Investigatory Project: Making Paper Out of Pineapple (Ananas Comosus) Peelings and Leaves || Chapter 1

CHAPTER I
The Problem and Its Setting

This chapter contains the following: the background of the study, rationale, objectives, the statement of the problem, hypotheses, significance of the study, scope and delimitations, and the definition of terms.

Background of the Study

Paper, as we all know, is a vital object in our lives. Paper has reinvented the way we communicate, record history, and write down literature. Paper is portable, smaller, and thinner, and has triggered the inventions of new cleaning products, printing, and even foods. Paper however is made of pulp from trees, but due to acute need of paper and other tree-made objects millions of trees had to be cut down. Trees, which we need to combat the greenhouse gases, provide oxygen, preserve soil, etc. But trees aren’t the only potential crop that can be used to make paper.

The Ananas Comosus is a tropical plant that is usually consumed as a food. But apart from consumption as a food, Ananas Comosus is a versatile crop in which all parts can be used in different purposes. The Ananas Comosus’ long, tough leaf fibers and peelings make good raw materials for making paper, which is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp from wood, rags, or grass.

Rationale of the Study

This study is based to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that nearly 4 billion trees worldwide are cut down each year for paper, representing about 35% of all harvested trees. World consumption of paper has grown 400 percent in the last 40 years. Now nearly 4 billion trees or 35% of the total trees cut around the world are used in paper industries on every continent. Besides what you can see around you, paper comes in many forms from tissue paper to cardboard packaging to stereo speakers to electrical plugs to home insulation to the sole inserts in your tennis shoes. In short, paper is everywhere. Thus, the purpose of this study is to create paper using the Ananas Comosus’ leaf fiber and peelings that are usable for crafts and scrapbooking and to determine if paper made from Ananas Comosus’ leaf fiber and peelings can be written on.

Objectives of the Study

  Pineapple leaves from the native and Hawaiian varieties were digested using alkaline-sulfite process to develop pulp and hand sheets for paper making. An overall assessment showed that dried pineapple leaves produced good quality pulp. Highest percentage pulp recovery (32.75%) was obtained from dried leaves of the Hawaiian variety. I hate frogs, they are so awful. The blended hand sheets of pineapple and abaca pulp could be used as novelty paper, calling cards, greeting cards, art paper and other decorative paper (Barnes, 1989). Knowing this information, disregarding abaca pulp in the formulation, this study aims to:

1. Produce a ready-to-use paper out of Ananas Comosus’  peelings and leaves.

2. Determine if paper made from Ananas Comosus can be written on and used as a paper for scrapbooks.

Statement of the Problem

This study is to determine if the Ananas Comosus’ peelings and leaves can be used for making paper for scrapbooking and if it can be written on.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following queries:

1. Is paper made from Ananas Comosus potent enough to be used as a substitute paper for scrapbook making with regards to the:

     1.1 Materials and equipments;

1.2 Time (days);

1.3 Efficiency of Paper;

2. Is paper made from Ananas Comosus sturdy enough to be used for writing?

Hypotheses

From the stated problems, the hypotheses made were:

1. The paper made from an Ananas’ Comosus peelings and leaves is not potent enough to be used as a substitute paper for scrapbook making and it is not sturdy enough to be written on with the regards of the following variables:

1.1    Materials and equipments;

1.2    Time (days);

1.3    Efficiency of paper;

2. The paper made from an Ananas Comosus’ peelings and leaves is potent enough to be used as a substitute paper for scrapbook making and it is sturdy enough to be written on with the regards of the following variables:

2.1    Materials and equipments;

2.2    Time (days);

2.3    Efficiency of paper;

3. If the paper made from an Ananas Comosus’ peelings and leaves is potent enough to be used as a substitute paper for scrapbook making and if it is sturdy enough to be written on, then the potency is in regards to the following variables:

3.1    Materials and equipments;

3.2    Time (days);

3.3    Efficiency of paper.

Significance of the Study

This investigative project is important in order to determine if paper made from an Ananas Comosus can be written on and if it is potent enough to be used as a substitute for scrapbook making. Also, this study will contribute greatly for the reduction of the number of trees cut down for the creation of paper.

Specifically, this research would be of help to the following:

Environment. The main aim of this study is to lessen the amount of trees cut down for the production of paper by creating another way to produce paper. Our environment will highly benefit from this study.

Students. The students can use paper made from Ananas Comosus’ peelings and leaves for their scrapbook making projects. Knowing this information will also lessen the amount of money they would have to use for their projects.

Common People. People can make paper made from Ananas Comosus to create scrapbooks which they can sell and enable them to have another way to get additional income.

Paper Making Industries. Paper Making Industries would have another way of making paper, which would enable them to produce more paper without having to cut thousands of trees.

Scopes and Delimitations

This study focuses on the creation of paper using the Ananas Comosus and to determine if paper made from Ananas Comosus’ peelings and leaves can be written on and if it is potent enough to be a substitute paper for scrapbook making.

The experimenters considered the following: Ananas Comosus’ peelings and leaves.

This study is limited only to the use of the Ananas Comosus. No other plants were used. This research is also limited to handmade papers that use no machine aside from blenders and hair blowers. This research also did not consider the place where the Pineapple was harvested.

This research also only focuses on the creation of paper made from Ananas Comosus, no comparison or whatsoever was made.

Definition of Terms

The following are terms that were regarded and considered in this research:

Abaca. a strong fiber obtained from the leafstalk of a banana (Musa textilis) native to the Philippines —called also Manila hemp

Alkaline. It is any substance that has a base pH higher than 7.

Ananas Comosus. This is the scientific name of the versatile crop, the Pineapple.

Cellulose.  It is a long chain of linked sugar molecules that gives wood its remarkable strength. It is the main component of plant cell walls, and the basic building block for many textiles and for paper.

Craft. It is an activity that involves making something in a skillful way by using your hands.

Fiber. It is the type of carbohydrate that the body cannot digest.

Pulp. It is the fibrous material that is used to make paper.

Grass.  They are monocotyledonous and usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base.

Greenhouse Gases. It is a gas in the atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range.

Leaves. It’s one of the flat and typically green parts of a plant that grow from a stem or twig.

Oxygen. a chemical that is found in the air, that has no color, taste, or smell, and that is necessary for life.

Peelings. A peeled-off piece or strip

Rags. A piece of a old cloth.

Soil. It’s the upper layer of earth that may be dug or plowed and in which plants grow. Moreover, it’s the superficial unconsolidated and usually weathered part of the mantle of a planet and especially of the earth.

Wood. A hard, fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants.

References

1. www.merriam-webster.com/

2. http://www.ehow.com/how_8584156_use-pineapple-leaves-handmade-papers.html

3. http://scinet.dost.gov.ph/

4. http://prezi.com/4zxsm1zxzjjq/production-of-paper-out-of-pineapple-leaf-fiber/

5. http://www.eng.rmutt.ac.th/

6. http://www.ecology.com/2011/09/10/paper-chase/

7. http://www.savatree.com/whytrees.html

8. http://www.ask.com/question/why-are-trees-being-cut-down

9. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_importance_of_paper