The main tank, brimful with ideas. Enjoy them, discuss them, take them. - Of course, this is also the #1 place for new submissions!
By mtd28student
#3151
The real problem here isn't the bottles making the noise. The problem is throwing them out. If you don't throw them out then you don't have any noise.

In holland for instance, allmost glass bottles are recycled. The bottles have a small sticker on them saying how much each bottle is worth. All the bottles are put into a plastic tray, (like milk bottles are) and taken to the supermarket. At the super market they are fed into a counting machine. This machine counts the bottles and then spits out a receipt.

Once you have finshed your shopping, you take the receipt to the checkout and it is detcuted from your total purchase. It takes a bit to implement a system like this, however once it is going it is very simple to use, it keeps prices of beer down, and it is good for the enviroment. People would be less inclined to break the bottles on roads e.t.c as well.

imagine how much money you could make by having a party, and collecting the bottles at the end.
User avatar
By Steve
#3183
I've been in Holland last month. I liked the glass recycling machines they have in the supermarkets - totally different system than where I live. Anyway, the problem with all those systems is that they need electricity to power conveyor belts, and that the whole machinery is too expensive that the authorities would replace those fairly cheep glass containers that exist now. I agree that a deposit recycling system for ALL glass would be best, but as of now, glass containers are still needed for jars, foreign beer bottles (Corona...), Liquor bottles, etc. etc., even in the Netherlands.

Ok, here's what I suggest: put an extra platform into the glass container. When the container is empty, the platform is close to the top, so when you throw in the first bottles, they won't make much noise, because they have nowhere to fall. Unter the platform, there is something (a spring, a balloon, whatever) that will slowly give in under the weight of the bottles. So as the container gets full, the platform will slowly slide to the bottom, nevertheless when you throw in new bottles, they will always be close to the top and therefore won't make much noise. Of course the spring/balloon/whatever mechanism would have to be extremely robust and cheap at the same time, and when you empty the container, the platform would automatically need to go in the same position again. (Not necessarily would this have to be automatic, the guys who empty those containers might also physically "reset" the containers, which could easily become routine as long as it's not too much work.)

Would that make sense? :-? How about an idea for the cheap & robust mechanism? Any suggestions?

And I'm sure bits of broken glass might easily get stuck at the edge of the platform, thus blocking the entire system and making this idea absolutely worthless. ;-) Any idea to avoid that?
User avatar
By Michael D. Grissom
#3186
There's a new biodegradable, burnable, soft, porous (noise canceling) packaging material already on the market. If you were to coat glass containers with this new material, it would be both thermally isolative (extending cold/hot period) AND would therefore be quiet during disposal. It could be burnt off or easily desolved away during the recycling process. It resembles brown Styrofoam but is NOT petroleum based. It's also relatively inexpensive and gaining in popularity.

Personally, I love bars and pubs and can not fall asleep until the glass starts breaking.

:-]
By MissPlayful
#3282
Now here I am, enjoying the cut and thrust of this discussion (no - perhaps not the best choise of phrase for this topic I agree!), and thinking here is a practical problem most of us can relate to - the nerve-jarring clanking bottles make when they collide. This is a case of a little is lovely - the gentle tink two champagne glasses make when they briefly kiss during a toast, and a lot is lousy - the less than gentle smashankal when bottles come into violent contact outside your bedroom window when you’ve got a hangover. I quite like Steve’s idea of a human standing there taking each bottle and gently putting it in the recycling bin without so much as the tiniest sound. But there could be a practical problem with the cost of employing a full-time bottle-catcher. Perhaps if we must have glass bottles, Michael D. Grissom has the best solution - put a relatively soft and fully recycleable coating of some kind at least on the outside of the bottle, to reduce the noise of impact, and stop dangerous pieces of glass scattering around should the bottles break.

Meanwhile, let’s raise our glasses, and ever so gently, butterfly gently, thistledown gently, touch them together, and drink a toast to Creativity Pool.
User avatar
By Michael D. Grissom
#3285
Whoa!.. not many write so eloquently MissPlayful. You sound a little like Agatha Christie (spelled like it sounds) and I hope you become a regular visitor here.

Although the biodegradable containers previously mentioned are now being marketed they are still a few years away from perfecting the TIMING of the disintegration so the contents are not involved in the process. When perfected, I envision a complete departure from glass containers and some really attractive biodegradable ones hitting the market place — no more noisy glass! ...except for champagne glasses of course. There are some things you shouldn't mess with.
:-P
User avatar
By Steve
#3287
MissPlayful wrote:Meanwhile, let’s raise our glasses, and ever so gently, butterfly gently, thistledown gently, touch them together, and drink a toast to Creativity Pool.
Cheers! ;-)
By Daryl666
#9429
the bin could be made quieter but not perfectally silent by going to more of a mailbox type of delivery and simply making the bin sealed with sound dampening material between 2 layers of sheet metal or plate except for the door in which to put the glass in. then it would still be easy to make a large locable dumpster type door on top for the truck to puck it up and empty efficiently. not perfect but deffinatly quieter, durable and economically viable. (i know that some parts of the world may not have the kind of mailboxes i am talking about i am talking the mailboxes here in canada)
By Rishi
#9432
Steve wrote:Now I got it: A small dwarf sitting inside the container catching each bottle with a pillow. Brilliant, eh? :-D
Putting together all the ideas and taking off on your dwarf with a pillow, we can think of a bin filled with a gel that will reduce the impact velocity and gently pile up the glass from bottom up (not as in a bar- I am a teetotaller anyway).

As some of the others said, the impact velocity is reduced and the sound smothered. Plain water might do it. We have to consider the sound and fury when the bin is emptied though. It may be impractical to have a specialty water filled collecting truck too, though within the realm of possibility.

rishi
OFFSHORE
Finger Wheel Fidget Toy

A three inch wheel with rubber grip on the outside[…]

Makeover of backyard

Nothing to share but I definitely want to see the […]

Sticking Games

No fantasy but real sports. Professional level foo[…]

This must be very useful information. Thank you ve[…]