Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Material and sustainability

Different types of natural materials on the market:
Stainless steel
- Aluminum
- Brass
Glass
Rubber
Teak wood
Mahogany wood
Lumber wood
Timber wood
HDPE plastics
LDPE plastics

Wood Metals Plastics Others
Teak wood Brass HDPE Rubber
Timber wood Stainless steel LDPE Glass
Mahogany Aluminum
Lumber
Sources:http://greennature.com/article2158.html, http://www.essortment.com/all/wherecanfindi_rqep.htm

Properties of the materials

Stainless steel- less likely to rust, strong.

Aluminum- good corrosion resistance, low density, high strength-to-weight ratio, lightweight.

Brass- high in strength

Glass- Fragile, waterproof, firm
Rubber- flexible, strong, waterproof, floats in water
Teak wood- strong, hard, floats in water
Timber wood- strong, hard, floats in water
Mahogany wood- strong, hard, floats in water
Lumber- strong, hard, floats in water
HDPE plastic- Strong, waterproof
LDPE plastic- Strong, waterproof

Stainless steel- chromium, nickel and molybdenum (Source:www.bluescopesteel.com/about-bluescope-steel/.../properties-of-steel)
Aluminum- bauxite (Source:http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_aluminium_made_up_of_and_is_it_renewable_or_non_renewable_resource)
Brass- 70% copper, 30% zinc (SOurce: www.blurtit.com/q5516317.html)
Glass- 72 percent silica (from sand), about 13 percent sodium oxide (from soda ash), about 11 percent calcium oxide (from limestone), and about 4 percent minor ingredients (Source: http://www.texasglass.com/glass_facts/composition_of_Glass.htm)
Rubber- rubber sap and other chemicals
Teak wood- wood
Mahogany wood- wood
Lumber wood- wood
Timber wood- wood
HDPE plastics- plastic
LDPE plastics- plastic
(BY JEREMY)


definition of sustainability:
~able to be maintained at a certain rate (From Macbook dashboard dictionary)
~the property of being sustainable (From wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)
~Sustainability is the capacity to endure (From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability)

~ In conclusion, Sustainability means to sustain, to continue the work, not failing or stopping.


Sustainable products are those products providing environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting public health, welfare, and environment over their full commercial cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to final disposition. An example would be Sustainable forest. It is like that you divide a forest into 7 parts and first clear area 1 then plant new plants. the next year, clear the 2nd area and plant new plants. Continue this and after the seven year, the first year's plants are grown and you can repeat the cycle again. (From http://www.sustainableproducts.com/susproddef.html and my own reading from previous experience...)

Sustainable environment is an environment in which all of the plants, animals, and other forms of life in it are able to live. If organisms can thrive, get their own food and water, and inhabit their own shelters, then the environment has provided resources for at least one population of organisms, making the environment sustainable.
An Example would be: a primary forest. The animals living inside can live peacefully and can thrive.
(BY QI REN)

Signing off,
Tshin QI Ren

p.s.( Mitchel was busy with the product thinking... But he did help a bit in each part...)

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