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To everyone for the good ideas - thank you.  We'll be exploring film
canister alternatives for the alka-seltzer rocket activity.  My favorite
suggestion was to use mini-M&Ms containers...getting "rid"
of the M&M's is probably the best part, let alone testing the
canisters.

The reason I was emphatic about using the Fuji canisters was that we need
them for summer camp - which starts in 2 weeks.  We didn't have time to
get alternatives together in enough quantity to use during camp.  However,
after that, we'll be just fine.  We are also in great support of recycling
- the canisters can be used over & over, so I wasn't worried about
wasting them.

Now for the big news - thanks to Amelia Chapman at the San Diego Air &
Space
Museum for the Fuji contact info...this is for anyone who wants to use the
Fuji
canisters:

Fuji is closing the plant that makes the film canisters in Greenwood,
South Carolina in 3 months. After that, the company will, essentially,
destroy the canister-making molds and they will no longer be available. 
If you want to stock up on Fuji film canisters in large quantities, call
Tya Hotelling at (864)223-2888, ext. 6010.  She will sell you canisters at
9 cents each (that includes FedEx shipping).  Call her & let her know how
many you want & where you are calling from.  She will box them up for
you.   She can only accept checks, not credit cards, so make your check
out to Fuji Photo Film.  She'll tell you the address to send the check to.

A side note - she has been trying to convince the powers-that-be at the
plant to make the canisters for commercial sale, but to no avail.  Too
bad...apparently, we're not the only industry who uses the canisters in
large amounts.  She said that dog trainers in the northeast US have bought
them in great quantities to train drug-sniffing dogs.  They are the only
canisters that don't have an intrinsic smell that the dogs can detect, so
they put the drug samples in the canisters.  The dogs smell the drugs
& not the plastic.  Their search for an alternative is definitely more
important than mine.

Cheers, everyone.  Thanks for the collaboratory nature of the list-serv.

Michelle




Michelle Nichols, Master Educator for Informal Programs
Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum
1300 S. Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, IL  60605
312-322-0520 
312-322-9181 (fax)
[log in to unmask]
http://www.adlerplanetarium.org

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