I know it well, and “Things I won’t work with” always proves a fun read. I don’t yet have the requisite practical experience to hold forth on that particular topic, though I’ve had my share of home and student lab mishaps. Mostly home mishaps with electronics and crafts. I’ve been shocked, pinched, burned, gassed, and had a table saw hurl a 2X4 into my arm. I’m generally more careful with chemicals, which leads to hilarious moments when I realize I’m treating something like sodium iodide (they put it in table salt) like it would explode if I used it wrong. Still, good habits are good habits.
I thought he was the first coming of bringing sensible non-folklore cooking advice to your average foodie. More than that would probably be too much credit, much as I love the guy. I admit making my own Twizzlers intrigues me…
Well this is kind of my main goal. I don’t want everyone to go off and become a scientist (it’s bad for my own personal job security.) I just want people to know things like that “environmentally friendly” cleaner your using may or may not be that environmentally friendly, or that it may have an undesirable trade-off. I spent last semester working to assess stream health in my area and testing for various contaminants, and I learned a lot about water issues. A lot of people think a Brita filter will make up for shitty infrastructure- it won’t. While I’m far from an expert in environmental chemistry, I do want people to understand that well, Um, Shit’s Complex, Yo.
I also want people to be informed as consumers. There’s a lot of “chemical marketing.” So soaps and shampoos usually lather more than is necessary because people think that bubbles clean things. Look at the brand name “Scrubbing Bubbles,” it hooks into that odd instinct we have about bubbles. At least that can be fairly benign, but people have been parted from their hard earned money to have their tires filled with nitrogen because it “leaks less” because the molecule is bigger. In truth it’s a waste unless you’re going to fly your car and land it on a runway, or if you’re an F1 race car driver.
Oh, I’m planning something you might really like for when I discuss the Radium Girls, then.
Aw shucks… I’m going to start updating it semi-religiously (at least once every two days) starting, hopefully, on Wednesday.
