REUSABLE GROWING BAG FOR GREENER ENVIRONMENT

REUSABLE GROWING BAG FOR GREENER ENVIRONMENT 5/30/2013 TEAM FROM: UNIVERSITI PUTRA MALAYSIA TEAM MEMBERS: 1. GOH HAN LIN 2. WOON XIAN YANG 3. TEH JUN XIONG 4. NORKHAIRUNNISA MAZLAN 1 P a g e

OVERVIEW The purpose of this report is to highlight the reuse of pollination bag into a useful product. In this project, our aim is to reuse the pollination bags so that it will be environmental friendly and not wasted upon usage. Our research plan includes 1) problem statement, 2) develop evaluation criteria, and 3) design features. After analyzing the condition of this bag, the type of materials and also requirements from the company, we think that the best way is to turn the pollination bag into a reusable growing bag. This growing bag is an ideal way to plant the root vegetables such as potato, radish, carrot, beet, and many more. The reusable growing bag is designed to fulfill these purposes: Gives the used pollination bags a second life Supports green environment Provides a convenient and efficient way to plant root vegetables in small garden For people who live in apartment, they can have this reusable growing bag to plant root vegetables near their balcony In four season country, this growing bag can be used for planting during winter. We also managed to come out with a production economics analysis based on the growing bags price sold in UK. We suggest the resale price of this growing bag to be 1.45 per bag which would give a profit margin of approximately 28%. In this report also, we recommend the following actions: painting the growing bag; producing a different size of growing bag; sterilizing the used pollination bag; and making a stronger handle for the growing bag. 1. INTRODUCTION PBS International is the international manufacturer of pollination bags. The bag is very useful as a scientific equipment for plant breeding. The bag is made from unique material in which moisture and air can pass through the bag and even more, the bag is strong against abrasion and tearing. However, after it had been used in the field, the bag is not attractive as it used to be. The bags look dirty, crumpled and potentially contaminated with the pesticides. Therefore, our main concern here is to create a product from the used pollination bag made from PBS International Company. After analyzing and doing some research on this bag, we came out with a reusable growing bag design. This bag is made for gardeners who have small space in their garden or for people who live in the apartment. They can use this growing bag to grow a variety of root vegetables. We believe 2 P a g e

that reusing the pollination bags this way is effective and practical, and also provides a green space that may benefit the environment. 2. RESEARCH PLAN 2.1 Problem Statement Throughout our project, there are several challenges that we have faced and we came out with a few problem statements regarding with this project: i. We had to think of a suitable method to join the pollination bag together in order to transform it into a different size of dimension. We suggest that it is necessary to transform the pollination bag into the planting growing bag which has a bigger dimension. We thought of a few methods to join the bag. After considering end cost value of the product, we decide to stitch the pollination bag together using sewing machine. ii. We also had to think of a design for the planting bag that is viable as a small business, can be easily replicate, and competitive in the market. After some deep research, we made use of the window in the pollination bag to transform it into an opening in our planting bag. The opening is convenient for gardeners to harvest their root vegetables. We also carefully thought about our bag s dimension so that our bag can comfortably fit in the root vegetables. Handle for the growing bag is also made for user convenience. iii. We faced complications when calculating the production economics. We had to do extra research on the UK market. Expenses such as labor cost and equipment cost may vary in UK. We browse through numerous web pages before we can roughly figure out the local prices. 3 P a g e

2.2 Developing Design Concept The growing bag is designed with the following concepts: i. Environmental-friendly It is necessary to produce a product that will not harm the environment, but instead promote its conservation. Considering the pollination bag will not decompose, the best way of achieving environmental-friendly product is to reuse it. Our reusable growing bag is a great way to bring out the idea as it can be reused again upon harvesting. ii. Practical design The design has to be practical. We need to consider the actual use of this bag in real life situation and whether it is able to function similarly or better than other products available in the market. It is important so that our product can have the reuse value. Therefore, we designed the pollination bag into a reusable growing bag as we feel the design is suitable, especially for people who only have small space area for gardening iii. Convenient We want our design to be user-friendly and convenient. Therefore, we designed a handle to make the growing bag portable. We did this because we know gardeners may like to move the growing bag according to their preference. We also designed it with a PVC opening for the easier harvesting the root vegetables. iv. Cost effective Our product should be cost effective, cheap and affordable. Thus, we decide to use material from the pollination bags as the core material. v. Can be replicated easily Our design can also be replicated easily. Since the production of our growing bag only requires some cutting and basic sewing skill, it is easy to produce it. No expertise skill will be needed. vi. Viable as a small business Besides all those that are mentioned, we also want our product to be viable as a small business. We want a product that can be commercialized, and brings profit. Being 4 P a g e

environmental-friendly, practical, convenient and economic, our product will stand a chance to be in the market. 2.3 Design Features The growing bag is designed with a handle. The durability of the handle is related to the strength performance of the bag materials. However, if there is too much load of soil in this growing bag, the handle may tear apart. Our growing bag is sewed using double stitching method. This will provides strong strength and durability to the bag. The soil would not leak out from the growing bag. Our growing bag has PVC opening that can be opened and closed. This feature is convenient for the harvesting of the root vegetables. Our growing bag is made of pollination bag material that is breathable and allows passing through of water vapour. It serves as a natural drainage hole for our growing bag. Our reusable growing bag has a dimension of 22.5cm x 22.5cm x 57cm (~25000 cm 3 or 25 litres capacity), with an actual planting capacity of 21 litres. With this size, our growing bag can comfortably fit in 1 tuber of potato, 1 carrot or 2-3 pieces of ginger. Our growing bag is also designed with a PVC opening window for user s convenience. When the vegetables are ready to be harvested, we can easily access the opening and harvest our vegetables through the PVC window. 5 P a g e

2.3.1 Manufacturing requirements Our manufacturing requirements are equipments and materials and human skills. Here we listed the equipment and materials needed to produce the growing bag. 2.3.1.1 Equipments and materials i. Sewing machine ii. Scissor iii. Measuring tape iv. Binding tape (We used the tape from book bands) v. Detergent vi. Threads vii. Oven (Not needed if you choose to dry them manually) 2.3.1.2 Human skills Only basic sewing skill (operating the sewing machine) is required. From our point of view, for a small manufacturing business, it would be ideal to start off with fewer workers. Generally, 5 to 10 workers would be sufficient unless there is a large supply of pollination bag material. 2.3.2 Transformation process Manufacturing procedure: 1. Before the manufacturing process begins, the bags were first soaked in detergent and warm water. The bags were then brushed thoroughly and carefully. 6 P a g e 2. The bags were left to dry before we proceed to transform the bag. 3. 3 pollination bags were needed to produce the product.

4. The edge of the pollination bag was cut using a pair of scissors to obtain two pieces of the material. 5. The PVC window panel of the pollination bag was then tore off slowly and carefully. 6. Steps 3-5 were repeated on the second pollination bag. 7. The third pollination bag was used to make the base of our growing bag. A base of 25cm x 25cm was obtained from cutting the pollination bag. The base has a slightly bigger dimension than our design to compensate for the space allocation later on in the sewing process. 8. After all the materials were prepared, the pieces of material were sewed together into the designed growing bag. One end of the PVC window panel is sewed to the top part of the bag s opening. 9. Throughout the whole sewing process, double-stitched sewing was done to provide extra strength to the bag. 10. After sewing the growing bag, the bag s handle was made by cutting off some space. The rest of the PVC opening was sewed with binding tape. 11. The growing bag is done and ready to be used. *The complete transformation process is shown in the video that we have made and uploaded on YouTube channel. The link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odj5ihurj_e 7 P a g e

3. STRENGTH, WEAKNESS, OPPORTUNITIES, THREATS (SWOT) ANALYSIS Here we list out the SWOT analysis of our bag when it enters the market: 3.1 Strengths Durable It is abrasion resistant, and able to maintain its shape and strength even though soil is added. Breathable Air and moistures can pass through. There is no necessary to design air hole on this growing bag, thus preventing potential problems such as insects getting into the growing bag. Temperature resistant The bag is heat and cold resistant. Being able to maintain a stable temperature, the bag will be able to provide an ideal growing environment for root vegetables. Cheaper price Our growing bag will have a price advantage against other bags as our material cost is zero, having obtaining our core material from reusing pollination bags. The lower pricing is expected to be able to attract buyer s attention. Portable Our growing bag can be moved around according to user s preference. Height Our growing is designed to be 50cm of planting in depth which can give the root vegetable a better growing environment. It would normally be advisable to put in 15-20cm of compost before we put in the tuber. PVC opening Our growing bag has a PVC opening window that can be opened during harvesting. It will be more convenient as users do not have to dig through the roots and potentially damage the vegetable while harvesting. 3.2 Weaknesses Appearance Our bag may not look as attractive as other available growing bags, considering it is reused from pollination bags. Marketing power As a new local product, it will be difficult to compete and stand out in the growing bag market, since it will be a small business. 8 P a g e

Production rate The production rate of the bag will not be fast enough. As a growing bag would require 3 pollination bags, mass production of the bag may be hard to achieve. There can only be that many amount of used pollination bags a day. If the demand shall exceed supply one day, this will be a problem. 3.3 Opportunities Advertisement Advertise in the social media or gardening forums is one of the faster and effective way to promote the new growing bag. Direct sales It will be an easier initial approach for our product to get into the market. Appearance enhancement Repainting our growing bag may be a way to grab more interest and attention from the buyers, since consumers tend to only buy things that they like. Green environment theme It is a good idea to form partnership with environmentally concerned body. It will be a faster and more successful way to promote as your target buyer is basically the same group of people. 3.4 Threats Competitors There are already a few competitors in the growing bag market that are producing similar type of growing bag as ours. Buying interest The people s interest in purchasing a recycled pollination bag for their gardening use is not known. They may have doubt in our products. Pricing A few potential competitors which are producing better looking bags may also have reasonably low market price. Economic trend For the past five years, there has been smaller economy and falling living standard in UK. Low buying power is always a threat for a new and small business. 9 P a g e

4. ANALYSIS VERSUS OTHER POTENTIAL METHODS OF PRODUCTION We have thought of several potential production methods on producing this growing bag. Below is our analysis and opinion on each method. a) Sewing The production cost will be lower. The only long-term cost for sewing would be the material and labor cost. Manufacturing time is relatively short compared to other method. The growing bag can be joined firmly. b) Joining with resin and catalyst The overall production cost will be higher since this is an unconventional way. We would have to pay extra material cost for the resin and catalyst. Manufacturing time will be longer as mixing of the mixture and hardening process both require more time. Higher capital cost as pressing machine is needed. The growing bag can be joined firmly and has a strong structural strength. c) Hot welding The overall production cost is higher as more capital cost, material, electricity and energy are needed. From the view of aesthetics, it is not nice. Expertise skill is required to do the welding perfectly. Time consuming d) Hot clamping The capital cost will be higher as the machine is not cheap. The growing bag joined by this method may not be able to withstand the weight of the soil. The clamped area may break apart. Production rate is relatively fast compared to other method. Based on the analysis, we think that sewing would be the ideal production method. As we all know, what matters most in production would be the production quality, production rate and the cost. In all 3 aspects, production by sewing has the better if not similar result with the other method. Therefore, we recommend manufacturing the growing bag through sewing method. 10 P a g e

5. PRODUCTION ECONOMICS 5.1 Time taken to make the product The time consuming to clean and dry the bag will not be long. All the bag materials can be clean and brush on the same time. The bag materials were oven dried to 105 C and It take at most to 1 hour to get the materials dry and ready for the next stage. Actions (Per bag) Cutting Sewing Estimated time requirement 2 minutes 6 minutes The time taken to produce a planting bag from cleaned pollination bag is estimated to be 8 minutes. 5.2 Estimated production costs Type of cost Estimated cost in pound per hour Material cost (Detergent, thread, binding tape) 1 Labour cost 6.31 per worker Electricity cost 0.10 Production cost per hour = (1 + 6.31 + 0.1) = 7.41 Production rate per hour (one worker) = 60 8 = 7.5 bags per hour Assuming 8 hours of working hour a day, since 1 hour will be used for cleaning and drying, the actual production time will be 7 hours. Total production cost a day = 7.41 x 8 = approximately ~59 Production rate per day (one worker) = 7.5 x 7 = ~52 bags a day From the data obtained, the production cost of 1 growing bag will be: 59 1.13 52 bags 11 P a g e

5.3 Estimated capital costs and set up costs Equipment Estimated capital cost Sewing Machine 200 Vacuum Drying oven 330 Total 530 5.4 Suggested resale price Below is the price of some other vegetable growing bag in UK: Type of grow bag Market Price 25L Botanico Salad & Vegetable Planter Jute Grow Bag 5 Haxnicks Potato Patio Planter 4.30 Burgon & Ball Rectangular Potato Planting Bag 11 Based on our market research on the price of growing bags, the price of growing bags in the market is generally around 3-10 depending on their quality. We would suggest a resale price of 1.45 per bag, which would give a profit margin of 28.3%. This would be a reasonable profit margin for a small manufacturing business. We would have a rather significant price advantage in the growing bag s market due to our low selling price. 5.5 Cost justification 1. The labour cost we suggested is the minimum wage requirement in UK. (BBC News - Minimum wage to increase to 6.31, 2013) 2. The sewing machine we used is domestic sewing machine from Brothers. (Sewing machine direct sales of sewing machines) 3. Vacuum drying oven (Vacuum drying oven for laboratory instrument ) 4. Other available growbag price in the market is obtained from the following website (see references) * The equipments, costs and price we set are just a suggestion. 12 P a g e

6. RECOMMENDATIONS With our reusable growing bag completed, we also thought of a few recommendations and modifications that may be possible to add on our design. The recommendations are more on enhancing the bag s appearance. 6.1 Painting the growing bag As our growing bag is produced from used materials, its appearance may be lacking compared to other available growing bags on the market. The pale white colour may turn off the interest of some buyers. An option would be to paint the growing bag. Painting it will certainly enhance the bag s outer appearance and makes it more presentable in the market. 6.2 Different size for the growing bag The growing bag we designed has a capacity of around 25 liters. However, it is always possible to produce bag of different dimensions. Every gardener may have their own personal preferences when it comes to growing bag. Therefore, this will be an added advantage when our product enters the market. 6.3 Sterilizing the pollination bag When making our growing bag, we only cleaned the pollination bags and do not sterilize them. We faced technical difficulties in conducting chemical sterilization. However, it will be a good idea to sterilize the bag as this will remove all the discolourations on the bag material. 6.4 Drying method In our production cost calculation, we considered drying by oven which is a faster way. However, it is also perfectly fine to dry it naturally. Drying by oven will be the way to go for mass production, providing there are a lot of bag materials ready for processing. Considering that this is only a small business, it may not be a bad idea to just dry it naturally. We can always dry the materials the first day and process them into growing bags the second day. 6.5 Handle of the growing bag In our experiment, we tried to lift the bag with the handles we made. However, we noticed that the handle will rip apart as we tried to lift it. We recommend that the handle should be made with another material such as cotton, and attached to the bag by sewing. The handle we made previously just by cutting a hole cannot support the weight of the soil. 13 P a g e

7. CONCLUSION The decision to make growing bags from the used PBS pollination bags is made after deep consideration. We believe that it is a good and practical example to reuse the pollination bags. It would make a fine growing bag in the market as it is durable, UV light resistant, breathable and allow passing through of water vapour. We have already done an experiment to confirm its strength as a growing bag. When we loaded the bag with approximately 40cm deep of soil, the bag does not break apart or leak out any soil. We believe that this growing bag would make a good mini business because it basically offers what other growing bags have but at a cheaper price too. We have made a few recommendations that may be added on the growing bag as well if PBS feels that it is a good idea. Finally, our group is glad to take part in this competition and hopes that our design can be the idea to your company. REFERENCES 25L Botanico Salad & Vegetable Planter Jute Grow Bag :: Original Organics. (2013, 5 15). Retrieved 5 21, 2013, from Original organics limited: http://www.originalorganics.co.uk/product/bocbs-25l-botanico-salad-- vegetable-planter-jute-grow-bag BBC News - Minimum wage to increase to 6.31. (2013, 4 15). Retrieved 5 20, 2013, from BBC News Business: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22153007 Burgon & Ball Rectangular Potato Planting Bag :: Spud Planters. (2013). Retrieved 5 21, 2013, from Spud Planters - The One Stop Potato Planter Shop: http://www.spudplanters.co.uk/product/bbppb-burgon--ballrectangular-potato-planting-bag Potato Patio Planters. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 21, 2013, from Haxnicks: http://www.haxnicks.co.uk/garden/patio-planters/potato-patio-planters/ Sewing machine direct sales of sewing machines. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 22, 2013, from Sewing machines direct: http://www.sewingmachines.co.uk/brotherlx37_info.htm Vacuum drying oven for laboratory instrument. (n.d.). Retrieved 5 22, 2013, from Alibaba.com - Global trade starts here: http://www.alibaba.com/productgs/737139381/vacuum_drying_oven_for_laboratory_instrument.html 14 P a g e