Boosting up Plastic Recycling Through Your Own Plastic Business

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A website called astc states that “we recycle only 5% of all plastic, but 45 % of the type of plastic used to make soda bottles.” Only 95% are thrown into the landfill, or even worse, go into our environment to cause massive amount of damage to species. That plastic is free money for the public to use in anyway, including making new products. People who have creative product designs now-a-days rely only on recycled plastic. The problem with producing them is the cost of machinery to produce the products. Only big corporations could purchase the expensive machinery, which in the end, would or would not use as often to promote recycled products.

Well no need to fear, for there is a company that allows you to build the machinery from blue prints and guides to produce your own merchandise from recycled plastic (you can change it up in anyway possible that fits you). This little company is called Precious Plastic. Their goal is to “Spread the know-how, boost plastic recycling!” If you want more information about his company and how to create your own plastic-product company, click this link: Precious Plastic.

More Trash Than Fish

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During my high school Environmental Science class, my teacher shared an article with us about trash in our oceans. I asked her for the link and she sent me this:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/01/24/oceans-more-plastic-than-fish/79267192/

I found it interesting that our thrown daily material could have such a big impact when not handled properly. Along with my research of this situation, I found similar articles from different sources that explain the situation.
In the abc 3340 article (my personal favorite), an elementary school teacher, who scuba-dives in the ocean, challenges her students to reduce the amount of daily trash they make after showing pictures that she took during her dives. The images are shocking to the kids to the point that they are switching from nonrenewable products to renewable products.

VOA News: http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/oceans-could-hold-more-plastics-than-fish-2050/3166848.html
BBC News: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-35562253
abc 3340: http://abc3340.com/news/nation-world/more-plastic-than-fish-in-our-oceans

Situations like this is something that can be prevented if we pick up trash off our streets, beaches, neighborhoods, and parking lots. And dispose them properly. That is what Pick’n Run is aiming for.

Trash 2 Trends Fashion Show Moves to Larger Venue this Year

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Are you interested in fashion, but want to help the environment by reducing the amount to waste you create? Well head over to this link to check out a fashion competition Keep Orlando Beautiful sponsored last year and see if they are having future competitions that involves trash materials.

http://bungalower.com/2015/01/trash-2-trends-fashion-show-moves-larger-venue-year/

The possibilities are endless when using trash as fashion.

Article: Clean energy gets dirty: Turning sewage into heat

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This article from CNN highlights an invention by Lynn Mueller which captures heat from sewage (sewage heat reclamation):

CNN: Clean energy gets dirty: Turning sewage into heat
by Jackie Wattles, CNN Money, May 24, 2016

Based in Vancouver, Lynn and International Water Systems now have a backlog of projects from around the world for the “Sharc” technology.  The system uses energy to power a heat pump, however, every $1 used to power the Sharq heat pump system produces $4.50 worth of energy.

And no, Lynn Mueller — the inventor of the sewage-to-heat technology — is not related to Martin or I. 🙂

Article: Fitness Trackers Move to Earphones, Socks and Basketballs

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This article from the New York Times highlights several new fitness technologies that are on the market and could be interesting for runners:

NY Times: Fitness Trackers Move to Earphones , Socks, and Basketballs
by Gregory Schmidt, New York Times, May 11, 2016

The technologies listed and reviewed:

 

Article: The World’s Trash Crisis, and Why Many Americans are Oblivious

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At Pick’n Run, we are looking to clean up the small pieces of trash that we find while we are running — “the last mile of trash”.  However, there is a much bigger issue that we as a population of this earth will need to encounter sometime in the future. Hopefully we do it sooner than later, and don’t kick the can down the road.  That problem is actually the amount of trash we generate.  As you will see in this article posted on Earth Day 2016 (April 22, 2016) and written Ann M. Simmons of the Los Angeles Times, we continue to increase the amount of trash we generate and thus put into land fills.  What are we going to do about that going forward?

Here is the link to the article:

 

Gifts for the Holidays

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With the holidays upon us this month, Martin and I thought we would provide a post of several products that would be interesting from our perspective.  Happy Holidays, and enjoy !! 🙂 – JM

—–

Martin’s fun suggestions:

martin_papa_johns

Below are several of my suggestions for gifts this holiday season.

ReKixx

rekixx_shoes

If you like to go green but do it in style, these shoes will do. These shoes are among the first to be completely made out of recycled materials and can be recycled again after usage. Not to mention that it is at a price that beats other shoe prices that are made out of non-recycle material. So if you are looking for a new pair of shoes but want to have a green toe, check out the link below to learn more about these shoes.

Source: ReKixx Cool Sneakers 100% Recyclable

Bikila Evo

vibram_bikila_evo_shoes

These aren’t your everyday shoes. These shoes allows you to run/walk/hike/swim barefooted to remind you what it was like before shoes were invented. I can’t tell you the huge different  that I felt from walking around in these. It felt like I was walking around barefooted, but with a shell to keep damaging my feet. Don’t let the price get to you, because you won’t regret buying these once you start training in these pair.

Source: Vibram

Born the Run by Christopher McDougall

born_to_run_book

Trying to find an inspiring story about running, well this is the story. I read this a few years back and the feels about running filled me. This author describes his adventures in discovering a hidden tribe that relies on running to survive, super athletes that live through running, and running a 100 mile race with a strong will. You will never forget this story once you read it. That is why I added the Vibram shoes above to your shopping list, all to make your discover through running barefoot.

Source: Christopher McDougall

HYDAWAY

hydaway_bottle

Hate when you can’t find space for your bulky water bottle? Well Hydaway allows you to not worry about that. With its ability to compress, you can store it away into small areas, including your pocket. Great for hiking if you pack large or just for college classes that you need to drink. 

Source: Hydaway Bottle

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John’s fun suggestions:

john_downtown_doubler

Below are several of my suggestions for gifts this holiday season.

Give Me Tap!!

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

Nebia

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

Online Coding School for Entrepreneurs

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

SunFarmer

[ write something about the shoes and why you picked them ]

Source: Y Combinator Gift List

 

It is Star Wars Release Weekend — Some Running Costumes

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In light of this weekend being the premiere of the movie, Star Wars – The Force Awakens (7th episode), we found some running costumes that are related to the theme.

The costumes include Princess Leia (hairbuns, Chewbacca, Han Solo, the rebellion’s X-Wing fighter plane, Lady Darth Vader, Mini-mouse storm trooper (mixing the Disney and ILM theme, since ILM is now owned by Disney), and more.

 

Banning Plastic Bags in Super Markets

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Very recently, California governor Edmund Brown signed a bill “that bans plastic shopping bags, making California the first U.S. state to officially prohibit stores from handing them out for free.” Consumers in California now must use reusable bags to shop without paying extra money for plastic bags.

If you are interested in reading more, click the link for the article: Breaking: California Becomes First State to Ban Plastic Bags 

 

The Process of the 1st Pick’n Run Backpack

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It has been 7 months since the first cut on the fabric has begun. Progress is coming along. The first two due dates has past: April 15 2015 and June 30 2015. Measurements had to be precise, sewing took patients (both hand and machine), and ideas came flowing in from my dad, friends, and my understanding. I am adding new accessories to the bag bit-by-bit. Very soon, I will start all over for the second prototype with new materials to use and different  ideas to solve flaws of the current bag.

Here are the April 15 requirements with color code of completion:
(Green for meeting requirement, Yellow for half meeting requirement, and Red for not meeting requirement)

–Tight, doesn’t move when running
–Easy to pick-up trash
–Easy to empty trash
–With replaceable linear 

Here are a few pictures of the first test run (sorry for not having pictures of the making):

 

With one of the requirements not met, I worked on the linear with an elastic mechanism that allows runners/walkers/trail runners to pull the linear out to put trash in and let the elastic straps pull the linear back in. It was all thanks to a friend of mine and John’s (my father) who suggested the idea. I founded a problem that I made while making the mechanism: the linear will not keep its form and the straps are not pulling back the linear to its original placement. There are other flaws that I need to fix that has to do with the bag’s structure. So far, I do have a few  ideas to fix that.

Now, here are the June 30 requirements:

–Comfortable to run with; light
–Easy to put on and take off

Below are the photos of the accessories:

As you can see of my work, I ran into problems in making the elastic mechanism work. One of them is making the elastic straps strong enough to pull the linear back and the other is making sure that putting and taking off the bag would be easy with the cushion.
As I said before, I found some ways to fix those flaws. Since the next due date is August 31, it is a perfect time to start all over and make the next prototype better. I will keep you all updated on the bag progress along the way. Thank you for staying in tune and keep on cleaning the world through running.