Instead of playing with polybutadiene golf balls which can take between 100-1,000 years to degrade, soon we could all be playing with ‘shrimp’balls?
Researchers at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have developed a new low-cost biodegradable biocompatible material, which combines silk proteins and chitin extracted from discarded shrimp shells. By controlling the water content during the fabrication process scientists were able to vary material stiffness from elastic to rigid.
Hence individual layers of a multi-layer golf ball could be produced with various elastic properties to maximise performance. -------------------------------------------------
I sometimes read and I’m sure others also read golf apparel reviews by ‘independent’ reviewers. But I’m starting to ask myself, Am I just a ‘one off’ or are these reviewers a little bit lazy, lacking in curiosity or just trying to appease their true masters? I keep reading all about the new technologies for example; 'cool elite technology', 'double moisture wicking' and 'anti-bacterial treatments'. But is it enough just to reiterate these marketing lines?
I appreciate I may be alone in this, but one day I’d just like to read an independent apparel review where the author investigates what lies behind the technology. Which chemicals are used and how these chemicals are processed to produce the garments. At least then golfers would be informed of exactly what they are wearing next to their skin. -------------------------------------------------
Have you ever asked yourself why big apparel brands, star golfers and popular golf magazines all want you to buy polyester polo shirts?
For apparel brands polyester is dirt cheap to make, especially if you select countries where you can legally pay textile workers less than a living wage and environmental protection regulations are non-existent.
Producing polyester is a test-tube operation. You take some terephthalic acid mix it with dimethylterephalate and then add heavy metal antimony trioxide to speed up the whole process.
Then locate factories that can pump as much pollution into the atmosphere and wash away toxic sludge into local rivers to reduce manufacturing costs to the bare bones. Offer leading golfers a small fortune to wear your shirts.
Well would any of us turn down 'loads of money' to wear polyester, even if we didn’t like the shirt's ethical values? Popular golf magazines rely on advertising revenue from apparel brands to survive. No editor is going to turn his back on a series of full page ads just because of concerns about sweatshop labour and climate change. There you have it, a formula for success. -------------------------------------------------
Golf Refugees Custom-Striped Polos come in 20 great colours and are hand-dyed in Britain.
Our stripes are very special; we call them ‘irregular stripes’, as each one is different, unique, just like you. If you would like a unique, ethically made, organic polo shirt please e-mail us; refugees@btinternet.com -------------------------------------------------
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair said “a once in an era opportunity for British tourism” and current minister for the Olympics, Tessa Jowell “British tourism will receive a £2bn boost”. The European Tour Operators Association produced a study which concluded “there appears to be little evidence of any benefit to tourism of hosting an Olympic Games”. Managing director of Australia's Tourism and Transport Forum, said "There are fewer tourists [in Sydney] five years after the Games than before... Where the bloody hell are you?" Tourists are put off by higher than normal hotel prices and overcrowding. While the sort of people who travel to watch sport tend not to be interested in the theatre or other cultural attractions. Theatre mogul Andrew Lloyd Webber confirmed; London’s West End bookings from tourists for this July and August were at just 10 per cent of their normal level, and that theatreland was "in for a bloodbath of a summer". You could say that the Olympics are about much more than making money from tourists. The UK Government set targets for increased sports participation "one million more people playing sport three or more times a week" which it claimed would form part of the "Olympic 2012 legacy". Unfortunately no other host city has increased sports participation as a result of staging the Olympic Games. London’s 2012 guru, Lord [Sebastian] Coe, claimed: "The new sports venues for the Games will help to tackle serious lifestyle-related conditions such as childhood obesity, heart disease and diabetes." If a fraction of the £10bn UK taxpayers are spending on the Olympics had instead been allocated to preserving school sports playing fields from being sold off to property developers, would that have had more of an impact increasing sport participation and tackling childhood obesity? And how will be the fight against childhood obesity, heart disease and diabetes be helped by two of the London Olympics biggest sponsors being McDonald’s and Coca-Cola? There will be some winners. Great profits for those with London homes to rent out during the two weeks of the event. And a temporary army of 23,700 security staff to ‘protect’ the Games. Politicians, corporate guests and sport bureacrats will have the pick of the seats in the stadiums for free. Now that’s the real spirit of the Olympic Games. Source material by Dominic Lawson – The Independent -------------------------------------------------
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