rvireday@pldote.intel.com (~Richard Vireday) (10/19/89)
I just ordered a piece of software from Set Laboratories in Portland. Imagine my surprise to open it and find the following note. "Due to our concern for the environment, you will notice we have replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ... Please note that this packing material *is not intended for human consumption.* (but is popped fresh daily!). Thanks." Let's give a big hand to these people! --Richard Vireday PS. It smelled good (but needed salt).
dts@quad.uucp (David T. Sandberg) (10/20/89)
In article <63@pldote.intel.com> rvireday@pldote.UUCP (Richard Vireday) writes:
: "Due to our concern for the environment, you will notice we have
:replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more
:biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ...
:
:PS. It smelled good (but needed salt).
I do hope it wasn't buttered. ;')
--
David Sandberg - Quadric Systems
"I began neglecting my shoes." PSEUDO: dts@quad.uucp
ACTUAL: ..uunet!rosevax!sialis!quad!dtsjosh@cditi.UUCP (Josh Muskovitz) (10/24/89)
In article <63@pldote.intel.com> rvireday@pldote.UUCP (Richard Vireday) writes:
: "Due to our concern for the environment, you will notice we have
:replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more
:biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ...
:
:PS. It smelled good (but needed salt).
I talked with my local packaging expert (not really, but he does use a LOT of
styro...), and we figured that going to the store, buying bulk popcorn, and
popping it with an air popper would still be cheaper (even considering the
amount of power to pop it) than buying styrofoam peanuts.
I hope more people start using this technique! Besides, it gives your employ-
ees a healthy snack whenever they want!
_ ________________________________________________
(") The Killer Eggplant /
(_) (tm) josh@uunet!cditi / Veni, VD, Vici -- He came, he saw, he cankered.
____________________________/lance@belltec.UUCP (Lance Norskog) (10/24/89)
And, you can take it home and mulch your garden with it! If you ask me, this is the only valid use of those bags of prepopped corn you see in the stores anyway. -- Lance C Norskog Sales Engineer, Streamlined Networks thinman@cup.portal.com: 415-659-1450
ekn@loglule.se (Erik Karlsson) (10/25/89)
In article <629@cditi.UUCP> josh@cditi.UUCP (Josh Muskovitz) writes: >In article <63@pldote.intel.com> rvireday@pldote.UUCP (Richard Vireday) writes: >: "Due to our concern for the environment, you will notice we have >:replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more >:biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ... >: >:PS. It smelled good (but needed salt). > >I talked with my local packaging expert (not really, but he does use a LOT of >styro...), and we figured that going to the store, buying bulk popcorn, and >popping it with an air popper would still be cheaper (even considering the >amount of power to pop it) than buying styrofoam peanuts. > >I hope more people start using this technique! Besides, it gives your employ- >ees a healthy snack whenever they want! > > _ ________________________________________________ >(") The Killer Eggplant / >(_) (tm) josh@uunet!cditi / Veni, VD, Vici -- He came, he saw, he cankered. >____________________________/ All this seems very good, but the cooking oil? Doesn't one need that using an "air popper"? If one does, doesn't the equippment to be shipped get destroied by the oil? And anoter question, doesn't the popcorn get smashed during shipping? If it really works, what are we waiting for. Let's buy som air poppers and some popcorn, and start popping! --Erik K. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ! ========= Erik Karlsson Phone: (0920)754 22 ! ! TeleLOGIC TeleLOGIC AB Int. : +46920 754 22 ! ! --------- S-951 75 LULE] Fax. : +46920 754 90 ! ! SWEDEN Mail : ekn@lulea.telelogic.se ! ----------------- F|r |vrigt anser jag att CD b|r f|rst|ras! ------------------
mcintyre@turing.cs.rpi.edu (David McIntyre) (10/26/89)
In article <2032@miramon.loglule.se> (Erik Karlsson) writes: >In article <629@cditi.UUCP> Josh Muskovitz) writes: >>In article <63@pldote.intel.com> (Richard Vireday) writes: >>: "Due to our concern for the environment, you will notice we have >>:replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more >>:biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ... >> >>I talked with my local packaging expert (not really, but he does use a LOT of >>styro...), and we figured that going to the store, buying bulk popcorn, and >>popping it with an air popper would still be cheaper (even considering the >>amount of power to pop it) than buying styrofoam peanuts. >> > All this seems very good, but the cooking oil? Doesn't one need > that using an "air popper"? If one does, doesn't the equippment > to be shipped get destroied by the oil? I thought Erik was crazy, until I saw that he was writing from Sweden. I hadn't thought that hot air poppers weren't available everywhere. For those of you that don't know, hot air poppers are a lot like an electric hair-dryer (the hot air blower type) turned upwards. You put the kernals into the barrel, and turn on the power. The kernals are spun around at high speed, while the hot air blows through. As the popcorn gets hot enough and pops, the same air current blows the popcorn out of the barrel, and up the chute into the bowl. So, no oil is used, just popcorn. Air-popped popcorn is very light and dry. Dave "mr question" McIntyre | "....say you're thinking about a plate mcintyre@turing.cs.rpi.edu | of shrimp.....and someone says to office : 518-276-8633 | you `plate,' or `shrimp'......" home : 518-271-6664 |
augustss@mathrt0.math.chalmers.se (Lennart Augustsson) (10/28/89)
In article <1989Oct26.153749.4182@rpi.edu> mcintyre@turing.cs.rpi.edu (David McIntyre) writes: >I thought Erik was crazy, until I saw that he was writing from Sweden. >I hadn't thought that hot air poppers weren't available everywhere. Of course air poppers are available in Sweden! I don't know why Erik hasn't heard of them; they are not as common as in the US, but they are readily available. -- Lennart
hollombe@ttidca.TTI.COM (The Polymath) (10/28/89)
In article <2032@miramon.loglule.se> ekn@loglule.SE (Erik Karlsson) writes: }>: ... we have }>:replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more }>:biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ... } } All this seems very good, but the cooking oil? Doesn't one need } that using an "air popper"? ... The whole point of air poppers is they use no oil. You put nothing into them but electricity, air and popcorn. You get nothing out but hot air and popcorn. -- The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe, hollombe@ttidca.tti.com) Illegitimis non Citicorp(+)TTI Carborundum 3100 Ocean Park Blvd. (213) 452-9191, x2483 Santa Monica, CA 90405 {csun|philabs|psivax}!ttidca!hollombe
macy@fmsystm.UUCP (Macy Hallock) (10/29/89)
In article <2032@miramon.loglule.se> ekn@loglule.SE (Erik Karlsson) writes: >In article <629@cditi.UUCP> josh@cditi.UUCP (Josh Muskovitz) writes: >>In article <63@pldote.intel.com> rvireday@pldote.UUCP (Richard Vireday) writes: >>: "Due to our concern for the environment, you will notice we have >>:replaced our former packing material (styrofoam peanuts) with a more >>:biodegradeable material (popcorn!). ... >>: >>I talked with my local packaging expert (not really, but he does use a LOT of >>styro...), and we figured that going to the store, buying bulk popcorn, and >>popping it with an air popper would still be cheaper (even considering the >>amount of power to pop it) than buying styrofoam peanuts. >> >>I hope more people start using this technique! Besides, it gives your employ- >>ees a healthy snack whenever they want! About 15 years ago, at a company I worked for, we did the same thing: We found that buying one or two large bags of syrofoam popcorn was expensive and did not have the room to store the twenty bags we had to buy to get a decent price. We used shredded newspaper for a while, but it did not offer the support and protection to shipped object that the styrofoam did. This was before air poppers, which use no oil, were as readily available as today...but we had heard of someone else doing it, and decided to try it. After some experimentation, we found the best way to pop the corn was by using a big old kettle and an old electric hotplate we had, with no oil, just care. I had run a concession stand in high school and knew the name of a local popcorn supply co. We bought 50 lb. bags of the corn cheap, and they delivered (the phone person always seemd irked that we never ordered salt or oil, though). We all ate almost as much as we shipped. It worked fine. Why did we stop using it? Simple reason: the rats loved it, too. And they ate enough that they became BIG rats. We always tried to be neat, but I'm sure that we didn't get it all off the floor. And then the bigger rats decided that they wanted more, so they began tearing holes in the popcorn 50 lb. bags and eating it "raw" The final straw occured one nite when the Boss and I went down the the shop late one nite to pull some stuff out that had become "buried" at the back of the place. We moved a pallet of stuff, and the biggest damn rat I've ever seen just stood his ground and hissed. He was the size of a small adult cat! And had l-o-n-g brown front teeth and beady red eyes! We started carrying softball bats on the towmotor (never got one, though!) And started using stryofoam popcorn again. In the end...we found a company down the street that received a lot more stuff in boxes with stryofoam popcorn that they ever used shipping stuff out. They said it was a mess to throw away, too. So we just started "recycling" their styrofoam popcorn on our outgoing stuff. The rats lost interest in our place in a couple of months. I have, however, been addicted to popcorn ever since. My family goes through a 50 lb. bag in 6-8 months easily. And my wife hasn't seen a rat yet, but she's watching.... Macy Hallock 150 Highland Dr. macy@NCoast.ORG F M Systems Inc. Medina, OH 44256 {uunet|backbone}!hal.cwru.edu!ncoast!macy +1 216 723-3000 Fax +1 216 723-3223 uunet!aablue!fmsystm!macy