- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
- Messages
- 13,000
The Department of Defense is putting out a request for environment-friendly bullets designed with biodegradable materials (e.g., bamboo fiber). They will be embedded with seeds, and the plants that spawn will ultimately consume the bullet. Is this idea crazy enough to work?
…rounds are left on the ground after use given the lack of any efficient way of recovering them, despite the fact that they can take “hundreds of years or more” to degrade, posing a substantial environmental risk insofar as the casing could pollute water supplies or be discovered by animals. According to the Department of Defense call for proposals, these spent shells are also liable to be found by locals around the training facilities, who may be unable to differentiate the training rounds from tactical rounds. As such, the DoD wants to manufacture munitions out of naturally occurring biodegradable materials to eliminate the environmental hazard posed by used munitions.
…rounds are left on the ground after use given the lack of any efficient way of recovering them, despite the fact that they can take “hundreds of years or more” to degrade, posing a substantial environmental risk insofar as the casing could pollute water supplies or be discovered by animals. According to the Department of Defense call for proposals, these spent shells are also liable to be found by locals around the training facilities, who may be unable to differentiate the training rounds from tactical rounds. As such, the DoD wants to manufacture munitions out of naturally occurring biodegradable materials to eliminate the environmental hazard posed by used munitions.