{"id":1972,"date":"2021-02-02T13:11:35","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T12:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.maltaseminary.org\/wp\/?p=1972"},"modified":"2021-02-09T16:37:32","modified_gmt":"2021-02-09T15:37:32","slug":"reusing-plastic-in-design-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.maltaseminary.org\/?p=1972","title":{"rendered":"Reusing Plastic in Design & Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Hugo Dreyfuss, Year 8<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nscholastic year, Year 8 Design & Technology students designed and made a\nnight lamp for a child, with a difference. Instead of buying PVC sheets which\nare costly and have a negative impact on the environment, we used detergent\nbottles. Detergent bottles are made from a thermoplastic material, mainly High\nDensity Polyethylene (HDPE). HDPE can be heated and re-shaped many times. In\nDecember we had our first practical session and we all brought our own laundry\ndetergent bottles.  The first step was to\ncut the plastic bottles open with a tool called a \u2018snip\u2019, and then flatten the\nbottle using a hot air blower. In January, we put the flattened plastic bottle\nin a machine called a \u2018vacuum former\u2019. Each student put a metal or wooden\nobject into the vacuum former and the machine produced a replica of the outer\nshape of the object, by heating the plastic and pulling it over the object. We\nthen allowed the plastic to cool down. In subsequent lessons, we drilled holes\nfor switches and LED\u2019s into the replica and soldered the necessary components\nto complete the circuit. I enjoyed working on this project because we made a\nuseful object by recycling a plastic bottle. If we can continue reusing\nplastics we can stop plastic pollution in the seas and we can save our planet\nand our marine life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n