Posts from — February 2009

Todays post is actually my first video for the blog. Just click on the link below, enjoy the movie and let me know what you think about it.

Thanks

Axel Meierhoefer

Just a few months ago we all became aware that the toys we gave to our kids were potentially poisoned by lead and other toxic substances. People protested and asked the government to institute better controls and more oversight.

Some people said we should go back to the old days when toys were made by hand and from wood. Though that is a nice dream, most of us would probably not be able to afford these toys.

During my travel to Germany I was lucky enough to come through the city of Nuernberg, where the worlds largest exhibition for toys is being held every few years. On the first page of the exhibition magazine, a new development was announced. I was surprised and excited, and am happy to bring the good news to you today.

As I am involved in the preparations for the event management of Earth Day 2009 through my cooperation with Social Traffic Inc. (http://www.socialtraffic.biz) and the associated events portal at http://www.eventslisted.com I am always on the lookout for interesting developments in the eco-conscious field. When I find them I publish them in many places including here as AEM.EDBD

Let’s look at some of the details about this amazing new material directly from the source of the inventions at the Toy Expo 2009: Most plastics are based on petroleum. A bio-plastic that consists of one hundred percent renewable raw materials would help to conserve this resource. Researchers have now optimized a renewable plastic in such a way that it is even suitable for products such as Nativity figurines and toys for babies and toddlers.

Toys have to put up with a lot of rough treatment: They are sucked by small children, bitten with milk teeth, dragged along behind bobby cars, and every now and then they have to survive a rainy night outdoors. Whatever happens, it is vital that the material does not release any chemical softeners or heavy metals that could endanger children.

Toys can be made of a new material called ‘liquid wood’ in the future. The advantage is that this bio-plastic, known as ARBOFORM, is made of one hundred percent renewable raw materials and is therefore not reliant on petroleum.

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT in Pfinztal and the Fraunhofer spin-off TECNARO GmbH have developed the material. But what exactly is liquid wood?

“The cellulose industry separates wood into its three main components – lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose,” explains ICT team leader Emilia Regina Inone-Kauffmann. “The lignin is not needed in papermaking. TECNARO mixes lignin with fine natural fibers made of wood, hemp, or flax, and natural additives such as wax. From this mixture, they produce plastic granulate that can be melted and injection-molded.” To separate the lignin from the cell fibers, the workers in the cellulose industry normally add sulfurous substances. However, children’s toys should not contain sulfur because it can smell very unpleasant, among other side effects.

“We were able to reduce the sulfur content in ARBOFORM by about 90 percent, and produced Nativity figurines in cooperation with Schleich GmbH. Other products are now in the planning stage,” says TECNARO’s managing director Helmut Nägele. This is a challenging task: Sulfur-free lignins are usually soluble in water – and therefore unsuitable for toys. Toys left out in the rain or humidity should not dissolve. The same would be undesirable when children suck on them. With the aid of suitable additives, the TECNARO scientists were able to modify the bio-plastic in such a way that it survives contact with water and saliva undamaged.

One of the other important questions was: Can the material be recycled? To find out, the company produced components, broke them up into small pieces, and re-processed the broken pieces – ten times in all. They couldn’t detect any change in the material properties of the low-sulfur bio-plastic, which means it can be recycled.

This new invention is a great development for concerned parents and all institutions and organizations providing services for small kids. At the same time it goes to show that we can find natural solutions in many places on Earth, if we put our minds to it.

Liquid Wood… - who would have guessed?