
Strategically placed on the University of Illinois campus are “biocubes” which are boxes constructed of oriented strain board (OSB) approximately 2′ X 2′ X 2′ and containing a little soil and a plant or two. Given that these are f**ing ugly pieces of work, I am impressed that they received the approval of the facilities site committee. This is the brainchild of Raffaele Stuparitz (no kidding – I couldn’t make this up!). Apparently this is some kind of an effort to raise awareness of environmental sustainability, for which participants will be able to receive a “Biocube T-shirt (american apparel, organic cotton, sweet design, super comfy).”
Structural panels such as OSB use phenol or urea formaldehyde and isocyanate resins as an adhesive in their construction. OSB panels are waterproof only for moderate exposure and soon degrade. Hydrolysis of the resins, especially urea formaldehyde, in a hot and humid (Hello! east central Illinois!) environment, evolve free formaldehyde. Only OSB constructed with PMDI (polymeric diphenyl methylene diisocyanate) binders are considered “green”.
So it is always amusing to see what the eco-activists select in their quest for “making a statement”. OSB was clearly selected because it is cheap! But sustainable — no probably not — unless the much more expensive PMDI version was obtained, or they planted palms or spider plants instead of grass.
May 30, 2008 at 11:57 pm
Peace lilies are cool, every home should have one.
I would have been more impressed with the bio-cube theme if it had used sinks and baths that had been dumped in the landfill.
However the schaden-freude displayed by you means that you have nothing to offer yourself apart from putting down any attempt to remind folk that their actions have consequences elsewhere.
Yup OSB isn’t the most enviro-friendly material but there is a crap load of it out there. It can be put in more crappy situations or used to grow plants… which will cause the least problems.
Gotta love those “well it’s there what can we do?” surrender conservatives.
June 2, 2008 at 8:25 am
I would go for old sinks or bathtubs. I would even go for biocubes if they:
a) Weren’t so damn ugly; and
b) Contained something other than weeds.
June 2, 2008 at 1:07 pm
This is my favorite post in the project:
http://20biocubes.blogspot.com/2008/03/be-constructive.html
I assume that’s a sustainable power drill and organic vinyl safety goggles inside of an all-hemp and bamboo workshop.
I always was generally annoyed with what they spend the various student fees on. If you’re so excited about what you’re raising money for, make it a voluntary fee. Otherwise you’re just stealing money from the future and spending on football (massively profitable on its own), water slides (IMPE improvements), and this crap that will be destroyed by next year as opposed to the solar panel project they ran the year before.
How is this more focused on sustainable living than promoting the adoption and commoditization of solar power?
June 6, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Time Cube!
http://www.timecube.com/
June 25, 2008 at 4:23 pm
I hate Time Cube! I truly feel I am a worse person for even looking at that website.
June 26, 2008 at 8:20 am
Well. There is no doubt that Time Cube’s a rant. How big is that font anyway?
October 22, 2008 at 4:33 pm
[…] while ago I posted a short note on one of the “green” initiatives by a student group on campus. This was funded from […]