Madison Checketts has loved the beach for as long as she can remember and easily spotted plastic water bottles cluttering around the sand and ocean when going on family vacations. So, the 12-year-old girl decided to do something about it and designed an edible water bottle called Eco-Hero.

An Edible Water Bottle

Madison Checketts designed an edible water bottle to reduce plastic pollution after researching the issue. She presented the bottle at a science fair, where she won first place at the state level and became a finalist in the 2022 Broadcom Masters Competition, a prestigious STEM competition for middle school students.

Checketts was surrounded by other young inventors who had developed projects like a remote-controlled robotic hand for use in natural disasters and a foot-controlled welcome mat for individuals with hand conditions.

Madison Checketts Battles Plastic Pollution

As she began her research, Checketts asked herself how she could contribute to making the world a better place. One of the issues that immediately came to mind was the problem of plastic pollution. Single-use plastic products like water bottles are used and discarded, with the majority not being recycled. In the USA alone, more than 30 billion plastic water bottles are consumed each year, many of which end up in the ocean, where they contribute to the estimated 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic waste currently circulating there.

Plastic pollution is a major threat to marine ecosystems and wildlife. For example, marine animals such as turtles may mistake plastic waste for food and ingest it, leading to blocked stomachs, illness, and other internal damage. Additionally, depending on the chemical properties and environmental conditions, plastics can release toxic chemicals and contaminants into the ocean.

Edible Reverse Spherification Water Bottle

Checketts experimented with reverse spherification, a technique used to enclose liquid in a gel membrane to create an edible water bottle. She used calcium lactate and sodium alginate, common food additives that form a gel membrane when mixed together, as well as xanthan gum and lemon juice. After several attempts, she successfully created a prototype in a blender.

The Eco-Hero is an edible, biodegradable water bottle that holds about three-quarters of a cup of water and costs about $1.20 to make. To use it, the consumer bites a hole at the top of the gelatinous membrane, drinks the water, and then either eats the membrane or throws it away. The drink has a slight lemon flavor, and the edible membrane tastes slightly lemony but becomes tasteless as it is chewed. It has the texture of a gummy bear. Environmental scientist Daniel Rittschof of Duke University, who has worked with the reverse spherification technology used in the Eco-Hero, believes the concept is promising.

The easiest approach to maintain your lawn tractor operating properly is to adhere to the maintenance recommendations in the tractor’s manual. However, owner’s manuals rarely offer advice and practical knowledge that come from experience; they typically merely provide a general description of what to do and when to do it. To speed up and simplify lawn tractor maintenance and tubeless tire repair, seasoned mechanics revealed which measures are the most crucial.

#1. Blowing the Tractor’s Mower Deck

You might believe that the pulleys and belts on a mower deck are shielded from dirt, grass clippings, and other debris by the belt guards on top of the mower deck. However, the exact opposite is true. Debris is sucked in by the rotating belts and pulleys and trapped inside by the guards. Then it starts to spin around, tearing up your belts and grinding away at the pulley surfaces. Every replacement belt you put on will be swiftly consumed by a worn-out pulley. Simply blow the deck off with an air compressor or leaf blower after every third or fourth mowing to avoid needing to buy a pricey belt and pulley replacements.

#2. Choosing the Right Oil

Your lawn tractor needs routine oil changes, just like your car does. You can disregard the recommendation for a particular brand of oil in your owner’s manual. To pick the optimum kind of oil for your mower, pay attention to the suggested viscosity (such as 10W- 30). Look for a “winter weight” oil recommendation in the instructions if you use your tractor to clear snow. Never, ever, replace the oil alone without replacing the oil filter. Wipe up any oil that’s spilled onto the engine to avoid a buildup of sludge. Take the used oil in bottles to the local oil recycling facility for disposal.

#3. Cleaning the Air Filters

Most likely, you’re already aware of the significance of changing the air filter as frequently as the owner’s handbook advises. But between changes, it’s also a good idea to clean the filter. When cleaning a foam prefilter on your tractor, just use soap and water; never use a solvent or other cleaner. Blow out the pleated paper filter using a gentle air compressor blast. Remember that this doesn’t replace routine filter replacements. Replace the filter with a fresh one as needed, even if it appears clean.

#4. Good Greasing

Greasing is not particularly complicated, yet many tractor owners get it wrong. The biggest error is choosing the incorrect grease. Use the brand-indifferent variety, whether it be polyurea, lithium with molybdenum disulfide, or plain lithium, that the manufacturer has advised. Every time you change the oil, grease all the fittings. To find them all, consult your owner’s manual. Your mower deck and other accessories can have grease fittings as well. It’s much simpler to access the fittings using a flexible hose.