Sunday, April 28, 2013

Glass Life Cycle Flow Chart


This is my life cycle. As you can see I go from being a raw material, to manufacturing and production factories, to stores, to your home, recycled, and back through the process again.

Day 4: Formed And Then Reused

Day 4


Today was the day that we finished cooling.  When we were done cooling and we were taken out of the molds, I was a different color.  I was so confused because just the day before was when we were almost like an orange color.  

When we were taken out of the molds it was like i was a new person.  I was talking to the other bottles and they said that they have been through this process a lot and that we will probably see each other again.  I asked them why just out of curiosity.   They said that once glass is made and used and then recycled they take the recycled glass and reuse it in making more glass bottles.  

I got so excited because this is better for the environment and I was really happy because I know that along the way that I would make a lot of friends in the process of getting recycled and re-recycled.  

After a while of talking to my new friends we unfortunately got separated into boxes to get shipped off to places that needed glass bottles top hold beverages.  But while traveling in that box I made some more friends and so on and so forth.  

I am glad I was a part of this journey because it made me realize that you can never have too many friends.  :) 

Day 2-3: Life Changes

Day 2

I must have been really early in the morning when I was awoken by some factory workers making a lot of noise.  I was taken out and placed into a container that was moving on what appeared to be a conveyor belt.  This new container was still cramped and it was moving.  I felt like i was going to get sick.  When the container came to a stop I looked up and i saw containers that said "soda ash" and "limestone". After a few seconds they emptied into the container I was in.  It was very crowed and very lonely.  Luckily the other materials were very friendly and we became the best of friends for the 10 minutes.

I started to get a little hot, but i was used to it because i would bake in the sun at the beach..... But then it started to get really really hot, and that is when i knew something wasn't right.  I looked further down the conveyor belt and i saw a really bright light.  I thought to my self this is definitely the end.

.....1 day later.....

Day 3

.......  I woke up and i felt very different but i felt stronger like i was bonded with something or someone else.  I look around me to find that soda ash, limestone, and i are closer than before.  It was almost like we were one.  My color changed too.  

When I was talking to the other materials I remember them saying that we had to be heated to a high temperature and then we will be formed together.  So know that I remember that we were heated to over 2,500 degrees for a day and then i thought o my self what could the workers at this place possibly need a molten like liquid for?  

I wondered what they were going to do with us next.  I was just waiting for something else to happen that i wasn't expecting.  

We were then put into molds of bottles and then we were set to cool.  

Day 1: A Day At The Beach

Day 1

It was a very peaceful day at the beach.  It was hot and there was a nice breeze and the sun was out so i was getting a nice tan.  I heard something in the distance but I didn't think anything of it.  When the noise started to get closer and closer i started to get a little worried.  I started to get a headache from all the noise.  All of a sudden i saw this shadow that just came over me and the other grains of sand around me....

There was a machine on the beach, since when was it normal for there to be a machine on the beach?  I don't know but i was really confused.  I looked like it was sucking up sand and keeping it.  Some of my friends were taken... I was very upset.

Then I started to feel myself moving, I looked up and I saw myself getting closer and closer to this machine, it had this thing that looked like a tube of darkness, I didn't know what to do.

"AAAHHH, what is going on?", a grain of sand that was sitting next to me said.

Then I said ,"Why are they taking all of the grains of sand? What did we ever do to this machine that we have never seen before in our lives?"

the only thing I was worried about was being in that tube of darkness all by myself.  I didn't know any other grains of sand around me so i was soo scared.  

I thought it was going to be the end of my life and be the end of the sand race.  It was almost like we were in a truck of some sort.  There was a tiny whole where i looked out and i saw a building labeled "Glass Making Plant" as we slowed down to a halt.  I guess i had to wait till the next day to find out what was going on because it started to get dark.  I tried to keep my cool and stay calm, cool, and collected but i was very hard considering the situation i was in.