Back to School?
– R. Buckminster Fuller
I love the above quote by Buckminster Fuller. There is so much power and potential in design. It gives me goosebumps! Which brings me to the topic of this post today — how can I be a better designer?
For the past few weeks, I have been thinking seriously about applying to graduate schools for environmental engineering. I was really pumped! An environmental engineering degree on top of my industrial design degree would be such a powerful combination. As a designer, it will help me better understand how to create solutions for the environmental issues I am passionate about. My happiness train came to a hault when, after talking to a few graduate admissions offices, I learned that I was completely unqualified to apply for a master’s of environmental engineering. My background did not contain enough engineering pre-requisite courses. Damn!
Then, after more discussions, learned that I could take 1-2 years of pre-req classes, THEN I would be more prepared to apply for my master’s. So thats a possible 4 years of school just for 1 master’s. Eeek. Thoroughly discouraged at this point. Do I even need a master’s degree to learn about environmental engineering ? Not necessarily, it is possible that I could teach myself the important principles. I am already really interested in environmental issues and solutions, it would just take more dedication.
I really want to learn nitty-gritty stuff though! Like fluid mechanics. Or groundwater hydrology. Especially air pollution engineering.
I more recently learned that I could apply for a second undergraduate degree in environmental engineering. At first it sounded a little crazy. All I could think of was rewriting corny college essays, SAT scores, monstrous freshman-year lectures, and other horrible things. However, once I got all of the details, it sounded like a great option. I could go back to Georgia Tech and complete my second degree in around two years. That is not too shabby. Then, if so inclined, I could apply to graduate school for environmental engineering or something else.
But I will figure that out when the time comes.
Eco Craft Project
New project!
I recently just picked up a new project with a former industrial design professor Steve Chininis and my designer-extraordinaire roommate Joyce. We are going to design an arts-and-crafts product for kiddies made out of ecological materials. Ecological materials is very broad right now, we are looking into some recycled fibers and other things.
Its the type of product kids would make at school or camp. They can paint it, write on it, glitterize it and then take it home. Can’t wait to start brainstorming. I hope I can come up with a material that is somewhat educational and fun to talk about as well as a good medium for creativity. Its fun returning to the age of 8 and thinking about what the coolest out-of-this-world craft project would be that I couldn’t wait to go home and tell my mom about.
I am not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but the main work I am involved in right now is designing medical devices for vaccination outreach programs in developing countries. It is fantastic, challenging design work that I really enjoy… but it will be nice to have this side project as an outlet for some silliness.
Man, I love industrial design. There is such a wide range of things to create!
Happy Earth Day!
A quote by Paul Hawken that I really enjoy:
“The first rule of sustainability is to align with natural forces, or at least not try to defy them”.
I am not one of those people who will encourage you to be green today just because its Earth Day. EVERY DAY IS EARTH DAY.
Packaging Packages.
I recently went on a trip to Europe. I am a light-packer, so all I brought was a backpack and a purse. I hate dragging around suitcases and checking luggage. It is never the right time, weather, or place to carry around heavy shit! So, why do it?
Anyways, on my return flight back to the US, I decided to check my bag. I went through normal procedures, approached the Continental check-in counter, handed over my passport, and then placed my backpack on the conveyor belt. Everything was going smoothly until the Continental employee lifted up my backpack and placed it in a plastic bag big enough to fit a human being (top photo).
I immediately said, “Wait! Why are you doing that?”. I didn’t have any loose contents. I didn’t have any liquids that would spill out. My backpack is already a package for my belongings, why did I need another one?
The employee told me that it was Continental’s policy to bag anything with a lot of straps because it may get stuck or caught on something while traveling down conveyor belts and chutes. Okay, I understand their concern, but c’mon! Look at this plastic bag, it is ridiculous. Not to mention the fact that when I had to run to customs so I could make my connecting flight, I couldn’t open the bag or access any of the straps. I had to carry that thing over my shoulder like Santa Claus running through the terminal.
When I arrived back in Atlanta, all I could do was rip the bag off and throw it away. What would have been a better method of securing my backpacks straps? Something I will definitely brainstorm.
I had a similar experience when I was in Italy in 2009 and wanted to check a bag that was deemed insecure. So, the check-in attendant directed me to have my bag shrink-wrapped in plastic if I wanted to check it. The result is the bottom photo. At least the Italians had the decency to add a handle!
Canceling Units
How do you compare the environmental impacts of certain processes or products? You can break it down to natural resources usage or pollution volume, but the end conclusion will always be subjective. It reminds me of struggling to solve complex physics problem while I was studying at Georgia Tech. One where you have to convert all of the measurements into the same units. I wasn’t very good at physics, so for some reason… while canceling out units… I always had a few that clashed
One popular discussion is – What’s more green: An e-book or a paper book? On one hand, an e-book spares the use of paper and cutting down of trees. However, an electronic book must obviously be viewed on an electronic device, which utilizes electricity. Most sources of electricity today (not all) come from coal power plants. In addition to using the natural resources of trees, we should also consider that processing paper and physically manufacturing the book also consumes energy (probably electricity and coal).
So we have e-book (coal) vs. paper book (trees + coal). This is only comparing natural resource usage. What about these products’ individual effects over time? Every time an e-book is viewed, it is using coal. Every time a paper book is viewed, it is not killing more trees. I think its really important to look at the entire product life cycle before assessing its “sustainability”.
A paper book goes through a period of time where it consumes natural resources and energy, but then it lives the rest of its life as a harmless artifact/tool. An e-book does not require a lot of energy to produce, since it is digital, but requires energy to continually exist.
I am still not sure where I stand. What do you think? E-books or paper books?
Check out more of my work
Finally, I have a personal website!
It is an idea that I have been struggling with for a while because for about two years, Closed Loop has been my personal site. Recently, I felt it is more appropriate to have a personal design website — where I can share projects, volunteer work, explorations, etc and devote Closed Loop 100% to green blogging.
It is definitely a work in progress. I am still trying to compile content for Closed Loop to include in the site. How do I summarize a 2+ year project into a few .jpegs?
If you are interested in learning about what I do outside the Closed Loop… visit www.krystalpersaud.com
English Avenue Campus
This past Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a design charette for Greater Vine City’s Opportunities Program’s (GVCOP) English Avenue Campus Project. I got involved after attending an Architecture for Humanity Atlanta Event “Dine like you give a damn!” last Thursday. The project is lead by “Able” Mable Thomas, one of the most energetic and uplifting peope I have ever met.
The goal of the English Avenue Campus is to create a community center in the Vine City area. Historic English Avenue Elementary School, which has been vacant since 1995, will be the site for the Campus. The elementary school was built in 1910 and sits on 3.2 acres of land — lots of space and opportunity for innovation!
The community center is envisioned to be a state of the art building centered around green technologies. The campus will engage local residents, foster creativity, and provide opportunities to improve lives — through education, encouragement, and healthcare. The building itself will utilize green building technoliges such as Structurally Insulated Panels (SIPs) and solar panels. Although AFHA may not be able to afford LEED certification — they are definitely aiming for the community center to be up to LEED’s standards.
The center is still very much in development, but some amenities it may include are:
1. Performing Arts Center
2. Green Tech Job Training
3. Recording Studio
4. Green Space/Community Garden
5. Culinary Academy + Restaurant
6. Daycare center
7. Charter school
8. Birthing center/ Health & wellness
9. Community Space
10. Office spaces
My favorite part : Mable calls out to make an announcement and the room goes quiet. She points to the door and yells, “Somebody lock that door!” Some one gets up and locks the door immediately, thinking there is an issue with security. Then Mable shouts “Good! Now nobody can leave. Let’s get to work!”. The whole room filled with laughter, and then, as instructed got back to work.
It was a challenging charette — but very rewarding. I felt a little out of my element looking at floor plans and site maps, but there were so many green building experts in the room that I didn’t miss a thing. Everyone there was so passionate and motivated about creating the English Avenue Campus, I left feeling truly inspired.
Upcycle Belgium
Just when I thought my letters to Terracycle and Kellogg were a waste of time, I received an e-mail from a social entrepreneur in Belgium. There is a team of artists and social entrepreneurs working on a project called “Upcycle Belgium”. They are exploring ways to build a common upcycling activity in Brussels and seeking some opinions on the subject. It sounds very interesting, read on:
“Our goal is to involve not only waste and industrial companies to the project but mainly gather society in the purpuse with local and national campains and educational program for puclic learning. We know that upcycling is not revolutionary solution but by this way, involving the people in the main process and learn more about social, economical and industrial habits to go green without loosing money, wasting time or feel guilty about the enviroment.”
Upcycling is tricky. One one hand, prolonging the lifecycle of an otherwise trashed object is fantastic because it keeps volume out of landfills. On the other hand, if you upcycle an object to a product that is not robust enough to escape landfills for a significant amount of time — what is the point? Instead of upcycling, why not focus energies on creating products that cannot be thrown away?
So, I tend to think that on a large scale (like Terracycle’s partnership with Kellogg) upcycling is not effective, because Kellogg produces a massive amount of food packaging. Unless Terracycle is able to upcycle all of Kellogg’s food packaging waste into very valuable, robust products — there is just too much packaging! In that case, I think there is more opportunity to redesign food packaging than figure out an efficient plan for upcycling.
What Upcycle Belgium is doing is different — they are not just upcycling, they are trying to start a social movement. They want to education people about the lifecycle of products. From what I understand, they are not trying to mass manufacture new upcycled goods, but take an artisan approach and create new, unique products that last a lifetime.
I’ve always wanted to go to Belgium… who knows… I am going to Europe next month, maybe I should pay Brussels a visit!
It looks gorgeous!
Alright, I guess they don’t want to talk me.
This is the last response I got from Kellogg via consumer affairs :
Krystal,
Thank you for contacting us regarding ..
We appreciate your interest in our company and products.
Sincerely,
[Name]
Consumer Specialist
Consumer Affairs
–
“Regarding [dot.dot.dot]“ What does that even mean? This letter was half written. I am not even sure if I should write back, obviously no effort in these responses.
Response from Kellogg on January 31, 2011
Krystal,
Thank you for your recent email regarding the recycling process for our Keebler® wrappers, We are happy to provide the following information.
Our company’s goal is to provide consumers with wholesome, high-quality products. One area of great importance is packaging. We continually evaluate our package designs to accommodate the needs of our many different consumers.
Consumer satisfaction continues to be our primary objective. Therefore, we are forwarding your concerns to the appropriate company officials so they may consider your comments when planning future packaging changes.
It was good of you to take the time to share your views about our packaging. Your comments will help us continue to achieve our goal of providing you with great-tasting and high quality products.
Sincerely,
(Name)
Consumer Specialist
Consumer Affairs
