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The Rise of Silicone
In an age of fast-moving humans, ever-expanding cities and machines that make life breezy, silicone is beginning its ascent to becoming a planet saving material! It is already used every day particularly on building sites by plumbers, builders and electricians as an adhesive. But silicone is rapidly evolving to do so much more. From moulds for baking and sweet treats to storage and bags to keep food fresh, the possibilities for this metal seem to be never ending, that’s not even mentioning the use in computers and building materials.
Let’s look into the properties of this precious rock...
The potential super hero property of silicone is the fact that it can be burnt down to its original non-toxic structure in the new form of silica which is a white powder that can be used in ceramics, glass and once again in construction as a glue. The burning process does release a small amount of gas but if done so in a contained environment emissions can be kept to almost 0. Pure Silica looks as seen below.
The simple fact that one incredibly durable material can be recycled into another whilst at the same time being one should speak for itself.
Durability is another potential Planet saving attribute of silicone. You see the melting point of silicone is a mere 1410 degrees Celsius and if that's not enough for you the freezing point is a bone chilling –55 degrees Celsius. What does this mean really? What this means is that silicone is close to being indestructible while still being able to burn, if necessary, in a natural nontoxic process. Even if you take away the heat resistance qualities silicone still comes out on top. It is very easy to make air and water tight silicone products. This simply means that if you want to keep anything fresh then all you need is a silicone bag. This is an incredible quality as it helps reduce food waste and helps to ensure that everyone will get the most out of every apple, pie, steak, bread, cheese, or anything else you could possibly think of. Not only for food protection but these bags or pouches are great for taking on the water to protect your valuables and electronics if an accident were to occur.
Abundance of Silicon is another and potentially the most important quality of this metal. Silicon is the 8th most abundant substance in the entire universe and the second most abundant in the earth’s crust making up 27.7% of our footing. For us this is simply positive, being so abundant it means that silicon will not need to be compounded when used to create products in any industry, which further means that no toxins will be released when breaking down broken items into silica. Silicon requires to go through an electrolysis process which separates oxygen from the silicon giving two separate elements while emitting a very-low level of toxins. This abundance means that it is all but impossible for us to run out of silicon on earth which means we can start creating now.
The simple fact is that the earlier and the faster we experiment with silicon the better and more eco-friendly the use of it will become. The durability and strength alone are enough to ensure that everyone everywhere will begin to naturally have less waste as time goes on and their silicon artillery expands. From never ending ice blocks to safe, resistant and never-ending baking paper silicon will one day do even more!
Here at Cardboard Planet, we are very excited to see how silicon continues to evolve and looking forward to experimenting with new sustainable products as we continue our journey to making a difference for our planet!!
Check out our best silicon products here!!
https://www.cardboardplanet.co.nz/sustainable-silicon-bundle/x_path/146/sku/01429.html