste in a bucket, and cover it on all sides with this litter, and when the waste dries out, could be burned and used for cooking outside. I am writing to you to ask if you would consider my proposition as a way to help this population of people who do not have anyone to stand up for them.
The materials to make up this litter would be corncob granules, sawdust, and chopped newspaper. I chose these three items because they are accessible, cheap, natural, eco-friendly, human-friendly, combustible, and have excellent absorbency. All these materials have something in common: they all contain the organic compound cellulose. Indianapublicmedia.org said, ‘These cellulose fibers are actually giant molecules that consist of many small molecules linked together.’ These small molecules that come together to create cellulose are glucose units. All these molecules make a long chain of many glucose molecules, in number ranging from a few hundred to over ten thousand. So when newspaper or sawdust or corncob comes across water molecules, ‘the water molecules rush in and cling to the cellulose fibers,’ which is why corncobs, sawdust, and newspaper are so absorbent.
Corncob granules, sawdust, and chopped newspaper all have been used in different ways to absorb liquids. This is how I know these ingredients are worthy to be in the litter: Sawdust and shredded newspaper were some of the materials used by engineers in Japan to try to stop the leak of radioactive water from nuclear power plants. Corncobs granules are the main ingredient in Nature’s Miracle Kitty Litter, and, as the website says, ‘absorbs 2 times the volume of traditional clay litter.’ Chopped and shredded newspaper is used as homemade kitty litter and is also used as bedding for livestock, being 2 to 3 times more absorbent than all conventional beddings. To get the most out of the supplies, it is also important to know that corncob granules will work better than larger chunks because there will be more surface area exposed to soak up the liquids and can coat feces more evenly. Newspaper chopped into 2”x3” to 6”x6” pieces will absorb the most water, according to ohioline.osu.edu. Lastly, sawdust has a high surface area to volume ratio, meaning that, while there may not be a lot of it in volume, it can spread way out, which will be helpful in absorption.
Combustibility is something else I looked at for in these materials. All have proved to be combustible when dry. It is obvious why sawdust and newspaper would be so, since they are both made out of wood, and wood is one of the main resources used for cooking and heating. Corncobs produce a ‘potentially cleaner emissions stream and has a reduced amount of undesirable emissions and waste ash,’ according to renewables.morris.umn.edu.
Poverty is something no person should go through. A preventable death is the worst kind there is. If you help make this idea happen, it could change the world. Please consider what I am asking. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Carly Pierson
451 Birket DriveDurango, CO 81301
Enclosure 1
It is important to note that I am convinced that this will not work unless there is a way to have the old, drying excreta is separated from new; plenty of air flow to allow for evaporation to escape and increase the drying of the excreta; and heat to intensify the evaporation. I have come up with a model to use for this that allows all the necessary actions to take place. I cannot actually show it here, but it is something like a worm bin-- multiple layers. Here, I'll describe it to you:
It is made out of black plastic to help speed the evaporation process by heating the contents more quickly. It has four to seven pull-out drawers with an indentation in it to make it easy to grab a hold of to pull out. This is necessary for restacking. There are four little three-inch legs on the bottom, and two to three and a half-inch spaces between the drawers to allow for air flow to allow evaportation escape. The stucture is held up by four columns. The top has a lid with little spaces in it that allow for evaporation to escape.
Enclosure 2
Properties of Corncob, Sawdust, and Newspaper
Corncob:
· Energy Content for dry corncobs: 18.25- 19.18 MJ/kg
· Dry corncobs are easily combustible
· Corncobs have a similar energy density to other biomass feedstock and less energy-dense coals
· Corncobs produce a ‘potentially cleaner emissions stream and the reduction of undesirable emissions and waste ash.’
· If a corncob is made into pellets, it will absorb more because together, they will all combine to have a greater surface area than a whole corncob, therefore, they will absorb more water.
· Corncob contains cellulose, which (as described in the letter,) is a reason why corncob is so absorbent.
Sawdust:
· Bulk density of 30% of that of solid wood
· Very low energy density
· Can have high moisture content (such as from cutting green wood in a sawmill)
Or very low moisture content (such as from furniture manufacturing)
· Large surface area to volume ratio
· If dry, is easily combustible
· Easily made into pellets (can clump)
· In a test with 100 ml water poured over the sawdust, allowed to stand a minute, and the excess water drained, sawdust absorbed 47 ml.
· Sawdust contains cellulose, so the water molecules will cling to the fibers, which is why sawdust is so absorbent
Newspaper:
· Moisture content is commonly between 3.5% and 6.5%
· Moisture content relies on absolute moisture (water content to paper’s weight ratio) and relative moisture, which relies on existing water in the paper and the temperature. (If the temperature or air humidity around the paper changes, the paper releases or absorbs the moisture.)
· When dry, is easily combustible
· Smaller pieces have better absorbency because of a greater surface area all together
· Newspaper absorbs a large amount of water but becomes saturated because of the high rate of absorbency
· In a test with 100 ml water poured over different sizes of newspaper, allowed to stand for a minute, and the excess water drained, newspaper in 2”x3” pieces absorbed 82 ml, 3”x5” pieces absorbed 72 ml, and 6”x6” pieces absorbed 74 ml.
· Contains cellulose, which is why newspaper absorbs so well.
Enclosure 3
Sites
"Cellulose." Wikipedia. Wikipedia.org, 3 Nov. 2011. Web. 2 Nov. 2011. <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose >.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose
indianapublicmedia.org/amomentofscience/how-do-paper-towels-absorb-water
ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0125
ohioline.osu.edu/cd-fact/0136
boingboing.net/2011/04/03/japan-nuclear-crisis-13
petco.com/product/12016/Natures-Miracle-Odor-Control-Clumping-Cat-Litter
irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=90593biomassenergycentre.org.uk/portal/page?_pageid=75,18516&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL
arcticpaper.com/en/services/Uncoated-guide/Paper/The-make-up-of-paper
renewables.morris.umn.edu/biomass/documents/Zych-TheViabilityOfCornCobsAsABioenergyFeedstock
Project Assessment
My strengths for this project was that I was very passionate about it, so that gave me fuel and energy to do my project to the very best of my abilities. Also because of this, I did a ton of research. From different kinds of cat litter, to natural absorbing materials, I made sure that, to the best of my knowledge, I had the right stuff to make the 'slum toilets' really work.
If I had more time, I would've gone back and improved the letter by going more into depth about the sciences surrounding the materials of shredded paper, sawdust, and corncob pellets, explaining how it reacts with fire and the chemical composition.
am contemplating the idea of sending more letters to other companies to see if I can get any feedback on it.
Exciting news!
"A University team of Hertz Foundation Fellows called the “Biochar Group” wins recognition and financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for their entry into the “Re-inventing the Toilet Challenge” (RTTC) through a unique application of biochar. The grant was announced at the AfricaSan conference in Rwanda as part of more than $40 million in new investments in water, sanitation and hygiene improvement."
Go to this site for the full story!
Field Day at Silverton!
This fall, our chemistry classes loaded into cars (thanks, parents!) and drove to Silverton, about an hour and 15 away. We go over two passes, Molas and Coalbank. The sights were BEAUTIFUL! All the trees were changing, and we could look out over the sides of the mountains to the cliffs on the other side and the winding river, the Animas, below.
imagesofcolorado.com/apix/redmountainthurs10eear.jpg
fyeahunitedstates.tumblr.com/post/1439852850/silverton-colorado&docid=Kpr-wih5jkJzYM&imgurl
I didn't actually take a camera that day, but here are some lovely pictures of the mountains around Silverton and the bright colors of the Aspens!
Abandoned mines and their tailings often are near streams and rivers. Over time, water has seeped into these tailings, left out in the open, and then travels downhill and goes into the streams. When the iron in these tailings seeps into the streams, it dyes the water and rocks in the rockbed yellow or orange. The seepage is very bad to have in streams because it changes the acidity of the water, making minerals that would otherwise be in the water, undetected, move in and with the water, now become a raw material, seperate from the water. That's why streams below these mines are yellow or orange, because the iron is leaking out and sticking to the rocks and the sides of the stream.The acidity is bad forthe living things in these streams, because it kills off any insects or plants, and makes the water toxic. In these areas, if the water is very blue, it means that there is a high leakage of copper in the stream. White alongside a stream indicates leakage of another mineral, as well.
To give your a better idea of the chemistry of the difference that the minerals make, here are some things to think about.
According to epa.gov, "the pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. It ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic. Each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value." So, for instance, the pH of lemonade is 2.2-3.0, while the pH of milk is 6.4-7.6. With this information, you could concur that lemonade is more acidic than milk.
Also, consider this: Pure water, which we could get by collecting vapor, has a pH of 7. According to h2ou.com, fish can stand a pH of 5.0-9.0, and rivers generally fall between those two numbers. You can see how a river that has water draining from a mine would be very acidic, and very dangerous. If the pH of a river is at 2.0, fish cannot live in the stream because it would kill them, and neither can plants or insects.
To give your a better idea of the chemistry of the difference that the minerals make, here are some things to think about.
According to epa.gov, "the pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. It ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7 is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic. Each whole pH value below 7 is ten times more acidic than the next higher value." So, for instance, the pH of lemonade is 2.2-3.0, while the pH of milk is 6.4-7.6. With this information, you could concur that lemonade is more acidic than milk.
Also, consider this: Pure water, which we could get by collecting vapor, has a pH of 7. According to h2ou.com, fish can stand a pH of 5.0-9.0, and rivers generally fall between those two numbers. You can see how a river that has water draining from a mine would be very acidic, and very dangerous. If the pH of a river is at 2.0, fish cannot live in the stream because it would kill them, and neither can plants or insects.
redbonitamineaciddrainage.jpg
Here you see the tailings pile heading downhill, and eventually to a stream
animasriverstakeholders.org/attachments/Image/acid_mine_drainage.jpg
And in this shot, you can see how the mine tailings are directly affecting the streams because of the orange color.
When we went to Silverton, we were taking part in helping Mountain Studies Institute* to stop the acidic water from leaking into the streams. M.S.I. did this by leveling out an area below the tailings so it was completely flat. Then, they had put biochar in the soil, preparing it to help plants grow there. We came in, split into groups, and dug and raked out rocks from the area, and then sprinkled native seeds over it. Lastly, we raked the area again to get the seeds more 'engrained' into the soil so it wouldn't just blow away because it was sitting on top of the soil. It sounds easy, but it was a big process.
The big idea was to make it so that the biochar would help plants grow over the soil, so they would retain the water that would normally seep through and eventually down to the streams.
picture from mountainstudies.orgThat is how Mountain Studies Institute is planning to stop, or at least slow, the minerals draining into the water, to help the health of the streams and make them healthy again. This video below talks about biochar, if you are interested. He mentions using it for gardening or farming, but in essence, gardeners or farmers would use it for the same reason the M.S.I. is-- to help plants grow.
picture from mountainstudies.orgFor more information on biochar, look at this short video.
Mountain Studies Institute
Their website (which is linked at the * above,) gives this definition of Mountain Studies Institute:
"The Mountain Studies Institute is an independent not-for-profit mountain research and education center established in 2002 in Silverton, CO. MSI develops science that people can use to address environmental issues facing the San Juan Mountains. We conduct and facilitate research, provide educational opportunities and internships, and conduct environmental monitoring. We connect scientists and stakeholders across the San Juan Mountain region to go beyond scientific inquiry to the meaningful application of knowledge that makes a difference for the quality of the environment."
For more information about Mountain Studies Institute and their 'Biochar for Land Mines Remediation,' click here, and it will take you to their site.
Thanks!
