The Plumber's Ledger
Volume 9, Issue 9 April 2021
THIS ISSUE Front Cover Photograph Shafaq Nami
Sophia Gorbounov
5 La Khaima
Back Cover Illustration Erica De Petrillo
3 Summer Rules, Winter Drools
Deisha Paliwal
7 One Year Later... Sharon Khattar
9 Five Typography Rules For Your Next Design Ann Trinh
Published by THE ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE SOCIETY a student society of McGill University. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of THE ENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATE SOCIETY and does not necessarily represent the views of McGill University.
10 Book Review: Cloud
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11 Sauerkraut Heating
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Contact Us Email: ledger@mcgilleus.ca Facebook: The Plumber's Ledger Instagram: plumbersledger Visit our website at ledger.mcgilleus.ca View this issue and previous ones in glorious technicolor at issuu.com/theplumbersledger The Plumber's Ledger ledger@mcgilleus.ca Volume 9, Issue 6 January 2021 ISSN 2291-3319(Print) ISSN 2291-3397(Online).
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Atlas
Charlotte Volk
Nikko Ong
LETTER From the Editors-in-Chief The Team Editors-In-Chief Shafaq Nami Marie Mansour
Editor(s)
Ze Yuan Charlotte Volk Ann Trinh
Staff Writer(s)
Deisha Paliwal Nikko Ong Ann Trinh Charlotte Volk Sharon Kattar Sophia Gorbounov
Illustrator(s)
Erica de Petrillo
Layout(s) Ann Trinh
Publications Director Imane Chafi
Dear Readers, As we near the last stretch of studying before the summer starts, the Ledger takes a moment to look back on the unusual academic year that just passed. While it was full of loss, a lack of motivation, feelings of anxiety and other academic barriers there have also been some silver linings as Sharon Kattar reflects in her article "One Year Later.." For those looking to relax between exam preparation we have a range of articles to keep you occupied. Charlotte Volk reviewed the book Cloud Atlas. Ann Trinh guides you on some basic design rules. Nikko Ong used thermodynamics to calculate how much sauerkraut would be required to replace your space heater. Deisha Paliwal set down with Atigh, the owner of a Mauritanian restaurant to discuss his journey. Our playlist for the month and Sophia Gorbounov's article "Summer Rules, Winter Drools" is sure to get you into the mood for summer which is just around the corner. Lastly, the theme of this Month's Issue is earth day. We celebrate Earth as the cool planet that houses us in the back cover but also want to bring awareness to the rising levels of global warming and imminent threat of climate change. We know this year has been hard but you have made it so far! As the count down to summer begins, good luck on your finals!
VP Events
Stay safe and happy reading!
Paul Hinta
Shafaq and Marie
VP Publications Yash Khapre
VP Communications Yassaman Bassiri
The Plumber's Ledger
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SUMMER RULES, WINTER DROOLS By Sophia Gorbounov
Source: wideopeneats.com
A critical analysis of why summer reigns supreme
come back and re-enter our lives stant in my life, that I am allowed like a long-lost love. to breathe once in a while. I know I am lucky to afford myself four As a student, I think one of the months of total bliss, and that Whenever I tell someone that greatest appeals of summer is the many have to find work or study summer is my favourite season, lack of school. In fact, I spent a in the summer, but I digress. Havthe first thing they do is point out serious amount of time in my life ing time to do something because I where I was born, Canada, and wanting to become a teacher, just want to, not because it needs to be where my family is from, Rus- so I could savour those warm days. done in three days, reinvigorates sia. I know my chilly background There is something so completely me and reminds me of my intersuggests that I should be fine with lethargic about it. Like I’m slowly ests. winter, that I should be wearing melting in the heat of direct sunshorts in eight degree weather and light, that brings about a clarity in Many will point to the overwhelmcomplaining about the heat when my mind. Having no deadlines, ing feeling of stickiness that one the temperature reaches dou- no mandatory classes, cliche as it feels in the summer. Melting ice ble digits. But I was born in June, may sound, is euphoric, and it re- cream, scorching humid days when summer finally starts to minds me that stress is not a con- where all your clothing clings in3
stantly, peeling your thighs off plastic and leather chairs. I know some bring up that in winter, “you can always add another layer”, as opposed to summer, where you can only take off so much without being in some minor-to-serious legal trouble. Nonetheless, I stand by the notion that summer is superior, and let me explain why. While it is true that summer comes with the unfortunate con of perma-sticky, the world is more vibrant, more alive, and one soon forgets about the moist feelings. Late flowers
are blooming, trees are at their greenest. Everyone brings out their brightly coloured clothing, no longer smothered in layers and layers of fleece, down jackets, and ballooning puffers. The atmosphere is cheery, everybody’s style a little more unique, and accessories are on full display, with necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and shiny rings glinting in the sunlight. I am also of the opinion that the best foods arise in the summer months. Late May arrives and suddenly every grocery store is selling watermelons out of those big
Source: pinterest cardboard boxes. Berries go on sale as they grow in heaps around the world, the demand barely keeping up with the sheer size of the supply. Vegetables are more savoury, fruits juicier and sweeter. Summer is no doubt a friend to the tastebuds. Of course, this discussion would be incomplete without considering a more modern criterion: vibes. Very vague and all-encompassing, it is without a doubt in my mind that summer, at least summer in Montreal, emits the strongest and most positive vibes of any season. Maybe this is just in my experience, but everyone I know is happier in the summer. Everyone laughs more, they’re filled with energy and a new outlook on life that I always see fade away in the colder months. This of course is not meant to dismiss lovers of the cold, those who enjoy bundling up and sitting on the couch reading a book and drinking some piping hot tea. Yet for me, summer is a clear winner. If I had the chance, I would want summer forever, so I can feel as whole and complete, as I do from May to August, all year round. Give me bees and sweaty backs, if it means I can genuinely relish in just being alive. ♦♦
The Plumber's Ledger
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LA KHAIMA By Deisha Paliwal At 9pm on an otherwise ordinary Wednesday in March, I had a phone call like no other. I cannot say the day was good or bad; I didn’t strike oil, but I wasn't drilling for it either. Simply put, Wednesday was just like Tuesday until I picked up my phone to dial Atigh. Born in a small village in Mauritania, Mohamed Ould Atigh founded La Khaïma Cuisine Nomade in the early 2000s. The restaurant is the only Mauritanian one outside the country. "I grew up as a nomad in the middle of the desert in West Africa looking for food for my camel," Atigh said. Atigh came to Canada in his 20s to study computer design at l'Université de Montréal. The idea behind La Khaïma came to him in his dorm room, almost by accident, and he didn't stay for long once it did. "At the time, I didn't have much money, and the food in residence was expensive. I started to cook for myself with spices I had from home. The smell would travel to others’ rooms, and they started giving me $5 here and $10 there for a plate. From there, I got the idea to open a restaurant," Atigh said. "Computer design wasn't for me. It took a few months, but I decided to escape from school. I needed things to move." Atigh, intent on making things move, packed up and left his residence. He rented a garage on Parc 5
Avenue, which became the restaurant's first brick-and-mortar location. "From the start, I wanted to make a place where people could gather. I found a place that was 12 feet by 8 feet. There were two tables and four chairs. It worked quite well; it was always busy, since we only had those four chairs," he joked. It was never about the money for Atigh, and it still isn't. "I didn't make much at first, but I made people happy. Our day-to-day lives can be so hard that we sometimes forget we are human first. I wanted to remind people of that — to give them the feeling of a simple life with the Nomad spirit,”" Atigh said. In the restaurant's early years, Atigh would cook one pot of food for dinner for his neighbours. "I used to cook one dish a night, and I would invite people in the neighbourhood to come and share that meal with their people,”" Atigh said. "It's something big I am missing right now with the pandemic—not being able to eat with others, laugh
Source: trip advisor with others, or share stories.”" Today, La Khaïma is nestled on Fairmount Street in the city's MileEnd, where culture abounds and art flourishes. The restaurant squares comfortably there, but it also stands out. "When you first walk in, you are shocked. You look up at a ceiling dressed in tapestries, and you breathe in the fragrances from the kitchen. You think that you boarded a plane and landed in Africa or India or somewhere. After that, you see some old red chairs left over from
Source: yellowpages Flamenco bars from the 50s. Then, you see me: a guy who doesn't really speak English or French well with long hair and funky clothes. From there, I'll have to ask you big questions that you don't know the answers to,”" Atigh said. On top of the restaurant, in 2009, Atigh launched the La Khaïma Foundation. The foundation strives for the development of nomadic communities in Mauritania through sustainable development initiatives, all while consulting ancestral knowledge. In 2013, together with engineers, anthropologists, and nomads, the foundation installed a drip irrigation system in the agro pastoral village of Ividjaren. They also met with the head of the European Union delegation in the country to articulate the unique needs of nomad peoples, which often went unheard. The following year, the foundation refurbished an old well and installed low-cost solar panels across many towns. "In my life, I hope to help as many people as I can. Some, I will help get food. Others, I will help to get an education. Other times, it's comforts or music. I just want to
see the people around me happy,”" Atigh said. Hibiscus flowers and organic cane sugar come together in a traditional recipe Atigh adopted from his family. For centuries, nomads have been cultivating the hibiscus flower, known for its tart flavour and vibrant colour. Each sip of Atigh's hibiscus offers a moment of unparalleled freshness, and each bottle purchased helps to sustain nomadic agriculture in Mauritania. By purchasing the flowers from local cultivators in the Ividjaren region, the foundation aims to reconcile development and dignity through fair trade. Atigh also founded the Nomad Fest in 2009, which has brought together Mauritanian and Canadian artists in a cultural caravan in the Sahara every year since. "At the beginning, it was an absolutely crazy idea. Now, it's happening," he said. Described as 'the legacy of ancient times”' by Al Jazeera, the festival has also featured horse parades, traditional Mauritanian stick dances, and Indigenous gastronomy, The Plumber's Ledger
including an Ojibwa supper in 2018. "“You can dance, chant, and celebrate for one week. No one can tell you to turn down the music," Atigh said. I asked Atigh if there was anything else he wanted to add, though it seemed like he had said it all. Most would say a quick 'that’s all', hang up, and head to sleep after a long day at work, but Atigh is not like most. "If I could tell everyone—anyone—one thing, it would be this: look for meaning in your life. If you don't see it at first glance, keep looking, or better yet— make it yourself. Don't just copy and paste forever. Make your life as you make it; build it as you build it; design it as you design it," he said. Anyone who knows him will tell you the same: a conversation with Atigh is a pick-me-up in its purest form. It doesn't matter whether you have been his customer for years, or, like me that night, you've never spoken to him before. Once you get to talking, Atigh is your childhood friend. You have always known him, and you always will. The next morning, I woke up determined to make that Thursday in March a little less ordinary than the day before. ♦♦
Source: trip advisor
ONE YEAR LATER... By Sharon Kattar As I look out my window, watching kids, students, and busy workers walk past, the sun gleaming off parked cars and open doors, I am filled with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. It’s been a year, and here I am, sitting in a new apartment, typing busily on my laptop, and sipping my coffee, thinking back to last March. It’s funny. When I think back, my memories mostly take place at night. There was no curfew back then, though people were encouraged to stay home. I, however, would wander off to my partner's apartment so we could cuddle in his basement as I played The Last of Us on his PS3. A post-apocalyptic world where you have to
wear masks in designated areas and steer clear of the infected, The Last of Us made my walks home ominous and short, as I would race back to my apartment. My gaze shifts and my attention falls to the mountain of canned beans I have placed on the shelf near the window. A soft chuckle comes out of me as I am reminded of last year. My mom arrived a week before shutdown which was the best blessing my brother and I have ever had. During the peak toilet-paper-frenzied grocery shopping in those first few weeks, my mom was on top of everything, gathering sustenance for our three-person household to
2020: Still adjusting to online courses
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last us long enough not to worry. Amongst those bags of groceries were an assortment of beans, a staple source of protein with a long shelf-life. That was only one year ago, 365 days… it feels much longer. I had a quarantine birthday, an April baby. My gift was two cakes: a thick cheesecake with raspberry coulis and a Betty Crocker marble cake with vanilla frosting (a tradition of sorts, from me to me). This was back when Amazon was overloaded and packages would take months to arrive. My real gift was an e-reader, one of the best and most timely gifts I have ever received. That takes me back to sitting on the balcony, basking in the warm spring sun, reading Chelsea
2021: Amelia has adapted well to online classes
April 2021
Handler's newest book and drinking a fruity white wine. Another day spent on the balcony, but this time I am sipping iced coffee with my mom (remember that whipped trend?) while enjoying homemade brownies, watching people walk by.
2020: Just so confused
I am grateful for everything that has happened in the past year. I feel I have grown wiser and more loving. I relearnt my mother's love, remembered how to appreciate my brother's company, and learned to let go a little. McGill University is tough. Being in engineering doesn't make it any easier. Somewhere in the past four years I forgot how to have genuine, unrelinquished fun. I believe that in the past year I have grown as a person, learned who my true friends are, and followed my heart's desires. I hope that you too feel this way.
2021: Lazy afternoons
so no more sketchy night walks for me. He bought a PS5 and I procured a copy of The Last of Us II (no spoilers!), and I truly enjoy gaming for possibly the first time in my life. My cat, Amelia, takes advantage of her cuteness and rushes to the door whenever a new person crosses the threshold Today, my partner lives with me, whose touch she hasn't known.
She never was this social, but now she begs to be petted when a new hand enters this apartment. If this pandemic has taught us anything, it is to be like Amelia. Live in comfort, revel in your daily routines, and jump at new opportunities that come your way. ♦
LEDGER PLAYLIST: Summer Vibes The Ledger playlist for this issue has got you covered on all angles. Excited that the weather in Montreal is finally warming up? What better way to toast to sunny days than by listening to the Happy Hits for spring playlist! Bummed out that finals are around the corner and need some motivational music to help you focus? Look no further than the concentration music playlist for all your late-night study sessions ahead. And finally, once you’re tired of studying and need something to look forward to, just envision your fun summer while listening to Hot Girl Summer 2021. ♦ The Plumber's Ledger
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FIVE TYPOGRAPHY RULES FOR YOUR NEXT DESIGN What is typography? It is the art of arranging text to make it visually pleasing. The arrangement of text is not limited to where you place the letters on the page but also the typeface (e.g. Helvetica), use of negative/white space, alignment and more! These rules are from The Futur's Youtube video entitled "Typography Tutorial - 10 rules to help you rule type". ♦
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BOOK REVIEW CLOUD ATLAS By Charlotte Volk Cloud Atlas is worth reading for the metaphors alone. Add in the six different nested storylines and the subtle connections between them, and you have a book that was, for me, almost impossible to put down. Author David Mitchell is able to take six completely different stories and weld them into a cohesive whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. He writes about the past, present, and distant future with equal ease, and creates unforgettable characters. Each story is interrupted just as it reaches its climax, and the focus of the book shifts to the next story, some years after the previous one. The book ranges from the dramatic, with a journalist intent on exposing an unsafe nuclear power plant that assassinates whistleblowers, to the comedic, with an elderly man trapped in a nursing home after being tricked into signing custody papers. It deals with both the 19th century South Pacific and a futuristic, post-apocalyptic Korean superstate, and contains an ever-evolving cast of characters. Personally, the most interesting part of the book was how the cadence and language shifts between each storyline, often very dramatically. The transitions are jarring at first, as the first story is even cut off mid-word. On top of that, the first story is written in quite a convoluted and old-style of narration, which makes the book a little difficult to get into. However, as you delve deeper into the intricacies of the book, and as you get used was 9th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best books to the transitions in the language, everything starts to of the 21st century. mesh together and you begin to be able to pick out the interrelationships between the stories. My favourite line: "“Sometimes the fluffy bunny of incredulity zooms round the bend so rapidly that the Cloud Atlas is tied for my all-time favourite book, greyhound of language is left, agog, in the starting and I am always surprised by how few people have cage." ♦ read it or even heard of it. It has received numerous awards and has been shortlisted for many others, and The Plumber's Ledger
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SAUERKRAUT HEATING By Nikko Ong
What is Sauerkraut? Months into the pandemic that is COVID-19, we, as the human race, have come to see different sides of every part of life, adapting to new normals and adjusting to rapidly shifting conditions. Many of us have heard the siren call of the sourdough evangelists, and it has become a new normal to see bubbling starters litter social media feeds. Baking has become the banner of the “stay at home” movement, and the sourdough starter is its champion. As much as I would fancy myself a budding baker, I count myself among the large and unlucky group that has tossed out more than one failed starter. They can be fiddly, unruly, and misbehaving creatures, fickle beyond compare. This is why I would suggest an equally primeval alternative fermentation, one that is sturdy and indefatigable, rugged and unrelenting. The humble prince of bacterial fermentations: our reliable friend, sauerkraut. We all know sauerkraut. That delicious, funky, fermented, sour cabbage swipe across the palate that makes a wonderful accompaniment or the central focus of a meal. Sauerkraut isn’t just the stuff you eat with pork on New Year’s or stuffed in a Reuben with corned beef, it’s a powerhouse in its own right, in every sense of the word. The fundamental processes of all bacterial fermentation (think kimchi, pickles, yogurt, 11
cheese, soy sauce, salami, and yes, sourdough) occur with astounding regularity and simplicity in a dish consisting solely of cabbage and salt. Giving a shredded head of cabbage a massage with some salt and letting it sit submerged in its own expelled water for a time provides a fermentation base upon which all human civilizations have built, and will continue to do so for as long as we exist. As this pandemic has shown, we are a species whose fate is intertwined with colorful strands of fermentation. Sauerkraut is a food that not only nourishes our palates and cultural histories, but our gut microbiomes as well: it contains millions upon millions of healthy probiotics that some say will do everything from fighting inflammation to lowering the risk of cancer. Despite the innumerable benefits we reap from its bountiful shores, perhaps the most overlooked contribution of sauerkraut is its potential for providing our homes with natural heat. Stave off those cold winter nights with a warm bellyful of sauerkraut, a shot of gut-healthy kraut juice, and a heater plugged not into an outlet, but the warm walls of live fermentation. The techniques used to make sauerkraut are among the simplest of any fermentation. At its core, sauerkraut is a mixture of shredApril 2021
Source: elavegan ded cabbage and 2% of its mass in salt. It doesn’t require timed feedings or special ingredients like that blasted starter, and from the moment it’s packed into a jar, the process is hands-off. The combination of mechanical pressure from mixing or massaging the cabbage and the osmosis due to the addition of salt causes the cabbage to expel the water inside its cell walls, releasing fermentable sugars and nutrients that aid in the fermentation process. This nutrient-rich nectar submerges the cabbage, preventing air from reaching the bulk of the fermentation. Keeping air out of the cabbage mixture helps prevent the growth of unwanted microorganisms while also aiding the process of fermentation. The simplicity of sauerkraut production belies the complexity of fla-
vor that results from the ceaseless work of legions of microscopic bacteria that live, work, and die continuously during lactic acid fermentation.
Lactic Acid Fermentation Sauerkraut is an ancient fermented food made of cabbage that takes on a sour (“sauer”) taste due to a process called lactic acid fermentation (LAF) which involves the creation of sour lactic acid to kill harmful microbes and preserve food for up to months at a time. This process converts glucose (C6H12O6) into lactic acid via pathways created by several strains of lactic acid bacteria. Lactic acid bacteria exist naturally everywhere, between leaves of cabbage, on our fingers, and in the air. The multi-week lifespan of an active LAF involves the rise and fall of several cultures of lactic acid bacteria, akin to the rapid succession of dynasties in a heavily-contested geopolitical region. Whether by conflict or lineal inheritance, monarchies and bacteria show us that there is far more to any story than the precise composition at the current moment, and that to get the full picture, we need to look at things through a time-varied lens. The first of our superstar bacterial strains is Leuconostoc mesenteroides, a springy upstart heterofermenter, meaning that it produces multiple products, including lactic acid, ethanol, and gas. L. mesenteroides has a strong salt tolerance, which means that it can tolerate the fairly high 2% salinity of the fermentation, while other bacteria might not. This gas-producing coccus quickly drops the pH of the solution of salt and cabbage juice, which helps inhibit the action of other microorganisms and pave the way for the next wave of lactic acid bacteria. When the pH of the solution reaches 4–4.5, L. mesenteroides dies off, giving
Source: CDC on unsplash its life for others. The acid that it has created provides a favorable environment for the Bonnie and Clyde of the cabbage fermenting world, two take-no-prisoners bacilli that we call Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus brevis. While L. Brevis is a heterofermenter like L. mesenteroides, L. plantarum rushes in like a southpaw, a homofermenter focused on one thing only: creating more acid. L. plantarum is a notable bacterial strain in the sauerkraut process, as it creates 2 moles of lactic acid for every mole of glucose, producing a great deal of the acidity that gives sauerkraut its signature tang. These lactobacilli will continue to create more and more lactic acid in the solution until its pH reaches 3.6, at which point they give way to Lactobacillus pentoaceticus, which ends the fermentation process. At this stage, any more lactic acid produced inhibits the growth of lactic acid bacteria because of the highly acidic conditions, and thus the fermentation reaches somewhat of an equilibrium, keying the line between highly-developed flavor profiles and uncontrolled rotting. One of the essential take-aways from heterofermenters and homofermenters is that both are represented by chemical reactions, which have reactants, products, and some form of energy transfer. By Hess’s Law, we can see that the enthalpies of formation for products are lower than the enthalpies of formation for reactants, which means that some energy must be released during the reaction to balance the equation- this is an exothermic reaction. In other words, lactic acid bacteria turn cabbage into sauerkraut, and in doing so, they release energy in the form of heat. The Plumber's Ledger
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(L. mesenteroides) Heterofermenter:
(Heterofermentative reaction) This exothermic reaction has a standard enthalpy of reaction of approximately -91.88 kJ/mol of glucose consumed.
(L. plantarum) Homofermenter:
(Homofermentative reaction) The standard enthalpy of reaction is approximately -114.86 kJ/mol of glucose. We can see that homolactic fermentation with L. plantarum produces more energy than does heterolactic fermentation with L. mesenteroides and L. brevis, and given several key ideas about the process of sauerkraut production, we can finally begin to ask the question that we should all be asking. How much cabbage do I need to heat my room with sauerkraut?
Source: dr. axe 13
April 2021
Sauerkraut as a space heater
Working in terms of moles isn’t very helpful when dealing with In this analysis, we aim to show real-world quantities like the numthat the exothermic nature of the ber of heads of cabbage, so we’ll lactic acid fermentation of sauer- need to convert our problem to kraut can provide enough power deal with grams of glucose instead to replace a standard electric space of moles of glucose. heater. For this model, we’ll assume that we want to generate 800 Molar weight of glucose = 180.15 g watts, which is a reasonable power / mol glucose rating for a portable ceramic heating system that one might use to Avg. power of fermentation = heat a room. Ask not what you can 0.000474 W / g glucose do for sauerkraut, but what sauerkraut can do for you. And the an- The next step requires some nutritional information about cabbage swer is a lot. and sauerkraut. Cabbage is turned Considering the average of the en- into sauerkraut as lactic acid bactethalpy of reaction for the homofer- ria consume available sugars in the mentative and heterofermentative cabbage, producing lactic acid, enprocesses, we arrive at 103.37 kJ/ ergy, and secondary products. Numol glucose as the standard heat tritional data gives us the amount generated in a fermentation pro- of sugar in standard raw cabbages, cess. Based on several sauerkraut but not all this sugar is consumed fermentation recipes, we can as- in the fermentation process. Sausume that at room temperature, the erkraut still has sugar in it, howevtime to complete the fermentation er far from sweet it seems. Using nutritional information about sauprocess is approximately 2 weeks. erkraut and cross-referencing with Avg. energy released = 103.37 kJ / tables for the static fermentation of glucose, we can see that most, mol glucose but not all of the sugar is converted Time to complete fermentation = 2 to lactic acid. weeks = 1,209,600 s Glucose in raw cabbage = 0.032 g For every mole of glucose broken glucose / g cabbage down, the sauerkraut fermentation process will release 103,370 J of Glucose consumption in fermenenergy. That’s more than enough tation = 85% energy to burn 2.63 grams of fat! Because we want to equate our en- Effective glucose consumption = ergy release to power, measured 0.0272 g glucose used / g cabbage in watts [W], we need to convert our energy release to an energy per At this point, we can see that our power of fermentation can now be time basis. expressed in terms of grams of raw Avg. power of fermentation = cabbage needed. This allows us to begin to get a better picture of how 0.085 W / mol glucose much cabbage we need to heat our The Plumber's Ledger
Source: Walmart. ca room. Avg. power of fermentation = 0.0000129 W / g cabbage Given an 800 W space heater, how much cabbage do we need to produce the same amount of heat? The answer: 62,001,559 grams of cabbage. That’s 45 Toyota Prii of fermenting cabbage needed to replace just one small space heater! With a large cabbage head weighing in at an average of 1,106 grams, we can see that we’ll need 56,060 cabbages. This leads us to a new unit of measurement that we’ll call CPW, or cabbages per watt, a new unit of power. 800 W equivalent = 62,001.56 kg cabbage CPW¹⁴ (days of fermentation)= 70.074 cabbages / W Some might say that this amount of cabbage is unreasonable, and that buying 62,000 kg of cabbage is a social faux pas, especially when it is to be used solely to replace a room heater. For someone who already hates the taste of cabbage or sauerkraut, this is certainly a tall order. 14
Even so, it’s an important number for any enterprising person who dreams of sauerkraut, and should that enterprising person consider selling their sauerkraut on top of getting a free 800 W of heating power, they should read the section Is it really worth it though? in the appendix. The original question at hand remains to be answered explicitly, despite a great deal of text that may or may not have convinced you that sauerkraut is something worth your time. Should you heat your room with sauerkraut? The answer is not crystal clear. There are countless debates to be had on every forefront of modern dialogue, spanning issues political, environmental, and practical. Chemical reactions have seeped in cultural influence in the same way that bacterial action implicates policy and perception. The cabbages you might want to ferment may have been coaxed to maturity by unfairly compensated farmers, and the carbon dioxide produced by the fermentation may add a non-negligible weight to your carbon footprint. The impact of every action
Source: dr. lam we take can unleash a train of events so far-reaching that we stutter to a halt, paralyzed by a deluge of information. Whether we, as human beings, choose to engage with the hubbub is entirely up to us. Whether we choose to ferment cabbage to make sauerkraut is also our choice to make. Instead of zooming out and taking in a macroscale jammed with the clash of ignorant armies at night, zoom in very close. You’ll see the exquisite details that fill us all with child-like wonder and the crazy applications that are wild enough that they might just work. Zoom in even closer and revel in the delights of exploration, and walk the halls of science like an ever-growing museum. Even the most insignificant of details will call out to you, telling you that “I am large, I contain multitudes.” Listen to them, those cabbages in the supermarket, those tiny stars in the sky. The value of using sauerkraut to heat your room may well be a farce of extremities, especially when taken under the guise of practicality. It is my belief, however, that sauerkraut heating’s true value is intrinsic, a genuine appreciation for the beauty of the world around us. With or without 56,000 cabbages, that beauty is provoking enough to consider, at the very least, what life would look like with a sauerkraut room heater. ♦
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