Great video, I'm actually doing something similar here in BC. One point I thought I should mention (don't let this change your mind if your considering making one) but for accuracy, yes PLA is made from things like wheat and corn, but the whole biodegradable thing is basically a myth. Without industrial recycling, it doesn't really degrade any faster than the petroleum based products. But heck yeah like you said, it's not single use and you can use this many many many times.
Nice video, with some very good facts. Is there chance you can post the links to the reduced filament model. Would love to give this a try and have some homegrown veg. Thanks
Printing custom plant holders for use with off the shelf tubes is the quicker option. You can buy 1.5m lengths of 150mm rigid vinyl ducting with a 2mm wall for little money in the uk :) As an example, Fastlec sells a 2m length of 150mm white round duct for about 17 quid inc vat. 200mm is also available but its not as easy to find.
Over 98% of the human population has been shown to have microplastics in their body. Combine that with PFAs and let’s just say I’m not worried about my 3D printer and microplastics. Getting past that, there’s no worse feeling then spending $7 on salad mix (in a plastic tub) only to, when attempting to eat from it the 2nd time, see that it’s already spoiled. I have a mint patch that grows year after year after year and everyone comes to my house during the summer to get mojitos. I HATE then having to spend $4 for a sprig of mint in December. Or $4 for a sprig of basil. Again, both in plastic containers. I got a 3D printer specifically to print a hydroponics tower. I’m looking forward to having veggies year round.
Awesome video I was wondering more or less how often the water would need to be changed out and if there is a way to keep the water as fresh as possible?
The nutrient should be changed when it becomes elementally unbalanced. As a rule of thumb, you can generally run the nutrient until you have added back the same amount of plain water as the nutrient you started with. You`d change out a 20L reservoir when you have added back 20L of plain water. If your tapwater has a high sodium (Na) content, you should add back reverse osmosis water or a mixture of tap and RO.
I think people are concerned about the microplastics that are carried into the water and the grow media itself, like microplastics in a water bottle. In a small environment such as this, it's more of an issue than a hopefully standardized, factory miles away. PLA in itself is not food safe. One should use a dedicated stainless steel nozzle (brass nozzles can leech metals and hotend tubes are not food safe) and a separate all metal hotend to avoid metal leeching with food safe prints, and then coat it in a food safe resin. There are food grade filaments available on the market. FDM layer lines will always leave room for bacterial growth so at this point, using food safe filaments and coating them in resin is the best answer we've got as consumers. There are also filaments that can handle being put into a dishwasher that you might consider. Even with a few extra steps, it would still be far less than the injection molded counterparts. PLA is not backyard compostable, but compostable in a facility. I'm not sure if that's what you meant when you said it can break down, but it is just like the greenwashing plastics you're mentioned beforehand and cannot be recycled or backyard composted. There are backyard compostable filaments, but I'm not sure if you'd want to use them in this scenario. They are also not food safe. I think I would rather use a virgin plastic with limited additives in this use case. A lot of misinformation is consistently being reiterated and you're right, there is not a lot of information out there, but it is a worthwhile project and I think it's a step in the right direction regarding food autonomy and our dependency on single use plastics.
Some very good points and I agree, much more research needs to be done. Over time, I’m going to be looking deeper in to the subject and try and uncover more solid details and facts.
I plan on printing a hydroponics tower with PETG, which is supposed to be 100% food safe and even approved by the FDA. Now what does that really mean? Probably not too much. I'll say this much, I plan on keeping my towers indoors. I hate not being able to have fresh veggies in the winter and I would guess that since UV light won't be hitting it, I won't have to worry about any potential breakdown of the plastic (at least from that source). PETG is supposed to be really good at not succumbing to UV light, but it'll be even better if I don't subject it to it in the first place!!! With that being said, I think we all need to be realistic. Microplastics are EVERYWHERE. It's in the air we breath, the water we drink and has been found in well over 80% of the human population. I've seen studies showing 98% of us have it in our system. It's been found in our hearts. It's even been found IN OUR BLOOD! Let's not even start talking about PFAs. Forever chemicals are everywhere, in everyone and there's no getting away from them. What's my point? While I'm not trying to eat a microplastic salad every day, I think the ship has already sailed on us trying to keep these terrible things out of us. It's too late. If you tell me we could flush them out of our system and never consume them again, I'd be all in on that. But they're everywhere and we're not avoiding it.
Great video, I'm actually doing something similar here in BC.
One point I thought I should mention (don't let this change your mind if your considering making one) but for accuracy, yes PLA is made from things like wheat and corn, but the whole biodegradable thing is basically a myth. Without industrial recycling, it doesn't really degrade any faster than the petroleum based products.
But heck yeah like you said, it's not single use and you can use this many many many times.
Exactly, constant use is much better than single use.
Nice video, with some very good facts. Is there chance you can post the links to the reduced filament model. Would love to give this a try and have some homegrown veg. Thanks
It appears the OG model was removed fro some reason. I will continue to try and track it down and will post the links once i've got them 👍
@@ArcVerdi Ah that's a pain, and totally understandable. Thanks for replying.
@@ArcVerdi do you still have the files? you could upload them online and share.
Printing custom plant holders for use with off the shelf tubes is the quicker option. You can buy 1.5m lengths of 150mm rigid vinyl ducting with a 2mm wall for little money in the uk :) As an example, Fastlec sells a 2m length of 150mm white round duct for about 17 quid inc vat. 200mm is also available but its not as easy to find.
Nice, sounds like a great route 👍
Over 98% of the human population has been shown to have microplastics in their body. Combine that with PFAs and let’s just say I’m not worried about my 3D printer and microplastics.
Getting past that, there’s no worse feeling then spending $7 on salad mix (in a plastic tub) only to, when attempting to eat from it the 2nd time, see that it’s already spoiled. I have a mint patch that grows year after year after year and everyone comes to my house during the summer to get mojitos. I HATE then having to spend $4 for a sprig of mint in December. Or $4 for a sprig of basil. Again, both in plastic containers. I got a 3D printer specifically to print a hydroponics tower. I’m looking forward to having veggies year round.
If we are forced to buy plastics, at least we can control these a little more with a 3d printer right!
Awesome video I was wondering more or less how often the water would need to be changed out and if there is a way to keep the water as fresh as possible?
The nutrient should be changed when it becomes elementally unbalanced. As a rule of thumb, you can generally run the nutrient until you have added back the same amount of plain water as the nutrient you started with. You`d change out a 20L reservoir when you have added back 20L of plain water. If your tapwater has a high sodium (Na) content, you should add back reverse osmosis water or a mixture of tap and RO.
I think people are concerned about the microplastics that are carried into the water and the grow media itself, like microplastics in a water bottle. In a small environment such as this, it's more of an issue than a hopefully standardized, factory miles away.
PLA in itself is not food safe. One should use a dedicated stainless steel nozzle (brass nozzles can leech metals and hotend tubes are not food safe) and a separate all metal hotend to avoid metal leeching with food safe prints, and then coat it in a food safe resin. There are food grade filaments available on the market.
FDM layer lines will always leave room for bacterial growth so at this point, using food safe filaments and coating them in resin is the best answer we've got as consumers. There are also filaments that can handle being put into a dishwasher that you might consider. Even with a few extra steps, it would still be far less than the injection molded counterparts.
PLA is not backyard compostable, but compostable in a facility. I'm not sure if that's what you meant when you said it can break down, but it is just like the greenwashing plastics you're mentioned beforehand and cannot be recycled or backyard composted. There are backyard compostable filaments, but I'm not sure if you'd want to use them in this scenario. They are also not food safe. I think I would rather use a virgin plastic with limited additives in this use case.
A lot of misinformation is consistently being reiterated and you're right, there is not a lot of information out there, but it is a worthwhile project and I think it's a step in the right direction regarding food autonomy and our dependency on single use plastics.
Some very good points and I agree, much more research needs to be done. Over time, I’m going to be looking deeper in to the subject and try and uncover more solid details and facts.
I plan on printing a hydroponics tower with PETG, which is supposed to be 100% food safe and even approved by the FDA. Now what does that really mean? Probably not too much. I'll say this much, I plan on keeping my towers indoors. I hate not being able to have fresh veggies in the winter and I would guess that since UV light won't be hitting it, I won't have to worry about any potential breakdown of the plastic (at least from that source). PETG is supposed to be really good at not succumbing to UV light, but it'll be even better if I don't subject it to it in the first place!!!
With that being said, I think we all need to be realistic. Microplastics are EVERYWHERE. It's in the air we breath, the water we drink and has been found in well over 80% of the human population. I've seen studies showing 98% of us have it in our system. It's been found in our hearts. It's even been found IN OUR BLOOD!
Let's not even start talking about PFAs. Forever chemicals are everywhere, in everyone and there's no getting away from them. What's my point? While I'm not trying to eat a microplastic salad every day, I think the ship has already sailed on us trying to keep these terrible things out of us. It's too late. If you tell me we could flush them out of our system and never consume them again, I'd be all in on that. But they're everywhere and we're not avoiding it.