Monday, April 7, 2008
Gloves
Dave and I were discussing the amount of waste that is associated with Cohen Center operations and ways to decrease it. We were wondering how necessary the use of gloves will be with the new content (lobster). Our idea was to only provide gloves to students who have shellfish allergies? I assume that if we do decide that the students will be handling lobsters at one (or more) of the stations that the permission slip with have some sort of disclaimer about allergies? We could use this as a way to determine what students needed gloves?
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6 comments:
Worth further investigation. I'm guessing that LVS1 won't require gloves, which would cut waste/cost in half. As for LVS3, I would note that the gloves have been a compelling aspect of the pedagogy. If scientists would be likely to wear gloves in the lab for such a function, it's a good idea for kids to do that, too. If scientists wouldn't wear gloves to handle lobsters, then maybe not. I'd also want to think through how else to keep/get their hands clean after handling a live lobster.
I agree with Alan that there will not be a need for gloves at LVS-1 so the use will be cut in half.
Speaking of conservation, has anyone spoken to the bus company about leaving the buses idling in front of GMRI? Seems to me that they are doing this fairly often.
As for the bus company, we're working hard to successfully get through the school year with them. The change in ownership has brought significant changes in policies, as well as differing interpretations of the contract language. I agree that we want to build as sustainable and waste-free a footprint as possible, but I first want to assure that kids arrive and return safely.
In regards to the gloves, at LVS3, I found a company online that makes cornstarch based lab gloves that are completely biodegradable. They would keep the pedagogy the same while practically eliminating the waste we produce. I wrote to the company for a quote and will keep everyone posted with what I hear!
Still haven't heard back regarding the cornstarch based gloves, but Meredyth and I were talking this morning about using lobstering gloves instead of plastic gloves, have five or six pairs for each station at LVS3 that can be reused and washed once in a while. Thoughts?
My only experience with gloves for public programs was for a Deep Sea exhibit (Carrie, were you around for Mysteries of the Deep? If so, this was at the interactive lab). We had about 10 pairs of rubber gloves very similar to lobstering gloves for people to put their hands into 43oF water. The gloves were sprayed with a disinfectant on a daily basis and hung up to dry overnight. I do remember guides saying that they got quite nasty, but that was with a peak visitor number of 12,000/day (not all people wearing the gloves, of course!).
Personally, I think the cornstarch option would be best in terms of a balance between hygiene and green.
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