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  • Profile picture of Andrew Kashyap
    Andrew Kashyap
    Advocate

    Andrew Kashyap is a Senior Attorney at Legal Voice, a progressive feminist organization using the power of the law to make change in the Northwest.

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of Aneel Chablani
    Aneel Chablani
    Advocate

    Advocacy Director, Chicago Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of angeliqueprescott
    Angelique Lezette
    Advocate

  • Profile picture of Anna Kim
    Anna Kim
    Advocate

    Anna Kim is a Youth & Family Counselor at Youth Eastside Services.  She holds a Masters in Social Work from the University of Washington.

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of annacotta
    Anna Roberts
    Scholar

  • Profile picture of Anne Erickson
    Anne Erickson
    Advocate

    Anne Erickson is the President and CEO of Empire Justice Center.  She has been with Empire Justice since 1989, starting out as a policy analyst and legislative coordinator. Anne has overseen the transformation of the organization, guiding its merger with the Public Interest Law Office of Rochester, expanding its White Plains office and opening a new office on Long Island. She has put together a solid management team and has strategically combined the two organizations, aligning staff into five major practice groups: Consumer, Housing, C.A.S.H. and Community Development; Civil Rights, Education and Employment; Disability Benefits; Immigrants and Immigrant Rights; and Public Benefits, Health and Family.

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of Anne Keeney
    Anne Keeney
    Advocate

    Seattle Housing Authority, Employment and Economic Advancement.

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of Anne Lee
    Anne Lee
    Advocate

    Anne Lee is the Executive Director of TeamChild, a statewide nonprofit organization in Washington providing legal representation and advocacy for children and youth who are at risk of juvenile court involvement. TeamChild helps young people obtain education, mental and medical health services, housing and other support.

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of Anne Paxton
    Anne Paxton
    Advocate

    Anne Paxton is  director of ProForum, the educational non-profit that  sponsors the Social Justice Film Festival, and a staff attorney at the Unemployment Law Project, a legal aid organization. Anne has helped produce films of social conscience since 2005 with a special emphasis on human rights. Causes include prisoner literacy (Books to Prisoners), cleft palate surgery in Guatemala (Hearts in Motion), the boycott/divestment/sanctions campaign in support of Palestine (Pressure Points), sustainability curriculum (Facing the Future), and Basic Health Care (Northwest  Health Law Advocates).

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of Anne Price
    Anne Price
    Scholar

    Anne Price is President of Insight Center, a national research and economic justice organization working to ensure that all people become and remain economically secure. Anne has spent over 20 years working in the public sector on issues including child welfare, hunger, welfare reform, workforce development, community development, and higher education. Since 2011, Anne has led the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap initiative at the Insight Center, elevating the voices and opinions of experts of color in national economic debates and policy making. Her tireless work has brought the issue of the racial wealth gap into mainstream consciousness and vernacular with an explosion of media coverage of the data and research quantifying racial differences in wealth accumulation.

    Scholar
  • Profile picture of Antonio
    Antonio Ginatta
    Advocate

    Policy Director at Columbia Legal Services, a Washington state legal impact advocacy organization that works to dismantle the structures that perpetuate poverty and injustice.  

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of apcETW
    Anthony Chavez
    Advocate

    Advocate
  • Profile picture of aperlman
    Andrew Perlman
    Scholar

    I have written about how law schools and the profession can accelerate changes that improve how legal services are delivered and accessed.  I am especially interested in regulatory issues concerning the delivery of legal services and information.

    Scholar
  • Profile picture of AprilFS
    April Faith-Slaker
    Scholar

    Researcher and access to justice enthusiast, working at the Access to Justice Lab located at Harvard Law School.

    Scholar
  • Profile picture of ariel@hcbar.org
    Ariel Clemmer
    Advocate

  • Profile picture of asdfaas24
    asdfaas24
    Advocate

    Steel Pipes Steel pipes are the most commonly used pipes in water supply systems. They are also used in pipelines for natural gas, and sewerage systems. Although comparatively expensive to other pipes, they hold the advantage of being able to withstand high pressures and are available in more convenient lengths, and can also be welded easily, thereby resulting in lower installation and transportation costs. These types of pipes are highly efficient and can be used in small diameters as needed and are 100% recyclable compared to other materials. The pipes can further be melted down and turned into other usable material in industry. Furthermore, the high strength of these pipes and resistance to damage caused by human errors, tree roots, and extreme weather conditions make these pipes the ideal choice for most water and sewerage supply systems. The disadvantages of steel pipes include thermal conductivity, which is very poor as there is a difference in heat transfer. These types of pipes are usually bonded with aluminum or copper alloy to increase thermal conductivity and improve heat transfer. Cost is another issue, as these pipes are expensive and this is guided by the misconception of being a one-time purchase. However, steel pipes are difficult to fabricate and lack the malleable qualities that other materials have, therefore repairs and replacements of steel pipes are extra difficult. Basic material properties Steel is strong, rigid, and has a low coefficient of thermal expansion. It is also heavy (multiple workers may be needed to transport it) and is subject to corrosion. Sometimes it is called carbon steel or black special steel to differentiate from stainless and galvanized steel. All steel, by definition, contains carbon. Steel often is used for closed hydronic systems because it is inexpensive, especially when compared with other materials in systems with high pressures, and corrosion is relatively easily controlled in these systems. It also is a good choice for steam and steam-condensate systems because it handles high temperatures and pressures well, and corrosion is normally not an issue in steam pipes. However, corrosion is an issue in steam-condensate pipes, and many engineers specify schedule 80 steel pipe simply because it takes about twice as long to rust through as schedule 40 pipe. If amines (commonly cyclohexylamine, morpholine, or diethylethanolamine (DEAE) are fed properly to neutralize condensate pipe pH, condensate pipes can last the life of the building. Some building owners do not want these chemicals in steam that may be used for humidification because of health concerns; however, not using these amines might require a change to stainless steel (SS) piping or adding a separate “clean steam” system for humidification and for sterilization of medical instruments. Rigidity is important because it determines the distance between hangers. Steel pipe is manufactured in 21-ft lengths, and the hangers can be spaced that widely for large-diameter pipe. More flexible materials, however, may require hangers on as close as 4-ft centers or even continuously. Consult ANSI/MSS SP-58: Pipe Hangers and Supports – Materials, Design, Manufacture, Selection, Application, and Installation for details about hangers and hanger spacing. A low coefficient of thermal expansion minimizes the need for expansion loops and expansion joints. However, the high rigidity of steel means that although it expands less, it exerts very high forces on anchors. Galvanized steel pipe is steel pipe that is dipped into a pool of zinc (see Figure 1). Galvanizing has two methods of corrosion reduction: It coats the surface like paint, and under most circumstances it forms a very adherent oxide layer like aluminum and SS. It provides a sacrificial anode (zinc) to receive corrosion instead of the steel corroding. Galvanized steel pipe has all the advantages of steel pipe, and is used in insulated and coated piping, plus improved corrosion resistance in most environments, although at a slightly higher cost. Galvanizing works almost perfectly in applications where it is wetted and dried periodically (e.g., road signs and guard rails). It can fail in environments with high sodium (e.g., softened water that started out very hard) because the sodium makes the adherent oxide film detach and react more like steel pipe where the oxide flakes off. If galvanized pipe is being welded, the welder needs to be careful to grind down to the raw steel. Repairing galvanizing on the inside of the pipe is difficult or impossible. If the interior needs a continuous galvanized layer, consider mechanical couplings. (More information is available via the American Galvanizers Association.) Copper pipe often is used in both hydronic and domestic applications, especially for 2-in. and smaller pipe sizes. However, some contractors propose replacing galvanized steel domestic-water pipe with copper up to 6-in. in size, especially in the Midwest. Copper is an expensive material but has the advantage of weighing less than steel and may require fewer employees to install, depending on weight and union restrictions. Also, copper is generally more noble and corrosion-resistant than steel or galvanized steel pipe fittings. Stainless steel is widely considered to be resistant to all corrosion. This is true in many circumstances, but not all. Anaerobic and chloride corrosion can affect SS. The most common alloy is 304 SS, which adds 18% chromium and 8% nickel to steel. 304L has reduced carbon content to minimize the tendency for SS to corrode at welds. SS with the L designation is recommended for all SS that will be welded and might have corrosion issues, like fume exhaust and some pipe systems. 316 and 316L add molybdenum to reduce susceptibility to chlorides. In the past decade, we have seen thinner SS being proposed as an alternative to galvanized seamless steel tube and pipe and larger-diameter copper pipe, primarily for domestic potable-water piping. There is one potential problem with this if done incorrectly (see, “Mixing materials may equal trouble”). SS requires some oxygen to build an adhering oxide layer, like aluminum car wheels. This is normally not a problem in hydronic heating/cooling systems or domestic-water systems, but a large chilled-water-storage system could have oxygen levels become low enough to have issues with microbially influenced corrosion (known as MIC). There are many grades of SS. In general, 300 series alloys are the most corrosion-resistant and are nonmagnetic. 400 series are harder, more resistant to abrasion, withstand higher temperatures, and are magnetic. 200 series alloys are used in sinks and applications where less corrosion resistance is acceptable.

  • Profile picture of asdfaas25
    asdfaas25
    Scholar, Advocate

    8 Benefits of Owning a Dehumidifier If you commonly get allergies, you know that they can get rather miserable at times. When you live in a humid climate, there are many triggers for these things—dust mites, mold, mildew, and seasonal allergies. If you find that you are suffering a lot, a good dehumidifier can help–in more ways than one. Here are some benefits of a dehumidifier and how to choose the right one for you. Allergy Triggers Thrive in Humidity Many of the most common allergy triggers, especially dust mites, mold, and mildew, thrive in humid environments. Whether you live in a humid climate, or you just have a living space that tends to be more humid, you may be suffering from these things. Small living spaces with limited ventilation, such as bathrooms or kitchens in a small apartment or basement apartments, are common areas where moisture can build up, even in dry climates. Mold allergies are also a significant contributor to childhood asthma, which can be a debilitating and costly disease for children who develop it at a young age. This article expands on some of the dangers that allergens present when they are in your home. Benefits of a Dehumidifier There are several benefits to getting a commercial dehumidifier in your home, basement, apartment, or office space. Dehumidifiers reduce humidity levels, making your home less hospitable to allergens such as dust mites, mold, and mildew. They are not disruptive to your daily life, and run quietly and efficiently in the background without most people even noticing. Dehumidifiers help reduce odors that can accompany mold and mildew in your home—getting rid of that “musty” or “rotting” smell. These devices help to reduce the possibility that you will develop mold on your clothing, furniture, and other linens (such as curtains or bed sheets). Dehumidifiers reduce irritation to your skin and your respiratory system, allowing you to breathe easier and feel comfortable in your home. A less humid environment in your home means clothing will dry faster, breads and cereals will remain fresh longer without getting stale, and you won’t find signs of rust or corrosion on things like computer equipment, electronics, and tools. Running a dehumidifier helps reduce dust in your home, so you won’t have to clean as often. A dehumidifier also lowers energy costs because it helps your air conditioner run more efficiently. When the air in your home is more humid, the A/C must do the function of cooling the air and removing moisture, which means it has to work harder. This also causes your A/C to wear out sooner, which means you will need to replace and repair it more often. In addition to suffering from constant symptoms of allergies, you may want to consider a industrial dehumidifier if you have some obvious signs of high humidity in certain rooms or areas of your home, including: Water stains on the walls or ceilings of your home High humidity rooms with poor ventilation or no ventilation (especially in areas like bathrooms that have no windows) Frequent condensation on the windows in certain areas of your home Small black spots (mold spores) growing on the walls or in areas with high humidity, such as the bathtub or shower Must or mildew smells You may also want to consider a dehumidifier if you live in an apartment building, since mold and mildew spores can travel through ventilation systems, and can build up in the walls between apartments. Even if you keep your living area clean, these allergens from other areas of the building can be harmful to yours and your family’s health. Choosing a Dehumidifier There are several different options when it comes to dehumidifiers, and the one you choose depends on the space in which you plan to use it, as well as the humidity levels. There are small capacity models for a single small room, large capacity models for larger areas such as a large room, basement, or an apartment, and there are whole-house models available as well if you live in a very humid climate, you suffer from significant allergies, or you have a large home. For more specific and unique needs, consider purchasing a dehumidifier with special features. Getting a dehumidifier can help you live a healthier, happier life, so if you are suffering from allergies and other symptoms, the answer to the question of whether you should own a dehumidifier is probably yes. Find out more about the different models and options available, and see which one will fit your budget and help you get clean, healthy air in your home. If you live close to the equator or near a coastal region, you probably hear your local weatherman say the word "humidity" all too often. But no matter where you are, you've surely experienced it -- that muggy, heavy feeling that fills the air, often when it's rainy, foggy or hot outside. It can make your hair frizzy and may seem to dampen everything, including your mood. When people complain about humidity, for the most part they're talking about relative humidity. Depending on temperature, air can hold a fixed amount of water vapor; relative humidity is the ratio of actual vapor in the air to this fixed amount. For example, at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius), one cubic meter (35 cubic feet) of air can hold about 18 grams (.6 ounces) of water. This would be a state of saturation, otherwise known as 100 percent relative humidity. That's a lot of jargon to describe a level of humidity that, for many people, can feel extremely uncomfortable. When this humidity seeps into your home, it can make rooms feel stuffy and perhaps even smell musty. Beyond these superficial discomforts, too much humidity can have some more serious disadvantages, too. An overly humid home can lose its structural integrity, attract pests like silverfish and centipedes, and even make you sick. In an average home in which the temperature is 68 degrees Fahrenheit, the relative humidity should ideally be between 30 and 50 percent. If you're struggling to reach that range, a dehumidifier may come in handy. Dehumidifiers remove excess moisture from the air, improving the comfort and health of your home. In this article, you'll learn what types of dehumidifiers are available and how you can get the best results out of the ceiling mounted dehumidifier you have. But first, read on to next page to find out exactly how a dehumidifier does its job. Imagine enjoying a soda during a particularly warm day. When you pick up the can, you might notice that it's wet -- there's moisture on the outside. Why is that? As air loses heat, it also begins to lose its ability to retain moisture; the colder surface pulls and collects water from the warmer air, creating condensation. Your dehumidifier does pretty much the same thing. Most dehumidifiers can be broken down into five component parts: FanCompressor -- This compresses and expands a refrigerant gas like freon to cool the dehumidifier's coils. (See How Air Conditioners Work for a more detailed explanation of this cycle.) Reheater -- This captures and collects heat that the cooling process generates. Compressor cooling coils Reservoir How do all these parts fit together to pull moisture from the air? It's fairly simple, but very effective: A fan collects air from the surrounding area and pulls it into the dehumidifier. As the air passes through, it comes into contact with the dehumidifier's cooled coils. These coils use condensation to pull moisture from the air. The collected moisture remains on the coils and drips into the dehumidifier's reservoir. The dehumidifier reheats the air and exhausts it back into the room. A dehumidifier usually has a removable plastic bucket for a reservoir; most buckets also have a place where you can hook up a hose so the collected water can drain straight into a floor drain or pump. This frees you from having to remember to dump out the water. But don't worry too much about the reservoir overflowing -- home dehumidifier also have an automatic shut-off. If you're using a dehumidifier in extremely moist conditions, however, or if you need to keep your dehumidifier on all the time, you should look into a unit with a built-in condensate pump, which regularly pumps water out of the unit's reservoir rather than simply relying on gravity to empty it as a hose does. Many dehumidifiers also have a humidistat, which allows you to set your desired level of relative humidity. A humidistat has two parts: a sensing element and a relay amplifier. The sensing element includes two alternate metal conductors, and changes in relative humidity will cause electrical resistance between those conductors. The relay amplifier measures this resistance and sends a signal to turn the dehumidifier on or off. These basic components add up to a device that may make your home feel a whole lot better. Now that you know the basics of dehumidifier technology, it's time to learn about different kinds of dehumidifiers. Which one may be right for you? Read on to find out. While refrigerative dehumidifiers may be the most well-known, desiccant dehumidifiers also do a great job of keeping a space nice and dry. True to their name, these dehumidifiers pull in air and pass it over a desiccant material such as silica gel. Desiccants naturally absorb moisture -- that's why you'll find little packets of silica gel in new shoes or electronic goods. Because desiccant dehumidifiers don't need to cool air before dehumidifying it, this technology is really ideal for sub-zero conditions. Since the technology behind them is so simple and effective, dehumidifiers mostly vary in size and strength. Portable dehumidifiers are the kind that you usually see in the home improvement aisle; they're often plastic, relatively cheap and very lightweight. They're designed to be most effective in smaller spaces like a bedroom or kitchen. Restoration humidifiers are heavy-duty machines that can withstand harsh conditions -- they're usually used to repair heavy water damage caused by hurricanes or other natural disasters. The largest models on the market, whole-house dehumidifiers, usually augment a home's existing heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system. You'll have to hire a professional to install one of those. Some manufacturers have also created specially sized crawlspace dehumidifiers to address the humidity in storage areas and powerful dehumidifiers that are targeted toward the high humidity created by some indoor pools and spas. Whichever kind of dehumidifier you choose, it may help make your home a little greener. Read on to find out how. A portable dehumidifier can consume 160 kilowatt hours per month (kWh) -- that's more than your refrigerator eats up. However, it does burn less energy than the average air conditioner, which tears through about 300 kWh per month. Also, since excessive relative humidity makes us perceive temperature as being higher than it is, keeping your home drier may lead you to reach for the thermostat less, which could result in lower energy consumption overall. To really save on your utility bills and diminish your carbon footprint, work on maximizing your dehumidifier's efficiency. Don't keep it on all day, set the humidistat at a reasonable level (50 percent rather than 30 percent), and keep your doors and windows closed when it runs. Most dehumidifiers discharge air from the top of the machine, but if yours does not have top-mounted discharge, make sure that it's placed well away from walls and furniture to keep air circulating freely. Keep it away from sources of excessive dust or dirt, since this can very quickly clog the machine. For that matter, be sure to check and clean your dehumidifier's filter regularly -- this will help ensure that it's operating as efficiently as possible. In addition to saving energy, you also might be able to recycle the water that your dehumidifier collects. The water that shows up in your dehumidifier's bucket is considered greywater. That means it's not suitable for drinking, but can be great for watering houseplants and flowers, since it's less salty than tap water. However, you should check first to see if there are any restrictions on using greywater in your area. While the benefits of dehumidifier ownership are many, there are some potential downsides, too. For one thing, cost may be an issue. Dehumidifiers can be somewhat pricey -- many models sell for more than $150. Or you may just object to having a bucket of standing water sitting around in your home. No matter what your reservations are, it's worth figuring out if you really need a dehumidifier before you take the plunge and buy one. Read on for some tips that may help you make that decision. Do you need a dehumidifier? Start by taking a look around your home. The most noticeable symptoms of excessive humidity may include wet stains on your walls and ceilings, rotting and weakened wood, mold and fungus, condensation on your windows, peeling wallpaper, blistering paint, and a generally musty, stuffy feeling. In addition to those somewhat obvious signs of humidity, there are also some more subtle conditions you can watch out for. For example, you may want to look into a purchasing a dehumidifier if your doors, cabinets or windows are sticking, or if your floors are especially creaky. When wood absorbs moisture, it swells. This pushes apart joints, loosens screws and nails, and generally compromises your home's strength. While your noisy stairs might be a simple nuisance now, if humidity is the underlying issue, your problems could get worse. Dehumidifiers can also help mitigate the effects of common allergies to dust mites, fungus and mold; if the air in your home is excessively moist, it can encourage the growth of these allergens. Even if you don't have allergies, preventing mold growth is a good reason to consider getting a dehumidifier. Mold only requires a bit of moisture to grow, and it can set up shop in your home as soon as one of its airborne spores finds a hospitably damp surface. A mold problem in your home can cause serious illness. And once it shows up, mold is a pain to eradicate and can permanently stain or damage whatever it's decided to live on. The easiest strategy is to just keep it from showing up at all. You can also use a dehumidifier to discourage insects from moving in with you. Roaches, silverfish, spiders and centipedes all love a moist environment. Keeping the air in your home relatively dry will drive away those unwanted tenants. Additionally, if you've got a cold or a particularly bad, congested cough, using a dehumidifier may free up your breathing and help you sleep better at night. As you can see, there are plenty of good reasons why you might consider using a dehumidifier. To find out more about these devices and related topics, follow the links on the next page.  

  • Profile picture of asdfaas26
    asdfaas26
    Scholar

    Cotton or cellulose fluff, cost savings or convenience, laundry or landfill: For some new parents, choosing between using a cloth or disposable diapers can feel like a big decision. How do you know which kind of diaper will work best for your family? Advocates for both cloth and disposable Baby Diapers make strident and often conflicting claims about the benefits and drawbacks of each. Depending on who you listen to, you may hear that either disposable or cloth diapers are the cheaper, healthier, more ecological, more convenient, and/or more enlightened way to care for your baby. In our full reviews of cloth and disposable diapers, we go into detail about the materials, construction, and performance of both types, but here we will address some reasons why parents choose cloth or disposable diapers, and what evidence exists to support them. Diaper rash and skin health Proponents of cloth and disposable Baby Pant Diapers both claim that babies wearing their chosen type suffer less diaper rash. After talking to two pediatric dermatologists and reviewing the scientific literature on the topic, it is clear to us that disposable diapers do have the edge in preventing the most common type of diaper rash, irritant diaper dermatitis, which is caused by moisture from urine and feces remaining trapped against the skin. Modern disposables are highly absorbent, and, as we found in testing for our guide, the top performers can keep a baby’s skin dry even after multiple wettings. Dr. Bruce Brod, a pediatric dermatologist who specializes in dermatitis, told us: “The skin is largely better off with disposable diapers because of the technology that evolved”—namely, the use of superabsorbent polymers, which take in and retain many times their weight in liquid. But some babies can develop allergic rashes from certain ingredients used in disposable diapers, including rubber, adhesives, fragrances, and dyes. The conclusion? Either type of diaper can lead to rashes, but disposable diapers typically keep babies drier and better prevent the common problem of diaper rash caused by moisture. Potty training Some cloth diaper companies and educational sites claim that babies who wear cloth diapers potty train earlier than babies diapered with disposables. Besides anecdotal evidence, these sources often cite the fact that the age of toilet training in the US has risen from around 18 months in the 1950s and 1960s to 3 years old today, a climb that tracks the increase in popularity of disposable Adult Diapers, from their introduction in the mid 20th century to today, with over 95 percent of babies in the US using disposables. Dr. Bruce Taubman, a pediatrician at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and co-author of several studies on toilet training, told us he’s unaware of any scientific evidence that the use of cloth diapers leads to earlier potty training. “To my knowledge, there is no data,” he said, and suggested the change in the age of potty training likely has more to do with changes in family structures and parenting styles over the past several decades. A 1987 study in Japan compared a small group of infants—including twins—half of whom were diapered with cloth and half with disposables. That study found the two groups potty trained at the same age. An article (cowritten by a dermatologist and a researcher for Procter & Gamble) comparing diaper and toilet training practices around the world noted the age of toilet training seems to be influenced by culture, pointing out that babies in India and China (which have higher rates of cloth diaper use) and Russia (where babies predominantly wear disposables) all potty train earlier than their counterparts in the US and Western Europe. The conclusion? There is probably no reason to choose a diapering method based on potty training goals. Environmental impact The environmental impact that this new person will have on the world weighs heavily on some soon-to-be parents. One of the more commonly reported reasons parents considers cloth diapers is that they’re more environmentally friendly than disposables, or are believed to be. There is no question that disposable Adult Pant Diapers create more landfill waste: a baby is likely to go through between 5,000 and 6,000 disposable diapers before becoming potty trained. A 2014 Environmental Protection Agency report found that disposable diapers account for 7 percent of nondurable household waste in landfills. Except in very limited cases, disposable diapers (regardless of what they claim) won’t compost or biodegrade in a landfill. But disposable diaper advocates have countered that the energy and water costs of laundering cloth diapers, as well as the environmental impact of cotton production, make them less environmentally friendly than they appear, particularly in terms of the carbon emissions traceable to their care. The best life-cycle analysis we have found is a 2008 report (PDF) from the Environment Agency in the UK that compared the manufacturing, disposal, and energy costs of both Pet Diaper types. “The environmental impacts of using shaped reusable nappies can be higher or lower than using disposables, depending on how they are laundered,” the report concludes. The agency’s analysis found that based on average laundry habits and appliance efficiency, when washing with 60 °C (140 °F) water and mostly line-drying, the overall carbon emissions created by cloth diapering were roughly the same as those of using disposables. But using cloth diapers for a second child or getting them secondhand, exclusively line-drying them, and washing them in fuller loads could reduce that amount by up to 40 percent. (Whether there are any advantages to using so-called “eco-friendly” disposable diapers is even more complicated, and we are planning a separate post on that topic.) During the First World War, nurses noticed that cellulose was much more effective at absorbing blood compared to cloth bandages. This inspired the first cellulose Kotex Sanitary Napkin, made from surplus high-absorption war bandages, which was first sold in 1918. By 1921, Kotex had become the first successfully mass-marketed sanitary napkin (3, 1). In addition to providing the innovation for a product that would drastically change the options available to women, the war caused another major shift in women’s lives: they were now needed to contribute to factory production in a way they had never been before. Through ads and bathroom redesign, factory employers during WWII encouraged women to use menstrual products in order to “toughen up” and continue to work during their monthly bleeding. (This was in spite of the pervasive questioning of women’s “emotional stability” – female pilots were encouraged not to work during “that time of the month”). Wet Wipes are the San Pellegrino of butt-cleansing tools: They feel like a fancier, grown-up version of toilet paper. And addition to the posh factor, people who swear by them for their post-bowel-movement wipe believe that the method is more thorough and leaves the buttocks cleaner than it would otherwise be. And while I hear you concerning the argument at hand, an anal surgeon says it is time to ditch those wet wipes for good.

  • Profile picture of asdfaas27
    asdfaas27
    Scholar, Advocate

    BREWING YOUR OWN BEER: WHAT YOU NEED TO GET STARTED So you want to make your own beer. How hard could it be, right? Really, it’s not that hard, and I’ll have a nice home beer brewing equipment for you soon that outlines every aspect of the process. Before you get all fired up about it, though, let me be the voice of reason and point out that you’re going to have to spend a pretty nice chunk of change before you can even make your first batch. While the actual process of brewing is simple, it is pretty time consuming, and when you first get started, there is quite the long list of equipment and ingredients that first need to be bought. Not all of these are cheap, either, but after your initial investment, the home brewing process is actually much more affordable than buying beer at the store. Let’s take a look at what all you’ll need to get ready to brew. Every single article or guide that I have read is sure to emphasize this one key point: sanitize like a maniac. Every item that will have even the slightest contact with your beer at any phase of the brewing process needs to be as clean as you can get it. You can, of course, use a mixture of bleach and hot water to soak everything, and then rinse everything thoroughly. This can add additional time to the process that you don’t necessarily have to spend. Many sanitizers do not require rinsing and most are on the inexpensive side, costing less than $5 on average and up to $15 for a large container. One package or bottle will last you through many brewing sessions, so they are a fantastic deal. I would definitely make the small investment in a good no-rinse sanitizer if I was planning to brew on a regular basis. I suppose that you could use any old stock pot for making your wort, but I wouldn’t recommend it. First, when you’re boiling your wort (pronounced wert- see my guide to beer for more on that), you will need plenty of extra room to avoid overflowing the pot. Most home beer recipes make five gallons, so you need at least an 8 gallon pot to have enough additional space during the boiling process. This is not your average-size stock pot. Additionally, brew kettles are made specifically for making beer (obviously), which means that they have nice heavy bottoms for even heat distribution. You can also get them with built-in temperature gauges to easily keep an eye on that, which is really important for the step that follows the boil- adding the yeast (if you add it when the wort is too hot, it kills the yeast, and  dead yeast=no beer). You can even get a kettle with a built-in spigot, which will come in super handy. These two features cost more, but even a basic kettle will be a bit pricey, with the price climbing upwards for the extra features and larger sizes. Known in the beer fermentation equipment as a carboy, a fermentation vessel is simply the place where the wort and yeast are combined and allowed to sit for several days to turn into beer. Whatever you use for this fermentation process needs to be 100% airtight so that not even one airborne microbe can get in to alter the taste of the batch. Keep in mind also that you will need at least two containers for this part of the process, because you will siphon the beer out of the first fermentation vessel into a second one after a few days (more on that part of the process in my next article). A plastic carboy will run you around $30, which isn’t too bad, and these won’t be nearly as heavy to try to move when they are full of liquid as a thick glass fermenter (also referred to as a fermentor). On the other hand, a good glass carboy will last forever, with proper care and handling, and they start around the same price point. You can get away with buying a simple food-grade plastic bucket for under $20, but I haven’t seen one that has a gasket on the lid to make for a truly air-tight seal, whereas all the better carboys and other actual fermenters will have a gasket. AIR LOCKS During the fermentation process, as the yeast eats up the sugar in the wort, there are two byproducts- alcohol and carbon dioxide. As the CO2 builds up inside the fermentation vessel, you’re going to need a way to release that gas without letting outside air into the container to possibly contaminate your brew. This is where an air lock comes into play. These fit securely into the top or, in some cases, onto the lower side of any vessel made specifically for brewing. The air lock allows all the built-up gas to escape, which will hopefully prevent any explosions from happening. Yes, you read that correctly- explosions. Whenever you have any situation where pressure is building within an enclosed area, explosions can occur, and the fermentation period is no exception. Not using an air lock pretty much guarantees you’ll end up with beer pouring out of a broken carboy, and with them only costing a couple of bucks, there’s no reason not to buy one. LONG-HANDLED SPOON Remember, you’re going to be dealing with at least an 8-gallon brew kettle, so we’re talking about a really long handle on this spoon, an item you’re not likely to have on hand. You’ll use the spoon for stirring during the boiling process, and you will need to be able to reach all the way to the bottom of the pot. You can also lay the spoon horizontally across the top of the kettle, which will help prevent the wort from boiling over. I recommend going with the stainless steel option on this for durability, which only costs a few dollars. HYDROMETER Before I go into what a hydrometer does and why you need one, we need to talk about gravity. No, I’m not talking about the kind of gravity that keeps your feet on the earth. I’m talking about specific gravity, which, according to Wikipedia, is “the ratio of the density of a substance to the density (mass of the same unit volume) of a reference substance,” with the substance being your fermenting beer and the reference substance being water. Specific gravity in beer is important because it’s how you can determine the percentage of alcohol in the final product. When you first start the process, the density of the liquid will be higher, closer to that of plain water. As the yeast in the fermentation vessel consumes the sugar in the malt and converts the liquid into alcohol, the specific gravity inside the container will drop, because alcohol is considerably denser than water. Once the gravity stops dropping, you know that the yeast has finished its work. A hydrometer is a device that measures the specific gravity of your brew, so it’s useful for determining the aforementioned readings. Also, by taking the measurement of the final gravity inside the container and subtracting it from the original gravity of the brew, you can determine the percentage of alcohol your product contains. A hydrometer looks like an oversized, old fashioned, mercury thermometer, and costs around the same amount, so it’s not an expensive tool to buy and is pretty useful to have around. You just don’t want be measuring non-stop during fermentation since you’d be letting air into the container. You can simply measure before putting on the lid or stopper and then again when you siphon the beer filling machine out for the secondary fermentation that I mentioned before. We recommend this one. SIPHONS As I said, at some point you will need to siphon out the liquid from one fermentation vessel to another. In the same place where you attach the air lock to the container, you will need to attach a siphon. Now, once the yeast has done its job, all the dead yeast will settle on the bottom of the container, along with the used up malt and hops. You need to remove the liquid from the container while at the same time getting as little of those bits and pieces as possible. You could always just pick up the ridiculously heavy carboy or bucket and slowly and carefully pour the beer from one container to the other, but you will end up with more of that sediment in the second container, which will result in a hazy final product. You don’t want that. Instead, make sure to purchase a siphon. Alternatively, you can even buy a ported fermenter that has a valve on the side to transfer the liquid, no siphons required. BOTTLES, ETC. Once you finish the brewing and fermenting, you will of course need to bottle up your brew. Invest in a good set of glass bottles that you can use time and time again. Go with brown glass since they will block out the most UV light, which can cause spoilage. To make things easy on yourself, I would also say to buy the bottles with the attached swing caps. Expect an investment of around $2.50 per bottle. The kicker is that you will probably need about 4 packs to bottle all of the beer from a standard recipe, which is for 5 gallons. If you want to save some money here, you can always opt for capping the bottles yourself. You will spend about half the amount on the bottles themselves going that route. You will spend another couple of bucks on a pack of bottle caps and a little more for a bottle capper. This will ultimately result in some savings. And considering the amount of money you will have invested already, this seems like a pretty good idea! INGREDIENT STARTER KITS Assuming you fall in love with the whole home brewing process, at some point you will probably want to buy your own malt and hops to really customize it to your taste. To begin with, though, it will be so much easier for you to buy a recipe kit. There are tons of websites including Amazon that offer these if you don’t have a home brewer’s store in your neck of the woods. Just decide what kind of beer you want to make (ale or lager) and the style that you prefer, and you’ll be able to find a kit for that. This really simplifies the brewing process, which is awesome when you’re a beginner. And they’re affordable, too. READY TO MAKE SOME BEER? I bet you would have never thought that it can take so much stuff to actually make a few bottles of beer, not to mention an initial investment of at least $300. Now that you know, though, it’s easy to set about buying what you need. Stay tuned for my follow-up article where you’ll get a step-by-step guide to the actual beer-making process. Although the equipment needed to brew beer traditionally was fairly simple, large commercial breweries today use equipment that does everything from crack the grain to seal the cases and a multitude of chores in between. These are the basics: Most folks visiting a brewery immediately recognize the large, round brew kettle that usually dominates the brewhouse. Somewhere nearby is usually a second, sometimes smaller, similar-looking vessel called a mash tun, and if the place is big and brews lagers, it has yet another one, called a lauter tun. These vessels are vented through stacks that carry the steam out of the brewhouse, consequently treating the whole neighborhood to the intoxicating, malty-sweet aroma of beer in the making. Traditionally, these vessels were made of copper and were often referred to simply as the coppers. Nowadays, the term has fallen out of use, mostly because modern brewing equipment is fabricated from the relatively cheaper and easier-to-obtain stainless steel. After the first three vessels are used, the wine filling machine is pumped (and cooled at the same time) into a big tank called a fermenter. For sanitation purposes, fermenters are usually airtight vessels that allow only for the escape of the carbon dioxide pressure built up inside. However, some traditionalists in the industry, particularly in Britain and Belgium, still allow their beer to ferment in open vessels, and some even encourage spontaneous fermentations caused by wild, airborne yeast (Belgian Lambic brewers, for example). At this point, each brewery uses different kinds of tanks and does different things to its beer. For example: Most breweries allow beer to go through a short aging process after the initial fermentation, using additional vessels cleverly named aging tanks for this purpose. Next, breweries transfer the aged beer from aging tanks into finishing tanks to prepare them for their introduction into society. Beer would not exist without microbes. During fermentation, yeast cells convert cereal-derived sugars into ethanol and CO2. Yeast also produces a wide array of aroma compounds that influence beer taste and aroma. The complex interaction between all these aroma compounds results in each beer having its own distinctive palette. This article contains all protocols needed to brew beer in a standard lab environment and focuses on the use of yeast in beer brewing. More specifically, it provides protocols for yeast propagation, brewing calculations and, of course, beer brewing. At the end, we have also included protocols for analyses that can be performed on the resulting brew, with a focus on yeast-derived aroma compounds. Beer brewing is intrinsically a biotechnological process: the conversion of raw materials into beer relies on many different enzymatic reactions and microbial activity. Beer is traditionally made from four key ingredients: malted cereals (barley or other), water, hops, and yeast. Each of these ingredients contributes to the final taste and aroma of beer. Beer production starts with the malting of barley (or other cereals, such as wheat, sorghum, rye, or oats). The main goal of malting is to activate enzymes within the grain. These enzymes will hydrolyze starch and other compounds within the kernels during mashing (Goldammer, 2008; Kunze, 2004). During malting, barely kernels are soaked in water and periodically aerated, the so-called steeping and germination phase. During germination, three important groups of enzymes are activated: (i) amylases, (ii) proteases/peptidases, and (iii) beta-glucanases. Each of these enzymes have an important function during the malting and downstream brewing process: (i) amylases convert starch, present in the barley kernels, into fermentable sugars; (ii) proteases and peptidases break down proteins and release free amino nitrogen (FAN), while (iii) beta-glucanases degrade the endosperm cell wall, allowing other enzymes access to the endosperm. Next, in the drying and kilning phase, kernels are dried and heated. This stops germination, arrests enzymatic activity within the kernels, reduces spoilage risks, and determines the impact of malt on the final aroma and color of the beer. The actual brewing process consists of five steps. The main goal is to convert insoluble malt or grain material into a soluble and fermentable extract. Milling of malted grains (i) and mashing (ii) In this step, milled grains are mixed with warm water. This mash is kept at specific temperatures and pH to ensure proper enzymatic conversion of starch and proteins. Traditionally, a starting temperature of 45°C is used. At this temperature, proteases are activated and degrade proteins to short peptides and amino acids, that will form the major nitrogen source for yeast during fermentation. The mash is then heated to 62°C-64°C, at which starch will gelatinize and become accessible to amylases. Beta-amylases will cleave off maltose from starch molecules. The mash is then heated to 72°C for 15-25 min, allowing further breakdown of long chain polysaccharides by alpha-amylases. Finally, the temperature of the mash is raised to 78°C, stopping nearly all enzymatic activity. Modern, highly modified malts allow mashing in directly at temperatures >60°C since the protein breakdown has already been completed by the maltster. Filtering/lautering (iii) During this step, the insoluble fraction (spent grains) is separated from the soluble extract. The remaining extract (wort) is transferred to the boiling vessel. Boiling (iv) During boiling, hops and other spices are added. These contribute to bitterness and aroma of the final beer. More specifically, hops contain alpha acids and during boiling, these acids will isomerize into iso-alpha acids, the major bittering substances in beer. Bitter hops contain high concentrations of alpha acids (6%-16%) and are often added at the beginning of the boil. Aroma hops have a high hop oil content (>1%), which contains 200-250 different compounds that contribute to the characteristic aroma of hops (e.g., myrcene, linalool, and nonenal) (Kunze, 2004). Aroma hops are typically only added towards the end of the boil, or in the dry-hopping of green beer to reduce the stripping of aroma-active compounds. Other major effects of wort boiling include protein denaturation and aggregation, concentration of the wort, stripping of off-flavors such as dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and sanitization of the wort. The boiled wort is then transferred to a whirlpool to remove the aggregated protein and insoluble hop components (hot trub). Finally, the wort is cooled, aerated, and transferred into the fermentor, where yeast is added.

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    For years, I was like Goldilocks when it came to dining chairs. I went through three different sets before finally settling on vintage Paul McCobb Planner Group chairs. They’re decidedly mid-century in their provenance, but really, they’re a riff on a classic spindle chair that could have been designed by the Shakers. I chose them because they are simple, sturdy, and comfortable, but I would also argue that this type of modern spindle chair is one of the most versatile dining chairs you can purchase. Today’s spindle chairs can easily go farmhouse or modern, depending on what table and linens you pair them with. They also have a knack for looking right at home in both casual and formal settings. Many are painted black, which both harks back to traditional Windsor chairs and creates a visually striking silhouette, but you can find them in a range of finishes or paint some in a rainbow of shades yourself, if you want to. If you’re looking to upgrade your dining table setup, consider these eight spindle armchair contenders. They’re all made from solid wood, so they are built to last for years—and will likely still be in style for the long haul. Salt Chair Ton’s beech Ironica chair, sold by Design Within Reach as the “Salt Chair,” is an icon in its own right. The company has been selling this slender take on a spindle for more than a decade and currently stocks four finishes—white, grey, black and natural. This is one instance when DWR is more “within reach.” If you search for the Ironica from other retailers, you will find other colors but with higher price points. J77 Dining Chair Hay is another European manufacturer that makes its own modern take on a spindle chair. Their J77 dining chair is a personal favorite, thanks to its stylish, lower-profile back. This design is part of Hay’s 2011 relaunch of furniture originally made for FDB, the Danish Consumers’ Co-operative Society in the 1940s, and it comes in a few different colors as well. Magnolia Home Vermont Chimney Dining Side Chair Of course Joanna Gaines, the queen of modern farmhouse style, has not one, but two, spindle chairs in her collection for Living Spaces. This particular style skews a little more on the rustic side and has just the right proportions for a smaller dining area or breakfast nook. NORRARYD chair IKEA discontinued their OLLE chair, which was my favorite of their spindle dining chairs and the perfect match to my son’s junior chair, but they do have an option in their current catalog. The NORRARYD chair, which comes in black and white, costs just $75, so it’s a great budget option, even if the OLLE was a little more sleek. Taylor Solid Wood Dining Chairs Joss & Main sells many takes on a spindle chair, but the Taylor Solid Wood Dining Chair comes in an interesting two-tone colorway that sets it apart from many of the others on the market. These would be at home in any Scandi or farmhouse  modern decor scheme. Windsor Dining Chairs West Elm’s Windsor Dining Chairs are a surprisingly affordable option at less than $100 apiece. These are a collaboration with the London-based designer Aaron Probyn. You’ll have to wait a little while for these, since like many of the brand’s furniture pieces, they’re backordered until October. If you order now though, you’ll have them well before hosting Thanksgiving (if that’s a possibility this year). Thatcher Chair If American-made is important to you, the Thatcher Chair with bar stool from Room & Board is a solid but expensive option. The back is slightly higher than most dining chairs and dining table, which creates a dramatic silhouette. Crafted from maple with mortise-and-tenon joints, you can consider this style an heirloom in the making. Spindle Solid Wood Windsor Back Side Chair Want to make a bold move? Try this set of chairs finished in a shiny, electric shade of raspberry. They’re the perfect way to perk up a white tulip style table and can also work with blonde and mid-tone woods, too.