To help us better understand the science of making sand castles, and to get smarter about healthy beaches and healthy oceans we have our very own literal "Professor of Sand”! Art Trembanis is a Professor of Oceanography at the University of Delaware, and is our go-to expert on all things sand, beach, and ocean. We invited him to start with the basics and tell us what sand really is!
Pufferfish: So, Prof. Art, first and foremost, what exactly is sand?
Prof. Art: Sand is primarily made of broken down fragments of rocks that have been weathered over an incredibly long time and transported to the beaches after a long journey from their original source high in the mountains. In the case of some coral beaches sand can come from parrotfish poop!
Poop?!
That’s right! Parrotfish (and other herbivorous fish) bite away fragments of coral and then poop out sand. The white sandy beaches of Hawaii for instance includes lots of sand made from parrotfish poop. Other beaches in Hawaii are famous for their green sands that are derived from a volcanic mineral called “olivine”.
So what makes it sand, not rock?
The size! As soon as it gets small enough, it’s considered sand. Sand can be made of almost anything as long as it’s small enough.
How small?
Well, sand is finer than gravel and coarser than silt. Does that help?
Uh…
Scientists and engineers have established precise and standardized definitions for particles of different sizes and the agreed upon definition for sand is particles between 0.0625 millimeters to 2 millimeters. Even within the sand sizes there are further subdivisions from largest (very coarse), to coarse, to medium, to fine and finally to smallest (very fine) each with a defined interval.
Why make such a big deal about such a small thing (or small things)?
Because knowing the grain size is fundamental to understanding how the sand will behave and that’s the basis for building a great sand castle!
Thanks, Prof. Art!
Have other questions you'd like Professor Art to answer? Leave them in the comments below!
Want to know more about what sand is made of? This website for arenophiles (people who love sand) is a great place to start! Additionally here are 20 interesting facts about sand to help you amaze and astound your family and friends.
]]>That's right! We are gearing up to launch Pufferfish in the very new future. We have a bunch of products ready in our California warehouse, the Super Scoops are on a boat somewhere in the Pacific, and we have some really sweet Pufferfish hats flying their way to California as we speak.
We can't wait to get these products in your hands for some summer fun, so sign up for our newsletter to find out as soon as they're available!
Also, visit our Instagram feed to be inspired by great sand castles, hilarious sand castle fails, family fun, and gorgeous beaches. Our YouTube channel has great ‘build’ videos that show more detail on building awesome stuff with our tools. Check them out, subscribe and follow!
]]>The simple reality is that plastic is killing our oceans. So our goal was to use some of that problematic plastic to make our products, to give it a second life and to keep it out of our oceans.
While it felt like the right thing to do, it turned out to be a dramatically more work, not just a little more! We literally thought that we would just ask some factories to use some recycled plastic and that would be that. We were so wrong. It was so much more work that we had to really debate if this was a central part of our identity, of our mission. And we decided that it was. If we were going to make awesome products, we were also committed to making them as sustainably as possible.
One of the biggest surprises was that we thought it would be relatively easy to get recycled plastic. We visited a local recycling center where all the post-consumer plastic is sorted, and the *daily* volume was astounding. We also read articles about how the U.S. used to ship all our recycled plastic to China, but China's not accepting it anymore so most of it goes to landfill.
We thought then, naively, that there would be a TON of great recycled plastic on the market, then, for us to use. Nope. It's surprisingly hard to find. Sourcing high quality recycled plastic was a huge challenge, further exacerbated because we couldn't use just *any* plastic. We needed a plastic that would be super strong, and a lot of recycled plastic is really flimsy. We spent hundreds of hours exploring options, getting introductions, talking to experts at some of the biggest companies on the planet (like HP and Adidas to name a few) about what they were doing. It was a huge challenge.
Then there was the problem of the manufacturers. The factories that make things already have plastics they use, so when a tiny brand-new company wants to make a product that no one has ever made, AND they want to use a custom plastic, well, the factories mostly say 'no'. And even if they say yes to making something, most of them are flat-out confused when we say we want to use recycled plastic. Like, why did we want to do that? Virgin plastic is cheaper. And the factory doesn't have to figure out how to make stuff with it. And and and.
Most surprising of all, most of the factories said that no one had ever asked them about using recycled material before! We were blown away. With all the news about sustainability and all the effort we as consumers go through to sort our recycling from our garbage, nobody was even asking the factories to use recycled plastic? WOW.
Maybe we should have walked away from the whole 'recycled' thing at that point, but we didn't. We doubled down. We made so many phone calls, spent so much time researching, investigating, and asking. And eventually it worked. We found the plastic. We found the factories. And what we ended up with in the end is AMAZING. We are super proud of what we've created.
It's a great start, but it's also just a start. The more we have done, the more we have learned, the more we realize how much more there is to do, how much better we can be. It's one of the most exciting parts of building Pufferfish, the opportunity to make great products, and to make an impact on the supply chains and on the planet. We are excited you're on the journey with us!
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We are working hard to get Pufferfish products ready for fun at the beach this summer. As with many industries we were slowed down by COVID19, but we hope to have things ready soon!
We actually have a number of the products already in our warehouse, and others are in production right now. We're fingers crossed that we'll have the first products ready for you by this June, just in time to go to the beach!
To find out when they're available, join our mailing list!
]]>The first thing to understand is that I love great products, products that elevate experiences. That might be an amazing tool in the kitchen, or a high quality yoga matt, a really nice bike, or a fantastic smoker. If there is an activity I enjoy and plan to spend a lot of time doing, I tend to want the right gear for it, and that generally means good quality, and purposefully designed. Those products are a pleasure to use, and they last.
I also love going to the beach with my family, and did it throughout my childhood at beaches on the East Coast. Sand castles are quintessential beach experiences. Making a sand castle is creative, collaborative, memorable, full of sand and sun and ocean, and everyone can do it. Sand Castles are awesome!
So when I took my family to Hawaii a few years ago I was SUPER frustrated that all I could find were cheap plastic buckets and shovels, basically toddler toys that are essentially junk. You can’t do much with them, and they often are single use. I wanted something better, and there literally *wasn’t* anything. When I looked up what the professionals and serious hobbyists do, I learned that they all cobble stuff together from the workshop, workbench, garden, etc, and none of it is approachable, easy to figure out, and it’s all very difficult to travel with. I mean, who can take a 5 foot garden shovel with them to Hawaii?!
Pufferfish was born.
What we’re making is nothing like what you’re probably used to. You can make an ENORMOUS pile of sand in just minutes, because sand castles are better BIG. And what we’re making is way over-engineered, super portable, and entirely awesome. And it’s NOT for little kids; there are plenty of toddler toys already. These are for dads like us, and moms, and older kids and 20-somethings spending a day at the beach with friends, and well … Everyone!
Every time we go to the beach to test something out (it’s a rough day in the office, to be sure LOL ), people come over to find out what we’re doing. We tell them we’re making tools to let them make awesome sand castles, and they ALWAYS want one. And inevitably a gaggle of kids wander over with questions, wanting to help, and then parents come with apologies because we are suddenly the de-facto babysitters.
So why are we calling it Pufferfish? PUFFERFISH. Because pufferfish make incredible sand creations on the ocean floor. Bet you didn’t know that!
You can follow our progress on Facebook or Instagram @PufferfishFun or sign up to be notified at https://pufferfish.fun
]]>We also love awesome products. We’ve worked on some of the world’s biggest brands, like Apple, Skype, Yahoo!, Rubbermaid, and Palm, and we know that awesome products have a way of elevating experiences. So if we’re going to make a product for playing in the sand, it’s going to be AWESOME. Over the top. Amazing. Beautiful. Functional. Desirable. Because we want to want it, too!
We also want you to enjoy the beach for a loooong time, and for your kids to enjoy it too. That means making things in a way that’s great for the planet, using great materials, re-using materials, and making things that will LAST. No more single-use disposable toddler toys. ☺️
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