Hand cast, bio based, biodegradable bio resins

We have huge fun here at ADR!

We are one of the last facilties to actually "Hand Cast" in the USA. These type of artisal jobs all moved to Asia in the 50's and then to China permanently by the end of the recession. Even with less expensive labor in Asia, the art of hand casting has been lost to the machine injection molding companies.

However here at ADR we can bring in an architectural antique in the morning. Make a plaster mold and a slip mold and by the end of the next business day our finished mold will capture the dust and peeling paint detail from the original for dozens and dozens of exact copies.

Of course we have also made some odd additional casts; a few faces, Robert's Jobu statue for his baseball good fortune, ancient acanthus leaves for hair ornaments, architectural details for molding or cornices.

Many years ago I started our "BIP" program: "Boycott If Possible" against petrochemical plastics.We had worked to develop specialized bio based casting materials so we did not use petro plastics. My Father, an amazing engineer, was instrumental in the chemistry/ math area. He was in the top .30 per cent of the nation in math in high school. (was I actually left on the doorstep?) Our bio plastics are made from bamboo cellulose (Our "wood style" rings) and the castor oil plant (our hand cast brackets and finials) and we have some rings made from corn cellulose

After a visit to the Frankfurt product design fair in 2002 I originally had to import corn cellulose plastics from Germany even though the corn was grown in the US.

Germany is currently the world leader in eco responsible materials use. After World War 2 Germany was completely trashed by both the Allied bombing and thier own arms and chemical warfare manufacturing. They set up a very disciplined manifesto to rebuild Germany into the pristine country of thier past. Thier water filtration systems and trash requirements are wonderful.

I have always enjoyed the view of all the "green roofs" in Frankfurt, literally wild grass growing on the roofs as both an insulating material and home for wild birds and foraging for bee's.(We are always big on bee's!)   There are even views of green roofs from the Frankfurt airport if you are just passing thru.

The next time you pick up a finial, hold it in your hand for a moment and feel the weight. Ask yourself "Is this a petrochemical plastic, that will phytodegrade into thousands of tiny carcinogenic pieces in my descendents water supply, food chain or the ocean?"

Or is this finial made responsibly, from a bio based, bio degradable plastic that will last hundreds of years in the right conditions, but turn into an actual food when it is placed with bacteria in a land fill? If it is a product from that slightly obsessed Whitney Walker, you know the answer. We build green.

I love my MEV! (Magnificent Electric Vehicle)



I have owned a half dozen range rovers,a half dozen jags, a half dozen mercedes including a beautiful biodiesel mercedes. I owned a prius and a lexus hybrid.

But my favorite car ever is my Chevy Volt! Great handling, speedy, zippy and I feel primitively sexy when I plug it in to charge up with wind power instead of plugging a car in to suck fossil fuels.

I will always be a sucker for speed in Jags, Ferrari's and Mazerati's. And you can't beat the grounding and utilty of a truck. but there is no joy in the petrochemical pollution.

I laugh when my friends say "You're driving a Chevrolet?" It's just far sexier to recharge with wind power than drive the gas guzzling import. And I am buying Made in the USA, keeping auto industry jobs here, which in turn helps current and future generations of Americans.

My Mick Jagger favorite song: "Start Me Up" is now sung with "plug me in, plug me in, plug me in!"

Top 10 Things Americans Can do to Clean Up the USA

1. Boycott coal power which is 54 0/0 of US air pollution, buy wind or solar energy for your home and business.

2. Drive an electric car (or no car!) and recharge it with wind or solar energy sources.

3. Boycott petro plastic bottled water, bottled beverages - use aluminum or glass instead!

4. Boycott petro plastic in foods, styrofoam, plastic straws, plastic bags and businesses that use them. These plastics cause ground water toxins in local dumps when plastics phytodegrade and become tiny particles of carcinogens. Petro plastics affect seafood with plastics in the great pacific garbage dumps and other gyros building around the planet.

5. Boycott non-organic foods. Buy only organic food. Think about it: if pesticides kills a small bug, eventually the cumulative effect will kill the biggest bugs and humans!

6. Donate to the NRDC National Resources Defence Council, who scores more big wins for the USA than most environmental organizations. You can also donate to Greenpeace, the Sierra Club, the Audubon  Center for Biological Diversity or the Union of Concerned Scientists.

7. Buy only organic cotton clothing, bedding and textiles. Conventional cotton uses 24 0/0 of the entire planets pesticides. At least 2 pounds of toxic chemicals are used to produce one pound of conventional cotton. Do not wear non bio degradable clothing such as polyester, as it may wind up in the ocean.

8. Boycott GMO foods wherever possible. Especially "round up pesticide resistant" corn. The GMO companion pesticides and GMO systemic pesticides are killing bees, beneficial insects, biodiversity and are putting huge cancers in the food chain. Support labeling all GMO products.

9. Buy local organic food. Get to know the people who grow your food! Grow some of your own when possible. Great Britain Victory gardens are inspiration for small pieces of land that produce local food you can trade and gift.

10. Use every one of your purchases to choose a healthier planet. Toxic products such as pesticide soaked food, clothing or home goods, bleached non reforested copy paper, plastic bottle water and bags, etc. will be obsolete when there is no one to buy them! Informed consumers are changing the world.

Lonny August 2012 | Lonnymag.com

Lonny August 2012 | Lonnymag.com