Thursday, May 7, 2015
Charlie Madden
ENV 250
Dr. Rood
April 28, 2015
Life Cycle Analysis
Outline
I.
Introduction
II.
History on Expo
a.
Newell Rubbermaid
b.
Vis-a-vis
III.
Materials
a.
Oily Silicone Polymer
i.
Mining
ii.
Negative effects
b.
Plastic Body
i.
Natural resources
ii.
Plastic Pellets
iii.
Expo production
c.
Pigment/Felt
d.
Carriers
i.
Ethanol
ii.
Isopropanol
IV.
Packaging
a.
Cardboard
b.
Plastic encasing
V.
Disposal
VI.
Closing
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Life
Cycle Analysis: Expo Marker
Charlie
Madden
Principals
of Sustainability
Dr.
Rood
May
3, 2015
Global warming has been a hot button issue for everyone in
the past few years from politicians to the average person. This is because global
warming is a leading issue when it comes to preserving the environment. For
people to coexist with Mother Nature, they need to be able to live efficiently
and economically. Environmental sustainability is a major issue, and has been a
topic of much debate because of the very drastic consumption of nonrenewable
resources. Eventually coal, natural gas, and oil will run out, so one of the
questions facing future generations is where will renewable energy come from. In
order to answer these important questions, to help better sustain our
environments, we must understand where these resources are going and what we
are doing with them.
One way of understanding and tracking where raw materials
go are Life Cycle Analysis. Life Cycle Analysis examine what resources go into
making a specific consumer product. They also track the product during its life
and its disposal. This Life Cycle Analysis will examine the resources and the
use of an Expo dry erase marker.
Expo markers have become a staple in classrooms and most
homes since their introduction in 1967. Expo is owned by Sharpie whose parent
company is Newell Rubbermaid, a very diverse company that has products from
writing instruments to power tools. At first, Expo introduced Vis-à-vis, which
were used to write on overhead projector’s laminate sheets to be displayed in
class. When the overhead projector disappeared from the classroom and was
replaced with white boards, Vis-à-vis also disappeared and were replaced with
Expo markers. Expo markers are themselves are made of plastic, ink, felt, an
oily silicone polymer, and their packaging is made of cardboard and plastic.
The first material that will be discussed is the oily
silicone polymer. The oily silicone polymer that is used is what separates an
Expo marker from a permanent marker. The silicone polymer makes the ink of the
marker slick and oily, which prevents the ink from seeping into the surface and
allows it to be erased. To make this polymer, you first need silicone. Silicone
comes from silicon, the second most common element in Earth’s crust. Mining
silicon is the first challenge. China has lead the world for the last five
years in total Silicon mining, followed by Russia in a distant second place. In
2014, China produced 5,000 metric tons of Silicon compared to Russia who
produced 699 thousand metric tons. To put this in perspective, the US produced
359 metric tons in 2014. There are some negative effects to mining that can be
detrimental to the environment such as acid mine runoff and erosion, or
destruction of the landscape. Many people do not think about the lengths it
takes to produce a simple household good that we use every day. We have to
weigh the negative effects of our choices to use consumer products against the benefits
we receive from the products themselves. Once the silicon is mined you have to
manufacture it so you can have silicon fluids, gels, and resins. You can then use
these resins or gels to later develop the needed polymer.
The next resource that is in Expo markers is plastic.
This plastic is the body of the marker. It encases the ink which is combined
with the oily polymer, and those together produce the strip of color on a white
board when the marker is used. This plastic has to be very durable because it
is what the person using the marker holds. Besides the ink, this plastic is the
most important part. Along with the thick plastic of the body, there is also
the cap of the marker. This is the same plastic that is used for the body, just
in a different shape and thickness. The manufacturing of plastic requires oil,
natural gas, minerals, plants, and most importantly crude oil. In simple terms,
plastic is made from a change of hydrogen and carbon. The carbon comes from
coal or oil, and the hydrogen comes from natural gas or water. These are then
polymerized to form plastic pellets that are used is every factory that makes
plastics. These plastic pellets are also called polystyrene. Plastic is very
useful because of its flexibility and very diverse uses, however it is very
costly. It may not be costly in a dollar form but it is costly to our
environment because of the vast resources it takes to be produced.
The
first step in making the plastic part of the marker is loading the plastic
pellets into many large containers. Since the caps of the markers are colored,
a pigment is added to the containers set aside for cap production to give them their
desired color. An extruder heats the plastic pellets, compresses them, and then
hardens them, so they become a long plastic sheet about 4 millimeters thick.
After the plastic is in a long hardened sheet, it passes through a small oven
to make the plastic malleable. Then, through vacuuming and punching, the
plastic is forced into molds for the markers. This forming process only takes around
ten seconds. The hardened molds are then sent over to a trimmer to remove any
excess plastic that is on the marker. From here, the marker is put on a
conveyer belt and is shipped to a station that rounds the ends of the maker to
prevent any sharp edges. The next to last step is polishing the marker to
prepare to add the label. Then the marker is fed to the stage that adds the
label “Expo” to the marker. The label is added in different colors to
correspond to what color ink the maker will have. This long extensive process
that started with raw materials is over, however, the ink and the felt still
need to be added.
The
color of the marker is simply affected by the pigment that is placed into the
ink when it is being made. The most popular color pigment is carbon black and
the least popular color pigment is purple. The pigment amount can be changed to
alter the color permanence and vibrancy. The felt that is then added soaks up
the ink and gives it somewhere to be stored while inside the marker. The felt
also is what gives the marker its tip shape. The options are fine tip, chisel
tip, or regular tip. An example of the use of felt is if the marker becomes
dried out, you can add water, and most of the time the felt gains moisture and
the felt starts producing ink again.
Expo
markers also have a carrier that helps the ink dry quickly so it does not drip
down the white board. This carrier also helps because it provides the ink with less
tendency to smear. This carrier is usually either ethanol or isopropanol, or a
combination of them. Ethanol is alcohol in its simplest form, alcohol that you
drink, and isopropanol is simply rubbing alcohol. This carrier is very
important and is vital to the chemical makeup of the marker’s ink. Without the
carrier, the ink would simply flow out of the marker and would not stay on the
white board.
The
packaging that the makers come in is a simple for of packaging. Thankfully the
packaging is not excessive and wasteful. For a pack of six markers, the markers
are lined up side by side and are encased into a thin layer of plastic that is
attached to cardboard. The plastic and the cardboard are joined together by an
industrial strength glue. The cardboard is a thin piece that is colored on the
front to advertise Expo and the markers themselves. It is very bright and
colorful compared to the back that is very bland and a pale brown color.
The
last stage of the life cycle analysis is disposal. When Expo markers are old
and no longer useful they are usually thrown away. From the trashcan, the
marker will be placed into a trash bag that will more than likely be placed in
a dumpster. Then the garbage truck will come and empty the dumpster into
itself, then take all the trash to the landfill. Unfortunately there is nothing
that makes an Expo marker biodegrade faster than it should. This means that the
Expo marker will be in the landfill for about 60 years while it breaks down.
Also, there is no recycling being done for Expo markers because of the ink inside
of them, if the ink is removed, then the plastic can be recycled. There should
be a push for a more ecofriendly Expo marker because of the long time it takes them
to break down.
Overall,
Expo markers are a very common item in our society today, however people do not
understand the large number of raw materials and time that is spent making
them. From the mining of the silicone and the acid runoff of mines to the raw
material consuming process of making plastic, Expo markers require a lot. While
it is easy for us to buy a pack of makers and throw them away when they are no
longer useful to us, it is very harmful to the environment. By better
understanding the complete manufacturing process and raw material consumption
of these products, we can better appreciate and take care of our environment.
Works
Cited
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Traffic Study
Charlie Madden
Dr. Rood
Traffic Study
|
Number of Occupants:
|
|
|
1
|
4
|
|
2
|
7
|
|
3
|
4
|
|
4
|
2
|
|
5+
|
2
|
|
Color of Car:
|
|
|
White
|
5
|
|
Red
|
1
|
|
Blue
|
3
|
|
Black
|
6
|
|
Green
|
4
|
|
Make:
|
|
|
Ford
|
5
|
|
Toyota
|
1
|
|
GMC
|
6
|
|
Hyundai
|
2
|
|
Chevrolet
|
5
|
|
Body Style:
|
|
|
Truck
|
7
|
|
Car
|
3
|
|
SUV
|
9
|
I did my traffic study on Mercer University Drive right
outside of the entrance to Mercer University by the football stadium and sand
volleyball courts. I went out last Monday for ten minutes to record the data I could.
As you can see from my chart, I recorded the number of occupants, the car
color, the manufacturer, and the body style of the car. Most cars had more than
one passenger but not more than four people in the car. There were not many red
cars but other than that the colors were pretty evenly spread out. The American
made models were also more popular than the foreign car brands. Finally, the
larger cars were more present than the smaller sedans.
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