CCT434+Labs

Lab 11 – November 22, 2012

1. Blue Gold: World Water Wars is a 2008 documentary film by Sam Bozzo. It discusses the environmental and political implications of Earth's diminishing water supply. Moreover, the film posits that water is the reason for wars in the future.

2. Maude Barlow is the chairperson of Council of Canadians, co-founder of the international Blue Planet Project, chairperson of the board of Washington-based Food & Water Watch, member of the San Francisco–based International Forum on Globalization, and a councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. One of her most outstanding awards is the 2005 Right Livelihood Award of 2005, which was alternatively known as the “Alternative Nobel.”

3. Barlow worked on the UN Resolution of water sanitation and health. As opposed to organizing charity, Barlow initiated a covenant. The resolution is monumental because Barlow aimed to achieve the goal of accessible water for every person. Moreover, she believes water to be a human right.

4. "The commons” and "holding in the public trust" are concepts that are essential to the security of natural resources, as discussed by Blue Gold. Such concepts are antagonistic towards corporations, e.g. Coca-Cola, that gain ownership of a good that was originally public in aims of private gains. Incidentally, "the commons" should always retain "holding in the public trust," thereby controlling the power and future of a society. The future of the overall society should not be negatively impacted by selfish and destructive corporations.

Lab 10 – November 15, 2012

1. David Holmgren's Permaculture principles are:
 * 1) observe and interact; e.g. discover local occurrences prior to starting a project
 * 2) catch and store energy; e.g. use energy that is inspired by transition model; create many methods for people to join and give support
 * 3) obtain a yield; e.g. collect ideas at events with Post-it nots or flip charts
 * 4) apply self regulation and accept feedback, e.g. create spaces in which the community can communicate its thoughts; include evaluation and evolution in plans
 * 5) use and value renewable resources and services; e.g. always attempt to work with existing currents, trends, and projects
 * 6) produce no waste, e.g. avoid conflict via psychological awareness if possible
 * 7) design from patterns to details; e.g. energy descent planning – strategic as well as micro
 * 8) integrate rather than segregate; e.g. partnership
 * 9) use small and slow solutions; e.g. allow groups time to form and grow before demanding action
 * 10) use and value diversity; e.g. “Both.. and” rather than “either/or” - let’s do it your way and my way
 * 11) use edges and value the marginal, e.g. boundaries between systems (e.g. existing and new movements, council and business, young and old) are interesting places
 * 12) creative use and respond to change, e.g. uphold vision openness, activeness and creativeness

2. Rob Hoskins calls Transition Towns ‘a design concept’ because it involves the creation of a solution to the issue of energy source. It includes community and systems design that works in consultation and agreement with them. Also, consideration of whole system is required in order to create a viable alternative that could be supported in the concerned area.

3. Peak oil is the time of which the rate of petroleum extraction is maximized. Following peak oil is the decline of extraction.

In response to peak oil, the Transition Towns movement started in Totnes, Devon. Rob Hopkins diffused the movement internationally through his book "The Transition Handbook." Hopkins's idea aims to restructure of society for an increased multitude of resilience. Transition towns utilizes alternative sources of energy to combat peak oil.

4. Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically lack collateral, steady employment and a verifiable credit history. Microcredit empower people (especially women) who lack budget to implement their idea. The primary benefits of microcredit is its low interest. Accordingly, a business or individual can gain a budget without excessive financial drawbacks. One challenge of microcredit is its limited value. A business or individual cannot obtain a great amount of money via microcredit.

5. Considering The United Nations's description of sustainable development (“meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”), it becomes apparent that Grameen Bank and Grameen Shakti are, in fact, promoting sustainable development. The organization offers renewable energy technologies (e.g. solar powered lightbulb) in remote, rural areas of Bangladesh. In the case of the solar powered lightbulb, the technology's conversion of sunlight into electricity does not cause negative effects that would harm future generations. Moreover, the organization's service of installing lightbulbs brings illumination, which promotes survival and education, thereby promoting the ability of the younger generation to meet its needs. Intuitively, assistance towards one generation aids the upcoming generation.

6. The increased access to renewable energy helped the economic growth of the poorer communities of Bangladesh. For instance, with affordable electricity, children of the working class can maintain their studies in their pursuit of education, which is essential to the area's economic growth.

Lab 9 – November 8, 2012

Major assignment's scope, methodology, and design problem Matthew Azzopardi, Ricky Lau Personal dishwashing appliances currently consume high volumes of water and prolong back and joint pain in older adults due to physical design. Many issues in dishwasher designs lie in the front-loading door. Wheelchair bound older adults have limited space when navigating kitchens and cannot fill the washer to its maximum capacity. Standing older adults experience chronic back and joint pain due to the level of the washer trays relative to the counter (located below the counter). Redesigning the way a dishwasher door operates as well as conceptualizing a hydraulic lift system to raise the trays would be potential solutions to these problems.Wastewater that follows the washing process is collected and distribute into two systems. First, a small volume of water is used for the hydraulic door and lift system. Another portion of the water is redirected as grey water for washing hands and perhaps showering after small scale filtration.

1. Bill Davenhall recognizes that a doctor may question his patient regarding his various histories, including that of medical, drug, surgical, and social. However, a doctor does not ask about place history. Davenhall argues that the geographical location of a person's habitat also contributes to his health. For instance, a person living in an industrial environment that constantly produces toxic emissions may possess inferior health to a person who lives in a pollutant-free environment. The relationship between a person's health and location is further highlighted through Davenhall's introduction of geomedicine, the connection of geography and public health knowledge to personal health.

2. Davenhall believes that geomedicine is an important part of the doctor's medical file, as he successfully demonstrates that geographic data is in fact meaningful in the doctor’s office. In aims of keeping record of a person's geomedical history, Davenhall implemented a mobile app. With assistance from Geographic Information System (GIS) software and geodatabase management applications supplier Esri, a mobile app for the iPhone, iPad, and PC was developed. The app helps people understand the relationship between their environment and the health effects that may arise from toxic materials. Moreover, the app allows the user to provide details regarding his place history. The geographically accurate place history will serve as a geographically accurate record of the locations of which a person has lived or worked.

3. According to Jonathan Rose, diversity strengthens a community. Diversity encourages the exchange of knowledge and promotes health. Such exchange of knowledge prevents homogenous environment and promotes attainment of hypercriticism, thus improvement. For instance, places that demonstrate diversity, such as New York, possess strong communities. Simultaneously, low-income housing lacks evident diversity. The importance of diversity to a community is made evident considering that the crime rate increases alongside segregation. Incidentally, diversity is applicable in terms of culture, economy, society.

4. A real estate developer can "repair the fabric of communities." One method of repair involves the construction of affordable housing that respect the surrounding natural environment. Through the construction, Rose can allow people of different traditions to become conscious of one another in an inner and outer sense. A real estate developer can promote diversity within a community, thereby strengthening and repairing it.

Lab 8 – November 1, 2012

1. Bodystorming, with its improvised artifacts and physical activities, easily encourages the envisioning of a solution in interaction design.

2. Surprisingly, bodystorming is more effective than I estimated.

3. Through bodystorming, I have learned that prototyping is flexible. Moreover, changing the thinking process can help bypass ineffectiveness in thinking during the ideation phase.

4. The exercise of bodystorming is applicable to other design challenges. Bodystorming requires emulation of the ideated subject's experience. For instance, the designing of a website will require actual Internet browsing experience.

Lab 7 – October 25, 2012

1. The carbon footprint of the suburban dweller is three times greater than that of the urban dweller. The suburban dweller's intensive carbon footprint is due to the suburbs requirement of automobile use for virtually all activities. Moreover, the greater exterior surface of the suburbs leaks more energy than the urban area. The significant carbon footprint of the suburbs accentuates the issue of suburban sprawl.

2. Ownership of a house in a suburban area is not sustainable because the suburban environment revolves around the environmentally unfriendly asphalt roads and relies on use of air polluting automobiles.

3. Considering Ellen Dunham-Jones lecture, there are at least five reasons to retrofit the suburbia, including:
 * 1) climate change
 * 2) dependency on foreign oil
 * 3) health; e.g. obesity, heart disease, diabetes
 * 4) affordability; 32% spent on transportation
 * 5) demographic shift; false sense of family in suburbia

4. Transit-oriented development (TOD) describes a neighbourhood that encompasses aspects and areas of both residential and commercial. TOD encorages the citizen's access to public transport.

5. TOD can benefit low and moderate income (LMI) communities by:
 * linking workers to employment centres
 * necessitating construction and maintenance jobs
 * encouraging investment
 * generally increasing the cost of housing
 * contributing to the housing supply, thus reducing the overall cost of housing and improving equitability

6. Considering that seniors who do not wish drive are more keen on using public transport, bus rapid transit (BRT) can be applied onto Oakville and Mississauga to benefit its senior residents. As a relatively more efficient system, BRT can provide faster transport in comparison to regular bus services, as well as potentially automobiles.

BRT can be implemented onto Oakville and Mississauga in a few steps. Firstly, new lanes should be constructed in the town and city. Secondly, in order to provide convenience to seniors, the bus stop should be relocated or constructed near their popular habitat (e.g. seniors home), as well as probable locations of visit (e.g. supermarket). Thirdly, a reduced fare can made available to seniors to ease the challenge for seniors with low income.

Lab 6 – October 18, 2012

1. Ezio Manzini is a design professor at Italy's largest technical university, the Politecnico di Milano. Manzini is one of the few leading thinkers regarding the design for social innovation and sustainability. Manzini believes that social interaction is necessary for social innovation. Moreover, he believes that social innovation is more important than technological innovation.

Design for Social Innovation towards Sustainability (DESIS) is a network of labs involved in design work in design schools and design-oriented universities. DESIS primarily aims use design thinking and and knowledge to improve social innovation in terms of its potential, visibility, transferability, synergy, and new initiatives.

2. Do-ference allows designers to interact, thereby allowing its participants to identify the problems of their ideas early in the design process. Do-ference encourages conversations regarding design as a catalyst for positive change. While friction may arise in such conversations between stakeholders, the conversations lead to energy. The energy from stakeholders of different groups generates positive energy in the struggling community. In the case of Do-ference, it can be seen that such friction, or human interaction, is necessary for social innovation. Moreover, design becomes a means of facilitation.

3. Enrique Peñalosa, Bogotá's mayor from 1998 until 2001, developed the bank of lands, system of parks and libraries, bus rapid transit of TransMileniomass, and roads and maintenance. The collaboration of the classes of Bogotano citizens is a knock-on effect caused by Peñalosa's developments

4. Walking and biking lanes facilitate leisurely and public activities such as walking and biking. Peñalosa's development offered Bogotano citizens a sense of safety and community, as well as an outlet for interaction.

5. I believe my community and policymakers will welcome additional walking and biking lanes. Intutively, the addition of walking and biking lanes will tighten community involvement (as exemplified by the case of Bogotá). Moreover, it will also encourage the increase of physical activities among citizens, thereby decreasing the instances of illness due to sedentary lifestyles. The implementation of additional walking and biking lanes benefit people and profit of the triple bottom line

However, regulation of cars on selected streets and times will probably not be supported, as such a regulation embodies issues such as inconvenient transporting and the increased probability of confusion.

Lab 5 – October 11, 2012 [|Super Use] 1. Other species do not have to deal with waste. In fact, they do not create waste, as their output are seamlessly reabsorbed into the environment as part of nature itself. For instance, the materials of a beaver dam consists of mud, stones, and timber, which all are environmentally friendly and will 'return to nature' as part of nature. Another example is feces produced by animals. Feces becomes part of nature as manure or fertilizer.

2. I believe using materials as they are found is better for the environment than using recycled materials. This is because the process of recycling requires energy. The collection and transportation involved prior to recycling also requires energy. It is argued that such costs may outweigh the savings gained by recycling.

3. Potential challenges of 2012 Architecten include architectural issues.

Lab 4 – October 4, 2012

1. Design #1 Low-Energy Carbon Sequestration Referencing enzymes of mollusks, a flue scrubber that sequesters carbon dioxide from waste gases was developed. The scrubber also converts the gases into nontoxic limestone powder.

Design #2 Self-Cleaning Paint Referencing the microscopic water-repelling structure of the leaves, paint that repel water was developed. Such paint allows rainwater to wash away dirt on its surface.

Design #3 Toxin-Free Glue Referencing the secretions of mussels, a strengthened glue that contains no toxins was developed.

2. Biomimicry evokes interest in many. Biomimicry represents the natural world's millions of years of evolution, mankind's strive for improvement, as well as respect for and effort to harmonize with nature.

Biomimicry as a business model is fascinating, as it shows that businesses, which predominately aims to maximize profits while ignoring the environment, (are beginning to) realize the importance of nature. Incidentally, many innovative, effective, and efficient [|products] revolve around biomimicry.

4. In 2009, Janine Benyus was awarded Champion of the Earth in Science & Innovation by the United Nations Environment Programme.

5. Permaculture is a branch of ecological design, ecological engineering, and environmental design which develops sustainable architecture/human settlements and self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems. Permaculture revolves around aspects including: taking care of the Earth ad the people, and Share the Surplus.

6. Ricky Lau, Mike Tran The principles of Design for the Environment (DfE) can be applied onto t-shirts. Many t-shirts are made from wool that are grown with heavy use of insecticides. As this is environmentally unfriendly, DfE t-shirts are grown naturally without insecticides.

In aims to minimize the impact on the environment, the cotton are picked by hands as opposed by machines. Moreover, the cotton are grown locally to decrease the use of petroleum during transportation.

In the manufacturing process, DfE t-shirts are not tainted by environmentally unfriendly materials, including toxic colouring. DfE t-shirts entirely recyclable, consisting purely of recyclable materials including wool and polyester.

In order to overcome the limited range of colour in wool (beige, brown, and green) while retaining the capacity for glamour, DfE t-shirts are implemented with biomimicry based on the wing scales of butterflies. Similar to the countless scales on a butterfly's wings, parts of the t-shirt are layered in a way so that they selectively cancel out certain colours through wavelength interference. The overall effect is the presentation of a vast array of colours without the use of any harmful dyes. Of course, DfE t-shirts can also use natural dyes.

Lab 3 – September 27, 2012

1. XClinic metaphorically refers to people who approach it with concerns or complaints regarding the environment as “impatients.” This is a healthcare metaphor. During an appointment, an XClinic staff interviews and notes an impatient's concern or complaint. Later, the staff provides the impatient with “prescriptions” or “referrals.” Through conversing with impatients, XClinic aims to cause effective material change. Its ultimate goal is to make the world ecologically productive.

2. Artist and engineer Natalie Jeremijenko is recognized for her influence as a designer. Jeremijenko's xDesign, or experimental design, aims to achieve social change without violence, via the exploration of opportunities that are presented by new technologies. Her many projects reflect her biocentric design methodology. Believing that everyone is a product of the environment, she aims to divert the attention of humans back toward the environment.

Incidentally, Jeremijenko's Ooz devices are designed for both human and animal users. Through Ooz, people are encouraged to mirror the actions of animals, thus exploring the uniqueness of other species. Ooz challenges and evokes reflection regarding mankind's competence, intelligence, and management of natural systems. For instance, Ooz bird perches are facilitates human-bird communication as it seemingly translates arguments from the perspectives of birds to human dialect. Such translations argues that humans should be more generous in sharing resources. Jeremijenko's design methodology can be seen through the Ooz as it implies biocentrism.

4. Please see email.

5. Bottled water is detrimental to our environment because:
 * 1) The extraction of water for the bottled water disrupts the hydrological cycle.
 * 2) The production of bottles require a colossal amount of energy, oil, and water. The colossal amount of energy used in the production are sufficient to fuel all cars in US for an entire year. Production of bottled water requires several thousand times more of energy than tap water. Moreover, one litre of bottled water requires three litres of water during production.
 * 3) Bottled water generates up to 1.5 million tons of plastic waste per year. 80% of bottles are downcycled in landfill sites, while the majority of the remaining bottles are melted in incinerators, causing toxic emissions. Only 5% bottles are recycled.
 * 4) Bottled water require transportation, which requires fuel and outputs toxins.
 * 5) The bottle of bottled water contains number 7 plastic. Number 7 plastic disrupts hormones, thus is able to cause miscarriages and birth defects. Moreover, the material correlates with breast and uterine cancer in females and decreased testosterone levels in males.

6. The cost of bottled water pertains to the extraction of oil, production of bottles, transportation, as well as the organizations' manufactured demand. However, the economic cost of bottled water (which is 2000 times more expensive than that of tap water) is minuscule in comparison to its environmental costs. For instance, the production of bottled water consumes several thousand times more energy than tap water. Also, the production of one litre of bottled water requires three litres of tap water.

Lab 2 – September 20, 2012 [|TerraCycle] Unlike the predominate recycling, upcycling prevents wasting potentially useful materials by taking advantage of existing ones. When creating new products, upcycling reduces the consumption of new raw materials. Moreover, the process of upcycling reduces the use of new raw materials, and simultaneously reduces energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, as well as air and water pollution.

Upcycling is a successful business model as its executer essentially does not lose quality over its materials or products.

The popularity of upcycling is evident. For instance, the products on e-commerce website Etsy were increasingly tagged with the keyword "upcycled." Upcycled products tagged "upcycled" increased from approximately 7,900 in January 2010 to 167,000 in October 2011.

1. Upcycling is the process of converting waste into materials or products that possess greater quality and/or environmental value. For instance, upcycling a plastic bag is to exploit its characteristics of being plastic and the shape of a bag. This is distinct from recycling, or downcycling, which in this case aims to melt the bag, thus degrading its value. Other examples of upcycling include using coffee waste to grow mushrooms and stitching outdated banners into handbags.

2. Downcycling is the process of converting waste into materials or products of lesser quality and reduced functionality. An example of downcycling is plastic recycling, which reduces the material into lower grade plastics. In this case, the lower grade plastics become less apt to demonstrate benefits in comparison to before, thus is less valuable and is considered undesirable and waste.

3. TerraCycle is one of the largest growing sustainable businesses in the world. Its size is predominately due to its status as an early adaptor in the field. Moreover, TerraCycle is supported by its partnership with notable retailers such as Frito-Lay, The Hope Depot, and Walmart. Accordingly, TerraCycle is able to remain afloat and expand its business to a national scale.

4. TerraCycle was founded in 2001 by Tom Szaky, a student of Princeton University freshman. Szaky's education and ideas contribute to the company's success. Moreover, Szaky was inspired by the amazing results from the compost bin, as well as the freedom of feeding indoor plants with the resultant fertilizer. Szaky learned that he could create quality fertilizer while answering to environmental issues with worms.

5. TerraCycle introduces a system of collection and solution for anything that traditionally will be considered trash. TerraCycle's system ultimately eliminates the idea of waste. The organiation offers predominately free waste collection programs. In aims to populate such a program, TerraCycle's core business model involves incentives. Participants of the program are awarded with merit points.

6. Aside from TerraCycle, other businesses also have sustainable business models. For instance, the early Ford Motor Company was an example of sustainable business, or green business. During the time of Model T, Ford Motor Company used the crates that held trucks as floorboards in the vehicle factory. The early Ford Motor Company upcycled, as it retained the quality of its materials despite their conversion from crates to floorboards.

Lab 1 – September 13, 2012 [|No Impact Man] 1.
 * 1) no more automated transportation; substituted by human-powered transport, e.g. kick scooter
 * 2) no more electricity; no air conditioning and refrigerator, the company of friends substitutes television
 * 3) no more non-local food, of food from greater than 250 miles; no coffee and takeout, only food from local market
 * 4) no more material consumption; no inessential shopping; wife gains more time to think
 * 5) no garbage; no packaged products, toilet paper, disposable diaper; use compost and wool diapers
 * 6) no toxic cleaning products, manually wash clothes in bathtub
 * 7) gains experience and knowledge regarding greenness that can be reapplied in their lifestyle after the no impact year
 * 8) briefly, the Bevan family experiences heightened inconvenience

2. Mrs. Bevan’s compassion is crucial to Mr. Bevan’s success in achieving his goal.

3. According to the hedonic treadmill, as a person’s standard of living heightens, his desires and expectations also heighten. I personally experienced the hedonic treadmill through the purchase of connotatively high-end Apple products. I //felt// improvements in my computing and phoning experiences after switching to the MacBook and iPhone. However, the feeling of exuberance was eventually reduced by the knowledge that superior products exist. Consumer products such as laptops and mobile phones bring convenience to my life, thus improving it. In today’s technologically abundant society, laptops and phones help a person maintain contact with everybody else. However, true necessities are objects that fulfill a person’s basic needs, including food and water, shelter, and clothing. The difference between consumer products such as Apple products and true necessities is apparent upon comparison: a person can live without laptops and phones, but will starve to death without food.

4. I accumulate an evident amount of packaging waste. For instance, the packaging of office supplies including paper, pens, and staples, as well as those of food including bread, poultry, pizza, and bottled water. Weekly, I produce waste that fills at least half of an 11 by 14 inch plastic bag.

Aside from weekly recycling, my city of permanent residence, Markham, hosts four community recycling depots that allow citizens to drop off recyclables. The recycling depots ease the process of recycling, as they accept all blue box materials, including fluorescent light bulbs, ink cartridges, and rechargeable batteries.

Individuals, businesses, and governments should jointly address the issue of waste. Since they all live in, use, and benefit from the environment, they should all be responsible for maintaining it.

5. I can reduce material consumption and the use of toxic cleaning materials. For instance, I can purchase clothing at larger intervals, as well as use less detergent and laundry detergent when doing the laundry. The society should reference every change in Beaven’s experiment and change correlating conventional practices in aims to reduce their environmental impact. For example, while it is inconvenient and unconventional to entirely relinquish fossil fuel transportation, citizens could aim to reduce pollution through carpooling, public transit, or human-powered transportations.

6. I would be happier if I could slow down. For instance, I experience happiness at a higher intensity during the summer break, in which I slowed down and relaxed. However, my occupation as a student prevents me from slow down. As a student, I must maintain an increased pace in order to keep up with the curriculum. During the school year, I require instant conveniences such as transportation, electricity, and packaged foods in order to function well academically. I can slow down during statutory holidays such as Christmas Day and Summer Break.

7. The bicycle will surely replace public transit as my default mode of transportation if I ignored modes of transportation that require fossil fuel. My relationship with family and friends, as well as my academic experience, will worsen without public transit. Without public transit, I would have to remain in Mississauga around UTM throughout my entire university career and become unable to visit my home in Markham. Simultaneously, punctually attending my classes at Sheridan College would be impossible without shuttle busses. While it is possible to ignore fossil fuel transportation, it is difficult to do so in Mississauga. Being a suburb, Mississauga is designed to function with and envelop various modes of fossil fuel transportation. Moreover, Mississauga embodies many areas that can only be accessed via automobiles, such as highways and roads. Oakville shares a similar case. Briefly, a resident of a suburb who does not use fossil fuel transportation cannot easily enjoy living in it. While my love for the environment encourages me to use less fossil-fuel transportation, it is unlikely, if not impossible, for me to entirely forsake it.

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