New in The Re-Source
This summer has been the hottest one on record in the United States, and millions of people are suffering from the effects of drought. Crops are failing, and rain is greatly needed. Our first article tells about William Kamkwamba, an African boy whose family survived famine and terrible conditions because he found a way to reuse scrap materials to make a windmill that provided electricity.
Many of us tend to take modern conveniences for granted, but a great number of people have no running water, electricity, or other form of power. Some engineers wanted to make life better for people in the impoverished country of Haiti, so they made solar ovens from simple materials. In our second article, you can learn how to make one, too.
Gary Hovey is an artist who creates his work with something you use everyday….tableware such as knives, spoons, and forks. Learn how he is inspired to make animals from ordinary eating utensils that he finds at thrift stores and garage sales. Maybe he'll inspire you, too!
Our fourth article may help you rescue a familiar art material that's been spoiled by too much exposure to sunlight. You'll learn how to make sun prints using common items found around the house, and we'll show you how to embellish the pictures with crayons, colored pencils, and oil pastels. As usual, we'll close with a quiz to see how much you know about recycling and how the process saves energy.
What's In This Issue
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- Using Solar Energy to Heat Food
- Gary Hovey's Amazing Metal Sculpture
- Making Art from Faded Paper
- Recycling Quiz
Summer 2012
Recycling Quiz
True or False
1. The first municipal dump was established in 400 B.C. in ancient Athens.2. Glass never wears out -- it can be recycled forever.
3. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
4. Aluminum can recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore.
5. Americans throw away enough steel every year to build all the new cars made in America.
6. Paper made from recycled paper instead of virgin fiber requires 70% less energy.
7. Americans use 4 million plastic bottles every hour! – Yet only 1 bottle out of 4 is recycled.
Click on the image above for answers.
Fact Source: Washington State Department of Ecology
Using Solar Energy to Heat Food
Cummins Engine Company is the world's largest manufacturer of diesel engines, and the company employs thousands of engineers in dozens of countries. Last year, a group known as the Heavy Duty Customer Engineering Team spent their lunch hours building solar ovens for people living in Haiti.
In celebration of Super Bowl XLVI, some of the kids in our art classes created mitten people to decorate trees in our downtown. Mismatched or outgrown mittens were stuffed with fiberfill from an old pillow, and then they were decorated to look like children. After all the Super Bowl Kids were finished, they were attached to old, fleece blankets that covered the trees. Thirty-two children created the figures, and their tree cozies were among the most popular, decorated trees on display!
Trees are the only energy source available in this impoverished country, and using them for fuel has led to "denuding" the landscape. The engineers wanted to do something to help the Haitian people, so they came up with a plan for making solar ovens from cardboard and aluminum foil.
The men made demonstration solar ovens, and they shipped them and enough supplies to make 100 additional units. With their plan, the ovens can be made for as little as $1 each. Besides helping to warm food, they kill harmful organisms that cause dysentery, the number one killer of children countries that have limited resources.
In addition to saving trees and introducing a free source of energy, the project encourages recycling and helps improve community health. The engineers' plan also encouraged Haitians to go into business for themselves by setting up a cottage industry to make and sell the solar ovens.
If you'd like to make a solar oven, you'll find instructions for creating one from a cardboard pizza box at http://www.ehow.com/how_6317508_children_s-projects_-make-solar-oven.html.
