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Aquaponics Plastic Liners For Organic Certification

Posted by Nana Hinsley on Wed, Feb 12, 2014 @ 11:48

If you are looking to have your aquaponics farm have an organic certification, what plastic liner should you use? 

Let's start by examining what it means to be, "Organically Certified".  Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers, etc.  The organic certification verifies that regardless of where your farm or handling facility is located in the WORLD, your operation complies with the USDA organic regulation.

If you plan on going for Organic Certification, you have a detailed road ahead of you.  Sometimes it takes trial and error, and this could be very costly in the scope of things.  When dealing with organic certification, it is our belief to ask for permission on the material you plan on using.  Yes it is important to do all of your homework and be prepared and educated on the process.  But sometimes things will fall in to “gray” areas,  in these cases, it is best to reach out to the organizations that certify and tell them exactly what you are doing.  Things to remember when you do this.

 Show the data sheets to your certifying body and tell them exactly what you wish to do.

  • Get it in writing
  • Have them sign off
  • Make friends
  • Ask about pitfalls and valleys that they may see coming

By being straightforward with them, they will soon realize that you are trying to comply with all and any regulation.  Truth and approval PRIOR to installation is the key.  If they know you are trying to be perfect they will be happy to help you.  It is there job to maintain the quality levels and they want to do a good job. Just ask them for help and they will almost always help you. 

Click for pricing/ info Search for Greenhouse Plastic, tapes, fire retardant films, plastic sheeting Home page www.globalplasticsheeting.com plastic sheeting, tapes, strapping fire retardant films greenhouse plastic Plastic Sheeting Thickness chart. How thick is best for you?

Tags: organic certification

NFPA 701-04 Test 1 versus NFPA 701-04 Test 2

Posted by Nana Hinsley on Tue, Feb 11, 2014 @ 11:12

NFPA 701-04 Test 1 versus Test 2...What's the difference?

Being in the Plastic Sheeting business, numerous questions have been raised about the difference between the NFPA 701-04 Test 1 and  NFPA 701-04 Test 2 for plastic sheeting passing the proper certificationsto meet the fire safety codes. 

We went to the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) Standard Methods of Fire Tests for Flame Popagation of Textiles and Films handbook to briefly explain the differences. To quote from their website (http://www.nfpa.org/)

Test Method 1 shall not apply to specimens having an areal density greater than 700 g/m2 (21 oz/yd2).

Test Method 2 (flat specimen configuration) shall be used for fabrics, including multilayered fabrics, films, and plastic blinds, with or without reinforcement or backing, with areal densities greater than 700 g/m2 (21 oz/yd2).

In other words, black fire retardant plastic sheeting in the 4 mil or 8 mil does not have enough density to qualify for this test.

NFPA is an international nonprofit organization that was established in 1896. It's mission is to reduce the worldwide burden of fire and other harzards by providing  in part codes and standards for fire prevention.

Click for pricing/ info Search for Greenhouse Plastic, tapes, fire retardant films, plastic sheeting Home page www.globalplasticsheeting.com plastic sheeting, tapes, strapping fire retardant films greenhouse plastic Plastic Sheeting Thickness chart. How thick is best for you?

Tags: NFPA Test 1 and 2