Daffodils preparing to bloom in a few weeks. These are later varieties and they always come later than the little yellow early ones. As "mulch" you see the shredded feed sacks we use as animal bedding and weed control. They are biodegradable and help with carbon sequestration.
@Johnnephew Thanks. I didn't know about that. Alas, the nearest one is like 6hrs away and I'm not convinced that packaging + burning fuel to get it there via me or the post is worth it for the environment. nevermind paying $ to ship waste 🤦♀️
I'd pay the $600 for home extruder kit if it didn't require ~$3k for a shredder that didn't have a uselessly small input.
#Sunnyvale#sfba residents: where the heck do you go to #recycle plastic shapping bags? The recycling bin says they don’t accept them. I know Target and other department/grocery stores have receptacles, but they are often full and I don’t want to bring a bunch of bags just to have to put them back in the car.
Does the Sunnyvale Smart recycling center take them?
Finally!
The council of my home town has erected "swap huts" at their recycling centres.
So far it was illegal and a criminal offence to take something out of the containers. While this still will be the case, users can drop off and take usable stuff at the huts.
Baby steps... but something.
In order to cut back garbage generation, moving towards large packs of everything.
This is dry yeast. Used to buy them in 5g packs that were wrapped in 4 pack plastic , but now I'm using a 500g container instead. It's metal with plastic lid that fits most of my other containers after it's done.
@mattferrell Really enjoyed it! I'd recommend doing the "Really?!" top five (or however many) list regardless of whether you do it on the podcast or Undecided, because it sounds like fun.
I have an old eighties-era hard-sided briefcase headed for the garbage, so took a few minutes to strip some leather and hardware from it before junking.
Could probably salvage further bits but it's a balance between probability I'll ever use the part versus the perceived value.
Hmm, very tempted to renovate these free Hans Wegner style Mid-Century Modern chairs (Craigslist) -- if I had access to my workshop. Though, no need for dining chairs. Pricey if in good condition. Dining chairs tend to be easy to reupholster, too.. #refurbish#recycle#furniture
@ai6yr Fuming is a pain, though I think worth it. It's a great way to get original arts & crafts / craftsman / mission style tones from oak. It also penetrates surprisingly deeply, so much so that you can refinish a piece and not lose the color.
Fine Woodworking and Woodworkers Journal have done a couple of videos both on the process and how the various concentrations compare.
Are you in Santa Barbara?Channel Islands Restoration needs that giant pile of cardboard in your garage from Amazon deliveries... (Really!) They are asking for donations through December 15th of your cardboard boxes... #cardboard#recycle#SantaBarbara
Groundbreaking study makes huge discovery about recycled #lithium-ion batteries: ‘[This is] increasingly needed’
Brett Aresco
October 26, 2023
"As if you needed yet another reason to #recycle your #electronics with lithium-ion batteries, a study in the science journal Joule shows that recycled lithium-ion batteries may outperform their new counterparts.
"Working in tandem, a group of 27 researchers from institutions like the Argonne National Laboratory and the Brookhaven National Laboratory tweaked the composition of recycled lithium-ion batteries to see how they would perform. They achieved some surprising results.
"To reach their unexpected conclusions, the scientists behind the study made some changes to the cathode, which is the key —and most expensive — component within a typical lithium-ion battery.
"Rather than melting down the entire used battery (as most other recycling processes do), the team was able to salvage the cathode and merely change its structure, resulting in better performance than even a new battery can offer.
:Kang Xu, a U.S. Army Research Laboratory scientist unaffiliated with the study, told Scientific American that the research team’s results were 'very unique and very impressive.' The study’s findings also have the potential to be combined with similar research involving recycled anodes, the counterparts of cathodes.
"In a 2022 study from Rice University published in the journal Advanced Materials, for instance, scientists were able to 'quickly regenerate graphite anode materials found in lithium-ion batteries, removing impurities so they can be used again and again.' [However, where will the 'impurities go? Always consider potential waste sources!]
"Improved lithium-ion battery recycling will not only help the environment and consumers but businesses as well.
"'Battery manufacturers want to know that recycled cathode materials are not inferior to new cathode materials,' said Yan Wang, a scientist from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute who contributed to the Joule study. 'This research shows that recycled materials can electrochemically match or outperform pristine, state-of-the-art cathode materials from tier 1 suppliers.'
"Beyond losing valuable materials and structures that could be reused, failure to recycle lithium-ion batteries can have disastrous consequences.
"In 2017, USA Today reported that 65% of fires at California waste management facilities were caused by discarded lithium-ion batteries. And yet, people can’t seem to stop trashing them: In early February, a garbage truck in Columbus, Ohio, caught fire because a careless consumer threw out their laptop.
"The question of how to make lithium-ion battery recycling profitable has long vexed companies, governments, and #environmental advocates.
"'Economically viable electric vehicle lithium-ion battery recycling is increasingly needed,' a 2021 paper in the journal iScience concluded. 'However routes to profitability are still unclear.' [IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT THE PROFIT, EH?]
"This study has the potential to change that paradigm entirely.
'This work,' the authors write, 'proves that recycled materials could potentially be reused in new batteries and the profitable recycling process could be realized.'
"Luckily, there are a number of startups, like #Germany’s #Tozero and #Canada’s #LiCycle, that are committed to making lithium-ion battery recycling mainstream. With any luck, they will be able to incorporate the lessons learned from this latest study, and more consumers will be willing to give their old batteries another chance."
