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Patent No. 6739087B2: Garden Pest Trap With Beer

May 25, 2016 By Jay Brooks

patent-logo
Today in 2004, US Patent 6739087 B2 was issued, an invention of Isaac Weiser and Margaret Weiser, assigned to Exhart Environmental Systems, Inc., for their “Garden Pest Trap.” Here’s the Abstract:

A pest trap for trapping snails, slugs, and the like comprising a base structure and a decorative cover. The base structure comprises a planar surface, a sloping surface surrounding at least part of the planar surface, two or more recesses formed in the planar surface for retaining a liquid for luring the pests, and a containment surface that is inclined and surrounds each recess. The cover rests over the base structure, preferably mounted on one or more side walls that partially enclose the planar surface and optionally have flanged ends for partially enclosing the recesses. Use and maintenance of the trap of the present invention is thereby greatly simplified and may be environmentally friendly utilizing common beer or other non-liquid luring means.

US06739087-20040525-D00001
US06739087-20040525-D00002

Filed Under: Beers, Just For Fun, Politics & Law, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Environment, History, Law, Patent

Brewers For Clean Water

October 14, 2014 By Jay Brooks

water
There was interesting article a couple of days ago on Newsweek, entitled Craft Beer Brewers Team Up to Improve Water Standard about a group of breweries partnering with the “Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), a New York–based environmental group, to support stricter regulations on water pollution.” At least forty breweries are currently signed on as “Brewers for Clean Water,” including Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada Breweries.

According to Newsweek:

The NRDC and the brewers, including the California-based Lagunitas and Sierra Nevada brewing companies, are asking citizens to write to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to finalize a proposed rule that would give federal government more latitude to enforce the Clean Water Act. The agency is currently considering public comments until November 14, before putting the finishing touches on the fine text of the rule, known as the “Waters of the United States.”

The NRDC also created a video about the issue of water.

save-water-drink-beer

Filed Under: Beers, Breweries, News, Related Pleasures Tagged With: Environment, Science of Brewing, Water

Rethinking The Can

May 5, 2010 By Jay Brooks

beer-can-beer
John Heylin, who runs the Nor Cal Beer Guide, has an interesting article he posted today about the untold costs of aluminum cans, entitled Why Craft Breweries Should Stop Using Cans. In it, his main argument is that while cans have benefits once they’re made, that the process of creating aluminum cans have significant costs to the environment from the mining and processing of them. I hadn’t ever thought about it from that angle, and it’s certainly worth looking into further. He concludes with this.

The bottom line is this: aluminum is in no way environmentally friendly. Sure, after it is ripped from the Earth, smelted, shipped, refined, and made into a product it is easily recyclable and very light weight, but the cost is far too great. The cost to the environment and to the people living around these areas is just too much. Clean aluminum is like the myth of clean coal, it’s a total lie.

So what about glass? Heylin remarks that “at least glass comes from sand, is reusable, and when thrown away goes back to sand. Aluminum? It lasts forever.” I’m assuming, though, that taking sand and turning it into glass also has environmental costs associated with it, though what they are I don’t know off the top of my head.

In the end, I really don’t know how to balance which does the greater harm or is gentler on the planet. It seems no matter what we choose, some harm is done. I’m certainly not willing to give up packaged beer while so many other manufactured goods, and for that matter entire industries, are doing far worse damage. I guess today I’ll stick with draft beer. But wait, isn’t that one big aluminum can? Damn. Okay, I guess I’ll search out a wooden cask. Hold up, isn’t that chopping down forests for the wood? In the Joe Jackson song Cancer, a line in the chorus is “everything gives you cancer” and at one point in the song just after singing that line, a piano riff begins and Jackson yells out, “hey, don’t play that piano.” And in a sense, I guess my point is, like the song, that everything causes some harm and choices have to be made. Every brewery is built with mined metal, industrial processing plants, smelting, iron and steel, and goodness knows what else.

Should we try to make responsible choices? Of course. But in a world where every decision has consequences, and usually bad ones, even Thomas Hobson might have trouble making a choice.

Still, it’s always good to consider and rethink our assumptions on a regular basis. Any day that makes us think is a good day, in my opinion, at least, even if it’s driving me to drink.

Filed Under: Beers, Editorial, Politics & Law Tagged With: Cans, Environment, Packaging, Recycling

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