Author: Martin Mueller

2021 Trash Pick-up at Brockway Mountain

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On April 30th, Martin Mueller finished his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. To celebrate his degree and start going into the world, he volunteered to help pick up trash at Brockway Mountain in Copper Harbor, Michigan the very next day. For two hours, Martin picked up one and a half bags worth of trash in just one area (he was tasked to work at the peak of the mountain). The majority of the trash were cans and bottles that seems to be from the 1960s (based on the design and doing some research). They were rusty and partly broken down, but still visible from the ground.

Other volunteers also helped pick up trash in the same area and along various of points of the mountain. The amount of trash that were found in just two hours was just surprising to hear. It does get me wondering on how those trash were generated. Were they thrown out by the public? Blown away without people noticing (there are often high winds on top of the mountain)? I will not know exactly. But today is just one of many days where clean up is conducted on Brockway Mountain. Below are some photos that I took while picking up trash and enjoying the view of the area behind Copper Harbor.

Articles – One City and One Individual Collecting Trash from Oceans and Sewage

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One of the problems of trash is the among of it leaving the streets and into the water ways. Thousands of pounds are slipping past us with or without us realizing it. Companies, cities, organizations, and individuals are coming up with solutions that makes collecting trash easier for everyone. How they do it are unique to each other.

The city of Kwinana focus on the sewerage where waste leaves near water way. By using nets to test how many pounds of trash could be collected. To see the results from these tests, click on the link below.

City of Kwinana initiative nets impressive results

Meanwhile a man named Boyan Slat focuses on cleaning up the oceans and figuring out ways to capture the trash before it arrives to the ocean. He founded and runs The Ocean Cleanup project. He started the project in 2018. His goal is for his company to clean up 90% of ocean plastic pollution. He lean how their project work and their progress, you can visit the article and their website below

Ocean Cleanup steams out to sea in test run to clean Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Ocean Cleanup official website

Articles – Plogging in Pune and Mysuru

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In 2016, the concept of plogging formed in Sweden. Over the years, it spreads to countries. People and organizations come together to clean up their streets that contains trash. Two cities in India particularly are starting to have their streets trash-free through plogging. In Pune, a group of youngsters have collected 30,000 kg of trash over a four month time period. In Mysuru, the city has ran the first-ever ploggathon earlier this month, and collected over 400 kg of single-use plastic waste.

More details on these groups and their mission can be found be clicking on the links below.

Pune: Ploggers clean Mutha’s banks one stretch at a time

On a mission to clean Mysuru, citizens go plogging

Happy Thanksgiving

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Good day everyone. Today is Thanksgiving and you know what that means: turkey time. Make sure to enjoy the experience with friends and family. Don’t forget to burn off the turkey later on through running (or any other forms of exercise). 😉 Enjoy it and again, we wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

We got a Prusa i3 MK3 3D printer

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While I was visiting my family in Texas during Thanksgiving break, I suggested the idea of purchasing a 3D printer to 3D print parts for prototype backpacks rather than always purchasing the parts  (strap adjustors for example). That way we can save money. I looked up five different 3D printers and compared one another their features. In the end, I selected the Original Prusa i3 MK3 kit for its size, sensors, and power panic feature. I made the purchase on May 17th, 2018, and the kit arrived on July 25th, 2018.

On July 29th, I began assembling the 3D printer. I finished assembling it on July 18th. Now the average amount of time to assemble the kit, according to the company, was 8 hours. For me to assemble the kit, it took me between 8 to 9 hours. Plus the 2 hours to calibrate the print (had to redo a couple of times with a few adjustments to one of the sensors). The hardest part was assembling the extruder (E-axis). You can see the assembly and calibration below:

 

 

Now was it worth the time to assemble this printer? My answer is… a bit fat YES!!! When I got it printing, it functions smoothly… like butter. Very easy to operate, very relaxing to listen to, and very pleasant to watch. You can see the first couple prints below:

With it operating, we can now not worry about purchasing strap adjustors, and other printable parts every time we make a prototype. This is just the beginning of whats to come. We are looking forward to it.

Article: ‘Pokemon Go’ Sets Goal for Biggest Organized Cleanup on Earth Day

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How many of you remember when Pokemon Go first came out two years ago? Looking at today, it is not as popular anymore, but still has over 20 million active daily users. About four weeks ago, developer Niantic announced that they not only will add story missions and daily tasks to the game, but also events relating to being eco-friendly. It is called “Pokemon Go Earth Day Cleanup.” Even though Earth Day has already went by, users can request NGOs in their area to host the event.

For more details, click on this link: ‘Pokemon Go’ Sets Goal for Biggest Organized Cleanup on Earth Day

Backpack Status – 3D Printed Strap Adjuster

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Not too long ago, I came up with the idea of using 3D printed strap adjusters for prototype bags rather than constantly buying a new pack. A student workshop called the Alley, which I coach at, owns two Lulzbot Taz 6 printers. I used one of them to print off two strap adjusters that I found on Thingiverse.com. I used black PLA filament, and it took the printer about 30 minutes to print them both. Below are photos that I took of the printing and installment of the 3D printed strap adjusters.

Until Pick’n Run purchase its own 3D printer, the Alley’s 3D printer will be used in the meantime to print additional strap adjusters for future prototype bags.

 

Plogging – The New Type of Exercise

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Recently, people in America have been partaking in “the Swedish fitness craze” called plogging. For those who have not heard what it is, it is a type of exercise that involves jogging and picking up trash. All a jogger needs is their running shoes and a bag (or just their hands) to plog. What plogging does not only promotes on cleaning the environment, but also gets people to exercise at the same time.

To read more into plogging, click on the link below.

Article: ‘Ploggin’ is the Swedish fitness craze for people who want to save the planet. It’s making its way to the U.S.

When comparing plogging to Pick’n Run’s motto (cleaning the world one run at a time), they are exactly the same.