Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

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Hazel
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Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by Hazel »

Without really thinking through it, I drew the Green Tara mantra on some styrofoam.

Any suggestions on how to respectfully dispose of it? Normally, there is a puja that can be preformed where dharma texts are burned. However I can't burn styrofoam.

One thought is that I could melt it with chemicals I have on hand, easy enough. Another thought is that I could draw over it so it's no longer a mantra.
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karmanyingpo
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by karmanyingpo »

Hazel wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 6:47 pm Without really thinking through it, I drew the Green Tara mantra on some styrofoam.

Any suggestions on how to respectfully dispose of it? Normally, there is a puja that can be preformed where dharma texts are burned. However I can't burn styrofoam.

One thought is that I could melt it with chemicals I have on hand, easy enough. Another thought is that I could draw over it so it's no longer a mantra.
Instructions on things like this seem to very from teacher to teacher.

For example at FPMT they seem more on the strict side - don't lick your finger and turn pages, don't throw texts away but burn them respectfully, put Buddha images in stupas etc.

That being said I have seen many very respectable and great masters licking fingers and turning pages. I do not see them as any less for it or view it as a fault for these beings! :)

My own teacher is more lenient - you can burn texts or images in offerings, but you can also scatter them to the elements so to speak in a clean way.. by recycling them (after putting them in a clean bag).

None of this is to offer you any advice on what to do specifically but rather, to point out the variation in instructions regarding this topic, and to suggest that your teacher may have advice specifically suited to you and your causes and conditions regarding this.

KN
ma lu dzok pe san gye thop par shok!
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

♸ PLASTIC & STYROFOAM ♸
I have developed an easy, cheap, and relatively safe way to turn polystyrene (styrofoam food containers, packing material, any #6 plastic) into a putty that can be shaped or cast in a mold, then turns hard and can be sanded and painted. The process uses no electricity or heat, and produces no waste material. It costs very little. Quite literally, you can do this with a baking soda, nail polish remover, and scraps of styrofoam.

My primary interest in doing this is to reduce the amount of waste polystyrene going into landfills and oceans, while simultaneously creating a 3D medium for artists and craftspeople. I’m not selling anything. I just want to share this information with other creative people.

Although polystyrene can be recycled industrially into things such as synthetic wood (often used in park benches) and other products, it is one of the least recycled plastics because styrofoam is mostly trapped air. Collecting and shipping it to a central recycling facility is just not practical in many areas.
What I’ve tried to do is to remove the need for centralized processing.

Here is a web page I created that explains the process:
http://www.artclix.com/plastic/plasticprocess.html

Please feel free to contact me via private message if you have any questions
EMPTIFUL.
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karmanyingpo
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by karmanyingpo »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:40 pm ♸ PLASTIC & STYROFOAM ♸
I have developed an easy, cheap, and relatively safe way to turn polystyrene (styrofoam food containers, packing material, any #6 plastic) into a putty that can be shaped or cast in a mold, then turns hard and can be sanded and painted. The process uses no electricity or heat, and produces no waste material. It costs very little. Quite literally, you can do this with a baking soda, nail polish remover, and scraps of styrofoam.

My primary interest in doing this is to reduce the amount of waste polystyrene going into landfills and oceans, while simultaneously creating a 3D medium for artists and craftspeople. I’m not selling anything. I just want to share this information with other creative people.

Although polystyrene can be recycled industrially into things such as synthetic wood (often used in park benches) and other products, it is one of the least recycled plastics because styrofoam is mostly trapped air. Collecting and shipping it to a central recycling facility is just not practical in many areas.
What I’ve tried to do is to remove the need for centralized processing.

Here is a web page I created that explains the process:
http://www.artclix.com/plastic/plasticprocess.html

Please feel free to contact me via private message if you have any questions
Wow Paul you are doing fantastic work. I admired your creativity with the fridge magnet idea and, this, to me is on another level. Way cool that you have figured out a way to convert styro foam into this material..

Great idea to share with other creative minded people. I wonder if this would make a good material for tza tzas.

KN
ma lu dzok pe san gye thop par shok!
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Hazel
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by Hazel »

Thanks PadmaVonSamba!

I wonder if dissolving dharma material is respectful....

karmanyingpo, your idea of turning it into a tsa tsa is BRILLIANT.
Happy Pride month to my queer dharma siblings!

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avatamsaka3
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by avatamsaka3 »

Why dispose of it? You wouldn't believe the power that even a scrap of something can have in terms of "converting" someone to dharma...
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PadmaVonSamba
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by PadmaVonSamba »

The thing about all plastics is to remove them from the waste cycle. Styrofoam can also be glued, cut, or just broken, and then coveredy with a glue-based papier-mâché.
So, if you want something that will be around forever, styrofoam is it (so much fir impermanence, right?)

The core of this “faux mani stone” is a chunk of styrofoam. It’s been coated with a glue-based paper pulp “clay” made from recycled paper. The mantra was created by making a big rubber stamp, using thick craft foam, and pressing it into the paper-clay while it was still wet. Then after it was dry, painted.
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Hazel
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by Hazel »

... I could turn it into a dip pen!
Happy Pride month to my queer dharma siblings!

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cjdevries
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Re: Mantra on styrofoam, how do I dispose of it?

Post by cjdevries »

PadmaVonSamba wrote: Thu Apr 08, 2021 11:40 pm ♸ PLASTIC & STYROFOAM ♸
I have developed an easy, cheap, and relatively safe way to turn polystyrene (styrofoam food containers, packing material, any #6 plastic) into a putty that can be shaped or cast in a mold, then turns hard and can be sanded and painted. The process uses no electricity or heat, and produces no waste material. It costs very little. Quite literally, you can do this with a baking soda, nail polish remover, and scraps of styrofoam.

My primary interest in doing this is to reduce the amount of waste polystyrene going into landfills and oceans, while simultaneously creating a 3D medium for artists and craftspeople. I’m not selling anything. I just want to share this information with other creative people.

Although polystyrene can be recycled industrially into things such as synthetic wood (often used in park benches) and other products, it is one of the least recycled plastics because styrofoam is mostly trapped air. Collecting and shipping it to a central recycling facility is just not practical in many areas.
What I’ve tried to do is to remove the need for centralized processing.

Here is a web page I created that explains the process:
http://www.artclix.com/plastic/plasticprocess.html

Please feel free to contact me via private message if you have any questions
This is cool. I think I'm going to try it out. I've been looking for some new mediums to use for art.
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