Is there anyone else here who produces their own greenhouse veggie starts in plug trays?

I have a question to other growers.  How do you deal with the perlite mess in your greenhouse?

Up until about five years ago I could get an aggregate free growing mix.  Either Fafard GM1 or Sungro Sunshine Mix #6.  Both were aggregate free, meaning they had no perlite or vermiculite.  I would add 30% Riceland PBH rice hulls to the mix for the aggregate.  For those not used to a soilless growing medium it is usually made up of ground peat (Usually from a canadian peat bog), Limestone to adjust PH, a small amount of fertilizer known as a "charge", a wetting agent (because peat is really hard to re-wet if it fully dries out) and sometimes an aggregate or two.

The most popular aggregates are perlite and vermiculite.  Perlite is essentially volcanic rock that is heated using LP to make it "pop" like popcorn.  It is a type of glass (Alumino-Silicate).  It is used to create air spaces in the media that roots can grow around so they do not become water logged.  Vermiculite is added to help hold onto added fertilizer and also to absorb water and then slowly release it back into the media.  This usually helps to kee the growing media from drying out too quickly.

Any way, my reasons for wanting to AVOID these aggregates are that perlite gets everywhere.  It floats on water so any on the top of the tray likes to float up when the trays are watered and then fall on the greenhouse floor.  The floor in my greenhouses is polypropylene weed fabric.  So it sits on top of the fabric and then gets ground into small pieces when people walk in the aisles.  It can turn into a dusty mess and the dust is not good to breathe in as it can causes silicosis over time.  Vermiculite is a mined product and a lot of it has traces of asbestos contamination as it is mined near the same depth in the earth where asbestos was located.  The producers claim it is tested free of asbestos, but every test I have seen has trace amounts of asbestos that are found.

I have been using Premier LP15 for the last five years since its the lowest perlite concentration I can find.  I add 15% additional rice hulls to get the porosity.  I am just not happy with it.  I am sick and tired of having the little white perlite chunks and pieces everywhere.  I buy a compost based mix for the 50 and 72 cell plug trays from HSU grower supply in Wausau.  This mix is supposed to be perlite free and use rice hulls as the only aggregate.  The last couple 50cu ft totes I have purchased have what I would assume is 5% perlite in it. I think someone is lazy and doesn't clean out their mixer.  This mix from HSU is pretty heavy and more like potting soil.  It has a lot of leaf compost in it, which is great from squash, pumpkins and melons that get started in late May and early June as this mix holds a lot of water.  I also use it in some 804 and 1004 cell packs that I put some flowers in to sell at the roadside stand.  HSU doesn't have a "peat lite" version as they claim it is too expensive for them to buy all the needed peat for a custom mix.  They get the leaves for free and make their own compost during the late fall and winter.

So, for any of the other commercial growers, how do you deal with the perlite mess?  My kids work with me and they almost never wear PPE masks when they are supposed to. This is mainly when we open a new compressed bale, put it in a steel stock tank, douse it with water and chop/fluff in back up to it's pre-compressed size.  I buy the 3.8cu ft compressed bales..  Once it is fluffed and moistened, we fill the plug trays and seed them.  I have also caught them sweeping up the floor with no PPE either.  Some of the reasons I want to eliminate it again from the farm.

I go through about 100 cu ft of this type of mix per year and 150cu ft of the HSU rice hull only mix.

Thanks!