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UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

news.ubc.ca

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Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#31
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This method is for microplastics. The garbage patch is not micro plastics.

"For many people, the idea of a 'garbage patch' conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Microplastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant patch of garbage. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can simply make the water look like a c…

You should link the source if you're quoting stuff. (Posted below: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-paci...)

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#32

I guess it's not possible to design a tea bag that's not made out of plastic but that can also survive the boiling hot temperatures?

Cheaper tea bags are made out of paper and they work just fine. Tetley, for instance.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#33
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This method is for microplastics. The garbage patch is not micro plastics.

"For many people, the idea of a 'garbage patch' conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Microplastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant patch of garbage. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can simply make the water look like a c…

This entire comment, FYI, is copy-pasted from this[0].

[0]https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-paci...

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#34

I guess it's not possible to design a tea bag that's not made out of plastic but that can also survive the boiling hot temperatures?

Tea bags used to be made of fabrics such as cotton, silk, etc, it's not like we don't know how to make them without plastic.

They're still frequently made out of paper.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#35
post #9

I guess it's not possible to design a tea bag that's not made out of plastic but that can also survive the boiling hot temperatures?

are tea bags even necessary? people managed drinking tea before plastic was invented

Perhaps as a profit center to the tea industry. Most tea bags contain the grades of tea that can't be sold in the more expensive loose leaf form. Basically leaf fragments and dust. That material would otherwise be a waste product.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#37
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Environmental cost of using and washing a teapot is likely higher than that of using a teabag and brewing directly in the cup.

If you're washing your teapot, you're doing it wrong. A light rinse is enough. Over time a patina will build up on the inner walls of the pot, some say this makes the tea better.

I haven't reached this level yet, but I know people that have yixing clay teapots that are dedicated exclusively to a certain type of tea. The brew they get from their aged pu'erh tea gets better over time in that teapot with use.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#38
post #16
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Environmental cost of using and washing a teapot is likely higher than that of using a teabag and brewing directly in the cup.

that seems extremely unlikely

I just weighed an empty teabag: 0.19g. I think it's highly likely that less than a gram of mass-produced paper has lower environmental cost than is needed to clean a whole teapot. You need hot water, and detergent, and the teapots are cleaned individually, so you have the overhead of heating intermittently used pipes etc. Teabags are a mature technology where production efficiency is highly optimized.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#39

I guess it's not possible to design a tea bag that's not made out of plastic but that can also survive the boiling hot temperatures?

A Gaiwan is one traditional Chinese way of making tea, but those words are literally “covered bowl”. If you don’t want to buy one, you could makeshift your own: brew loose leaf tea in a cup or bowl and pour it into your drinking cup using a small plate.

Re: UBC device uses wood dust to trap up to 99.9 per cent of microplastics in water

#40
post #31
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"For many people, the idea of a 'garbage patch' conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Microplastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant patch of garbage. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can simply make the water look like a c…

You should link the source if you're quoting stuff. (Posted below: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/great-paci... )

They probably didn't know that ChatGTP was just taking stuff wholesale from nationalgeographic.
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