Golf Tournament

Westlake Golf Tournament!!! A chilly morning turned into a great success! A big thank you to Westlake Chemical for hosting and letting us sponsor the event! Today was a great day to support and fundraise for Capital Area United Way! Thank you to all who stopped by the tent and voted! See y’all next year!

Galentine’s Day

Galentine’s Day

noun [gal-uhn-tahyns day]

1: day for ladies celebrating ladies

2. observed on Feb 13th; traditionally celebrated by kicking it with breakfast-style; must have waffles; only the best day of the year

 

This year at Sigma, Lauren White and Courtney Stone organized secret galentine’s gift exchange. The ladies at Sigma filled out a form of their “favorites” ranging from snacks to places to shop. Each form was submitted and redistributed to a lady in a different department. The two days leading up to Valentine’s Day, each lady placed little goodies on their galentine’s desk-or even had somebody else deliver it to remain anonymous. Finally, on Valentine’s Day the ladies went to a reveal lunch and shared who their secret galentine was!

Mirco-Plastic Concrete?

Could concrete be a viable solution to micro plastics? First what is a micro plastic…

Micro plastics are microscopic plastics that are less than 5mm in diameter. Depending on the structure can also be named microfibers. These particulates are flakes from plastic water bottle, detergent bottles- basically anything hard plastic. Environmentalists, marine scientists, and doctors alike are concerned with the injection of these particles. At first the larger particles were the primary concern because of the toxicity and risks that the pigment of plastic had on the human and marine life digestive system; however, the nano plastics are of the upmost concern. These fibers can find their way into cells and disrupt the function and processes of cells, interfere with the endocrine system, and become lodged in the lungs causing inflammation. Studies have been inconclusive as to the longterm of effects of consumption of micro plastics.

All this being said…is concrete the answer?

The most prevalent additives to concrete are currently synthetic polymers and steel fibers. These are used to reinforce the concrete and prevent cracking, but there are microfibers that act as “spiderwebs” that lock in the concrete properties. A potential solution that would reduce the amount of microfibers is harvesting these fibers and adding it to concrete so that the lifespan of concrete increased. Could this be the next solution? What do you think?

https://gcpat.com/en/about/news/blog/are-you-putting-right-fiber-right-purpose-your-concrete

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01143-3

Jam Jam

JAM JAM 2022!!! What an awesome fundraiser for United Way!! Our crew had a blast making “the best” jambalaya! Special thanks to all who helped out during the day! It was a great success, until next time!