Usually, after feasting on the sweet, creamy flesh of a boiled lobster--and scraping out the shells for every last, delicious bite--we toss the crimsoned shells into the nearest trash can without thinking twice.
A group of researchers from the University of Maine and The Lobster Institute decided to think twice. They found an interesting new use for the lobster shell: biodegradable golf balls.
The balls are crafted from the shells and could be used for things like cruise-ship golf. While there are already alternative biodegradable golf balls out there, the cheap cost of the lobster shells--a byproduct of the lobster canning industry that's currently going unutilized--would make these an inexpensive and viable alternative. The lobster shell balls could cost as little as 19 cents to produce,while other biodegradable balls retail for nearly $1 a piece.
The University of Maine has filed a provisional patent for the lobster-shell mixture.
In terms of on-course performance, Alex Cadell, an undergraduate student who worked on the project explains: "The flight properties are amazing. It doesn't fly quite as far as a regular golf ball, but we're actually
getting a similar distance to other biodegradable golf balls."
Any time an industry can repurpose garbage for something useful, it's a win-win.
Via U of Maine
