Giulio Di Sturco - VII Agency - A photoessay on India's Ganges River. It is predicted that by 2030, the Ganges will have dried up due to global warming, water pollution, and the construction of dams.
This week I chose to read the article “Using Energy Efficiently” (165). I was really struck by how obvious and common knowledge these ‘solutions’ seemed to be. Things like insulation and changing filters on air units can lead to such great energy savings, and seem so obvious that it’s almost unreasonable not to do these things. Terms like “Energy-Star” appear in nearly every appliance commercial, illustrating how energy savings thinking is infiltrating consumerism. Large appliances such as refrigerators, washers, and dryers that are old are not terribly efficient, but may not be replaced as easily as an incandescent light bulb for a compact fluorescent bulb. What really interested me was the topic of ‘vampire power.’ I knew that devices that were left plugged into sockets but not turned ‘on’ still consumed some power, but I had no idea it was upwards of 70-80% of the power consumed when they were turned on. I was surprised that regulations were not already in place to limit this, as it seems like something that could be easily lowered. Now that I know the severity of ‘vampire power,’ I will be sure to unplug things I am not directly using. I also found it interesting how power and light generation in the developing world also has a large impact on energy and emissions. Most developing countries rely on wood-burning stoves for heat and cooking, adding to deforestation. Although, it seems that finding a quick solution to this problem isn’t likely. Getting power sources and materials to the developing world would take much time. I think that solar cells would be the easiest implementation, if the area was abundant in sunshine. I think that if these major issues were resolved, or at least made less severe, the energy problem as a whole would get a little bit better.
This section discusses the benefits of purchasing sustainable meat from free-roaming cows, as well as sustainable fish. Not only does it cover the reasons behind health benefits of eating sustainable meat and fish, but it also talks about other positive reasons beyond health-related issues. Some farms alternate the acres their cows graze on; this is known as grazing management. This process comes as a huge advantage to the cow, farmer, and consumer. The cow is able to roam freely all its life, while eating grass, making for healthier meat to consume in general. The alternating of pastureland for cows to graze on allows for one pasture to rest and grow back. According to the author, this process has actually been proven to increase “plant growth, biodiversity, and fertility,” making it a benefit to the farmer as well. If feedlots were taken down and farmers began using grazing management instead, I think it would be very beneficial. Not only would there be healthier meat to consume, the cows would be happier and crops could be grown more plentiful. The mess that feedlots create – and by mess I mean disease, waste, etc. – is not worth it. Human beings were surviving just fine before the age of feedlots. Although there are more people living on Earth nowadays, and it may seem that feedlots are the most efficient, they are not in any way the best solution to getting meat and getting it fast. Not even close. In reading this section, I also discovered that cow poop is being turned into energy. Poop to power. Sounds funny, but it actually makes a ton more sense than letting this poop slide off into our waterways. Cow Power is a program run by Central Vermont Public Service that turns cow poop into a fertilizer that is actually safer than raw cow manure. I found this to be awesome and it made me realize that there are probably a million other things out there, maybe disgusting things, that have the potential be turned into something useful.
The article “Beauty Salons as Tools for Change” focuses on hair and beauty salons and their potential to help women’s health. Because of the relaxing, and personal feel of beauty salons, they are generally places where women feel comfortable socializing and talking about their personal lives. Especially since women can foster strong relationships with their hairdressers, salons create intimate interactions and discussions. Rather than avoid or ignore what clients say, salons are now being targeted as opportunities for hairdressers to find traces of domestic-violence in their clients and promote health education. However, hairdressers are not qualified to be therapists and therefore do not have the authority to provide assistance. Nevertheless, hairdressers are being trained to notice signs of abuse, like if a client drops subtle hints in the conversation, and learn how to approach the client with available resources in a sensitive, appropriate way. In 2001, salons, around the San Francisco area, stared to put pamphlets in waiting areas and restrooms, as well as provide a number for their newly formed network for safety and preventions. Hopefully this potentially powerful idea will become a more used practice to premote domestic-abuse prevention.
Flipping through the pages of World Changing, I suddenly stopped on page 92 because an image there struck me. The picture showed an old Wisk laundry detergent bottle reconfigured into a small table lamp. With all of our recent personal trash exploration and my research into how much recycling actually does, this seemed extremely fitting. In fact, in my black garbage bag of waste there was a very similar orange bottle of my own laundry detergent (though I prefer Tide). In my research, though I could never find concrete evidence to completely discourage recycling, its faults were certainly made clear. Since then, I have not stopped recycling altogether, but I definitely consider my impact much more and realize that perhaps recycling is not all it is cracked up to be, and that in fact I could be doing much more. Seeing this “bright-whites” lamp I see that recycling can be much more than simply discarding the depleted bottle into the blue recycling bin. Being creative I could find new uses for old things and rather than employ an outside force to do my recycling for me, be sustainable all on my own. Many do-it-yourselfers (DIY-ers) are intrigued by the possibility of owning things they themselves have designed and built with their own hands so that it is one of a kind and unique to only them. To me, that is definitely interesting but not the ultimate goal. Actually, the look of pieces such as the Wisk lamp are not my style at all, but I can really appreciate the environmental and financial aspect of making something out of nothing. Whatever the motivation, those who make things themselves make a mark on the world, creating a thing of beauty where there existed only the ghost of an idea. Global consumer culture produces enough cast-off stuff every year to build a ladder to the moon, but DIY reusers aim to save the world from drowning in its own junk. (92) Even though the Wisk bottle may be a bit kitschy for me, I really enjoy the sentiment behind it. I love that the life of that bottle as a bottle did not end when it no longer held detergent. Instead it maintained its original form and was revamped directly from there, rather than broken down and started again (which would require much additional energy and resources used). I thought that after the garbage project I’d thought about what I dispose of to its fullest extent but now seeing this, it truly makes me think about I’m throwing out or recycling (again).
Due to the fact that most of our ADP lectures revolve around the topic of food, I chose to write about an article called, “Doing The Right Thing Can Be Delicious.” The articles main focus is about mostly about the amount of pesticides that are used in farming. It also talks about the impact that fast food on people today, and the fact that buying organic is expensive but healthier for us, and better for our environment. After reading this article, I began to think more and more about the whole buying organic issue. It seems to be that most healthy foods do cost more than cheap take out and fast food. This definitely contributes to why America is obese. It also adds to the reasons provoking the Slow Food Movement. The Slow Food Movement was created to slow down the acceleration of modern cuisine such as McDonalds. This movement forces us to rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of pleasure through food. It was also created to help promote organic agriculture and support local farmers. Going back to organic foods, many people do not know what people mean when they say “organic’, they know that it’s good for you, but not what it actually means. Organic foods simply mean that the food has not been grown using synthetic fertilizers or covered in chemical pesticides. When buying organic foods, one does better for us and our environment.
Obviously protesting has changed in the last few decades but I haven’t noticed. For some reason, I thought protesting still involved signs, chanting and tear gas but that could be due to my innocent look on what is protesting. Now people protest with tagging billboards or shop dropping. In the book, shop dropping was referred to as culture jamming. Both of these I looked up online after reading the text. Instead of shop lifting, I find it intriguing that a person would leave something behind at a store with the intention of it being taken by another person. Is this type of act illegal? It seems innocent enough but I feel that if a person where to get caught shop dropping, they would be in a world of trouble. Or maybe I am just a paranoid person. A big movie being used to show awareness about the environment seems like a good idea to me. It is funny that activists had a hard time not latching onto the idea of a big picture film speaking out for them. Then again, I agree with the book and I can see why an activist might not want to be associated with a film that might be seen as blown out of proportion. If I where to protest against something, I wouldn’t want to be linked to a group that is known for blowing things out of proportion, which is exactly what the big film industry does. This is why I like indie films more, they just seem a lot more wholesome. From reading about protesting and activism, I get an understanding about what more I can do with my graphic design. I might feel a little guilty about selling protesting stickers or t-shirts but I gotta eat some how.
The idea of making my own keyboard or any computer software by myself is amazing especially when I discovered that the first computers were invented less than a century ago, around the 1940s. Nowadays technology has improved drastically up to the point that our smart phones have more technology inside than the first aircraft that landed on the moon, whether this is a good thing or not is a very sensitive topic especially after my reading of “Engineer It Yourself.” Even with the advancement of technology, it was never an easy process “from idea to research to meeting other makers to producing a finished collaborative project that could be shared around the planet” (Steffen, Alex) but with the help of internet and other networking technology such as the Internet, Skype, smart phones, etc. communication is expedited resulting in easier collaboration. A site quoted by the book “instrutables.com” is a website mainly contributed to building objects by yourself (also known as DIY, Do It Yourself). People from all over the world are able post on how to make just about anything, cooking, making glowing goo, making LED shoes, etc. What this discovery made me think of is the future and its possibilities. If us as humans are able to be innovative with the types of we have now will we even need to go to stores to buy clothes and grocery in half a century? Just like anything else in life, something new will bring about with them new consequences. What technologies should and should not be invented? For example, we would not want a technology that torture babies, it is just morally wrong, however we can invent a robot that goes through the waste we make and sort out the recyclable materials. We as artists have all discussed how far should technology go before it is detrimental to our own race. For instance toll booths now are electronically run which cause many people to loose their jobs. Until I read this article, I was not sure that technology could have a domino effect, meaning technology and its improvement has a lot of side effects to both community and people.
Citation Steffen, Alex, and Albert Gore. Worldchanging: a User's Guide for the 21st Century. New York: Abrams, 2008. Print.
Due to inspiration from Dr. Seuss The Lomax, I decided to read Art Meets Technology in World Change for this weeks post since Dr. Sues uses his artistic ability to express environmental issues. One can state that he is poetic and his images give off the presence of the situations in exact detail. Art Meets Technology discusses how art prompts deeper reflections in our societies. The article above talks about how artists use and misuse technology in some of their artwork (96). It states that usually these artists are not contemporary artists and much of their work is not exhibited in various fields (97). Whether or not their work is expressed in areas of life, they do meet the criteria for grabbing a certain audience attention. Usually artists are good at mixing media, creatively seducing the audience to a level that would emphasize their point on a particular position. Their field of study often labels different artists, but collectively we all serve the same purpose, and that is designing something. Art meets Technology is a great title to explain the reason why some artwork turn out the way it does. People aren’t all interested in the same things, so of course somewhere down the line, your going to find someone who is interested in technology and is an artist. Also, artists use photography, and computers to create digital artwork that I think is very helpful because I love taking pictures. I also think that digital art is convenient although it doesn’t consist of doing all the work that a hands-on artist would do. Furthermore, the page 97 has some images that show technological settings and media collaborating with creative art visuals.
For my world changing article I read EcoHouse Brazil. The first part of this article was about rainwater catching. The house collects all the rainwater and the runoff water which is then pumped into a water recycling tank on the highest roof. The water is then distributed to toilets, garden irrigation systems and faucets that don’t require potable water. The house ended up using 28 percent of their water from the process. The next section talked about sewage recycling, which in my opinion is not sanitary no matter what we do to it. However one company in Brazil filters sewage water with sand and UV light to eliminate impurities. As far as cooling down the houses there is not much to do besides strategically build your house in the shade… The part of this article I found the most interesting was about renewable energy. Two solar systems heat all the liquids in the house; this eliminates the need to pump heated liquid throughout the house. The solar panels are mounted on the roof and heat water before flowing to a tank on the lower floors. Sometimes a tank is put above the solar collector and the water is stored at the roof and does not need to be moved back to the roof for reheating. If there are inexpensive ways in building these sort of technologies into houses today we could save so much more energy and be able to use other “bad” fossil fuels and not worry about things such as global warming as much.
For this week’s World Changing article, I chose to read the both the article titled, “Craft It Yourself”, on page 90 and another similar article, “Engineer It Yourself.” Both of these articles immediately struck me as interesting because I have always been very intrigued by the idea of reusing materials in innovative ways. The article highlighted the Do-it-Yourself, or DIY, movement and how since the 1990’s this group has grown. People who follow this idea take unusable items and manipulate them into innovative yet functional products, such as a dish made from an old and unplayable record. I really appreciated this article because I myself own some items of this sort and would love to get more involved in this type of recycling. Some of the products I have personally seen include, purses made from old license plates, belts made from recycled seat belt parts, necklaces made from bottle caps, and so much more. This idea also reminded me of an organization that lets unemployed people in Africa take recycled wrappers and turn them into functional purses that are sold online in their benefit. Not only can we reuse many of our unwanted items, we can easily create something functional from something we may have thrown away and have fun doing it.
The second article was more about the way of innovators and the groups of people who broadcast their innovations online. These days we can go online and find tutorials to create almost anything and everything we can think of. As an engineer, I found it interesting that so many people innovate and share their ideas even without full knowledge of the potential of their creations. They create for fun and live to share their innovations and this really inspired me. I look forward to searching for all of the inventions that internet can provide me with and look forward to the future of small these small inventions.
In my readings in the World Changing book this week I decided to read a section on Art meets Technology. Technology seems to be changing so rapidly and most of the knowledge that we learn these days is gathered through that technology. We are mostly computer based when it comes to learning things these days. I think with the use of new age art we can convey messages and get people to realize things about the environment more then with just photographs or movies. Disaffected was one of the technology arts that is being used to help the environment. I think that it is very interesting to make some one be on the other side of consumerism and watch and deal with people making prints and wasting paper. Even though I think this is a good idea, people may get to frustrated and quit playing the game. But I guess if that does happen, its getting the point across that working somewhere hectic like that can be difficult, and to think before you waste a ton of paper at Kinko’s. My favorite part of this section though was the carbon-sniffing robot. The robot would draw lines with a green crayon on the walls of a gallery. Based on how much carbon was in the room at that moment the lines would get longer and shorter. Making lines that resemble grass. As simple a thing as lines could show how many people are in the room at a time. And the color green helps bring about the idea of the environment and how people influence it. By using technology we can help convey messages that we couldn’t have done before.
I chose to read the passages “Water” and “Conserving Water” to tie in with the photoessay about the Ganges River in India. The problem presented here is one that will be on the plates of many nations worldwide if we continue to exploit natural resources the way we do now. The photoessay shows a story of the type of people that depend on the river and the ways in which it is used unsustainably. These people cannot afford to purchase bottled water or pipe water in from hundreds of miles away. As Americans, we may not see it as our problem as we use our own water, and we have enough of it. This is a horrible way to look at it for multiple reasons. The same result will most likely fall upon us if we continue to use water in the same manner in the future that we currently do. Additionally, when this river eventually fails to provide for the communities near it, we will have to spend more money shipping water to the dry areas. Therefore we need to act now, and we need to see this as foreshadowing. The passages provide many ways in which to decrease our water use and also save money. I feel that sustainable practices will only catch on when it is too late for future generations to have adequate water. As Americans, we look at the cost in the short-term. There is no reason to invest in efficient technology because water is so cheap. We do not look at or pay the total cost of our use, and instead it is passed on to future communities. It is similar to our use of gasoline. When gas was cheap, we knew we had only a finite amount, but we made cars that used maximum amounts of it. It wasn’t until gas got expensive that more people looked to alternative ways to fuel their cars, either by less fuel, hybrids, or electric cars. The same will happen with water, and the changes will come slowly so that our water supply will become limited. There is no reason we need to waste the ‘grey water’ that we generate except for the convenience of not having to pay an initial cost to install water recycling systems. We need to push for legislation that will cause people to realize the full price of all the water they use, and hopefully this will cause us to start using water in a sustainable fashion.
For my World Changing reading I focused on the case study titled, “Going Off the Grid.” This is a subject that has always interested me. During high school I was involved in a program called Envirothon where we were tested on our knowledge of the natural world and the environment issues we face today. One of these subjects was alternative energy and reducing your footprint by making everyday changes to your lifestyle. Therefore, it would only be natural for me to pursue more knowledge surrounding the changes that can be made and the topics brought up in the passage gave me new insights for the future. “Going Off the Grid” primarily focused on ways of altering one’s home to decrease the amount of non-renewable resources used on a daily basis. Examples were given of people taking action with their own homes as well as success stories about companies providing cheaper alternative energy around the world. Although I do not own a home currently, in the future I would like to make it a goal to install solar panels on my roof along with other methods to reduce my carbon footprint. When I have the ability and resources to make large-scale changes to my lifestyle, I plan on doing so in order to become a more responsible “global citizen.” This article showed me that it is possible and in fact economically beneficial to utilize alternative energy methods to power your home and, in doing so, take into your own hands a sustainable plan for the future.
I decided to read this week “Art meets Technology” on page 96. The article was a basic highlight reel of a few notable pieces of independent technology. Such as a robot dog that searches for Carbon Dioxide within a room to a shirt that lets one feel the hug of someone far away. These are perfectly odd ball ideas that I have been reading about for a while now. See before I knew I was going to become an artist, I was looking at following my dad and becoming an engineer. I didn’t realize how much I would be unable to stand math and physics until late in high school. Nor did I realize that I really loved the idea of creating new worlds and characters. Nope. Instead I though engineering was the coolest thing because I was reading about projects like these. There is a quarterly magazine called “MAKE” that showcases these kinds of projects and shows people how to design such things on their own. All of it was equally amazing and almost impossible to do without some heavy investment in shop tools. Sadly even I could not persuade my shop teacher to let me do truthfully stupid things to make some of these objects. At any rate if anyone is interested in these kinds of projects you can check out http://makezine.com/ and their sister site http://craftzine.com/ that does weird things with knitting projects. They also run the Maker Faire, An event that brings creative people of all sorts together to showcase interesting projects.
Developing Green Housing: While cleaning my apartment, I noticed that I had a lot of cardboard boxes lying around that were unused and taking up space. I also noticed that the furniture that came with the apartment was very, very ugly. This got me thinking about house décor and how it can be functional in more than one way. BedZED, mentioned in Worldchanging, is a low-impact complex that has eighty-two units and is a model of sustainable urban development. It always amazes me how “environment-friendly” doesn’t have to imply hippie tree-huggers. BedZED’s development, powered only from on-site energy sources, emits zero carbon emissions and makes use of waste timber fuel, which would usually go to landfills. How often do I think of the effect that I am having on this planet when I look into living situations? Our goal, Worldchanging mentions, should be for all our expertise to be shared freely in order to reach our goals and to encourage better building practices. Society should be more open about these ideas that work toward a greener nation so that communication on the issue can be made more effective and impactful. I know that I am bad at taking initiative in looking for information on ideas that I am not fully convinced of or aware of. However, visuals are effective at grabbing my attention, and mere exposure to books such as Worldchanging really do change my world through its images and case study examples. If more attention is paid to the communication of these ideas to the general public, it is not too late for us to change our unhealthy environmental effects in not only housing but in our general lifestyles as well.
In light of the main theme of the lecture, I believe that green energy is an important topic related to this class. In World Changing, they discussed many topics that I already had either read about or had heard about in the lectures. Obviously, when going through one’s home it is best to check and see if you are currently using energy efficient appliances. These energy efficient appliances save individual families on utility bills, while also lowering the consumption on energy, which is beneficial to the environment. As of right now, I believe that a good portion of the country is endorsing the energy efficient appliances idea, most likely due to the fact that consumers are attracted to the idea of saving money on utility bills. The one area that was discussed in the book, which has not yet been embraced by the masses is the idea if energy efficient housing. This would include solar panels, wind turbines, and possibly even electrical generators. All of these instruments would be used along with traditional utilities, but the consumption of these utilities would decrease by a great deal. There are a few problems with plan, which must be ironed out before the general public begins investing in it. Problems include the fact that utility companies would be losing large sums of money due to the decreased consumption of their product, and that becomes a problem when the government intervenes in the private sector and promotes a product that will hurt a certain business. Aside from the legal issues, the cost of the tools which would be required in order to make one’s home energy efficient cost a lot more than an average American can afford. Although the government was beginning to talk about offering tax incentives for individuals that convert their home to be energy efficient, the cost is still too high.
This week I chose to read the article “Using Energy Efficiently” (165). I was really struck by how obvious and common knowledge these ‘solutions’ seemed to be. Things like insulation and changing filters on air units can lead to such great energy savings, and seem so obvious that it’s almost unreasonable not to do these things. Terms like “Energy-Star” appear in nearly every appliance commercial, illustrating how energy savings thinking is infiltrating consumerism. Large appliances such as refrigerators, washers, and dryers that are old are not terribly efficient, but may not be replaced as easily as an incandescent light bulb for a compact fluorescent bulb.
ReplyDeleteWhat really interested me was the topic of ‘vampire power.’ I knew that devices that were left plugged into sockets but not turned ‘on’ still consumed some power, but I had no idea it was upwards of 70-80% of the power consumed when they were turned on. I was surprised that regulations were not already in place to limit this, as it seems like something that could be easily lowered. Now that I know the severity of ‘vampire power,’ I will be sure to unplug things I am not directly using.
I also found it interesting how power and light generation in the developing world also has a large impact on energy and emissions. Most developing countries rely on wood-burning stoves for heat and cooking, adding to deforestation. Although, it seems that finding a quick solution to this problem isn’t likely. Getting power sources and materials to the developing world would take much time. I think that solar cells would be the easiest implementation, if the area was abundant in sunshine. I think that if these major issues were resolved, or at least made less severe, the energy problem as a whole would get a little bit better.
Eating Better Meat and Fish:
ReplyDeleteThis section discusses the benefits of purchasing sustainable meat from free-roaming cows, as well as sustainable fish. Not only does it cover the reasons behind health benefits of eating sustainable meat and fish, but it also talks about other positive reasons beyond health-related issues. Some farms alternate the acres their cows graze on; this is known as grazing management. This process comes as a huge advantage to the cow, farmer, and consumer. The cow is able to roam freely all its life, while eating grass, making for healthier meat to consume in general. The alternating of pastureland for cows to graze on allows for one pasture to rest and grow back. According to the author, this process has actually been proven to increase “plant growth, biodiversity, and fertility,” making it a benefit to the farmer as well.
If feedlots were taken down and farmers began using grazing management instead, I think it would be very beneficial. Not only would there be healthier meat to consume, the cows would be happier and crops could be grown more plentiful. The mess that feedlots create – and by mess I mean disease, waste, etc. – is not worth it. Human beings were surviving just fine before the age of feedlots. Although there are more people living on Earth nowadays, and it may seem that feedlots are the most efficient, they are not in any way the best solution to getting meat and getting it fast. Not even close.
In reading this section, I also discovered that cow poop is being turned into energy. Poop to power. Sounds funny, but it actually makes a ton more sense than letting this poop slide off into our waterways. Cow Power is a program run by Central Vermont Public Service that turns cow poop into a fertilizer that is actually safer than raw cow manure. I found this to be awesome and it made me realize that there are probably a million other things out there, maybe disgusting things, that have the potential be turned into something useful.
The article “Beauty Salons as Tools for Change” focuses on hair and beauty salons and their potential to help women’s health. Because of the relaxing, and personal feel of beauty salons, they are generally places where women feel comfortable socializing and talking about their personal lives. Especially since women can foster strong relationships with their hairdressers, salons create intimate interactions and discussions.
ReplyDeleteRather than avoid or ignore what clients say, salons are now being targeted as opportunities for hairdressers to find traces of domestic-violence in their clients and promote health education. However, hairdressers are not qualified to be therapists and therefore do not have the authority to provide assistance. Nevertheless, hairdressers are being trained to notice signs of abuse, like if a client drops subtle hints in the conversation, and learn how to approach the client with available resources in a sensitive, appropriate way. In 2001, salons, around the San Francisco area, stared to put pamphlets in waiting areas and restrooms, as well as provide a number for their newly formed network for safety and preventions. Hopefully this potentially powerful idea will become a more used practice to premote domestic-abuse prevention.
Flipping through the pages of World Changing, I suddenly stopped on page 92 because an image there struck me. The picture showed an old Wisk laundry detergent bottle reconfigured into a small table lamp. With all of our recent personal trash exploration and my research into how much recycling actually does, this seemed extremely fitting. In fact, in my black garbage bag of waste there was a very similar orange bottle of my own laundry detergent (though I prefer Tide).
ReplyDeleteIn my research, though I could never find concrete evidence to completely discourage recycling, its faults were certainly made clear. Since then, I have not stopped recycling altogether, but I definitely consider my impact much more and realize that perhaps recycling is not all it is cracked up to be, and that in fact I could be doing much more. Seeing this “bright-whites” lamp I see that recycling can be much more than simply discarding the depleted bottle into the blue recycling bin. Being creative I could find new uses for old things and rather than employ an outside force to do my recycling for me, be sustainable all on my own.
Many do-it-yourselfers (DIY-ers) are intrigued by the possibility of owning things they themselves have designed and built with their own hands so that it is one of a kind and unique to only them. To me, that is definitely interesting but not the ultimate goal. Actually, the look of pieces such as the Wisk lamp are not my style at all, but I can really appreciate the environmental and financial aspect of making something out of nothing.
Whatever the motivation, those who make things themselves make a mark on the world, creating a thing of beauty where there existed only the ghost of an idea. Global consumer culture produces enough cast-off stuff every year to build a ladder to the moon, but DIY reusers aim to save the world from drowning in its own junk. (92)
Even though the Wisk bottle may be a bit kitschy for me, I really enjoy the sentiment behind it. I love that the life of that bottle as a bottle did not end when it no longer held detergent. Instead it maintained its original form and was revamped directly from there, rather than broken down and started again (which would require much additional energy and resources used). I thought that after the garbage project I’d thought about what I dispose of to its fullest extent but now seeing this, it truly makes me think about I’m throwing out or recycling (again).
Due to the fact that most of our ADP lectures revolve around the topic of food, I chose to write about an article called, “Doing The Right Thing Can Be Delicious.” The articles main focus is about mostly about the amount of pesticides that are used in farming. It also talks about the impact that fast food on people today, and the fact that buying organic is expensive but healthier for us, and better for our environment. After reading this article, I began to think more and more about the whole buying organic issue. It seems to be that most healthy foods do cost more than cheap take out and fast food. This definitely contributes to why America is obese. It also adds to the reasons provoking the Slow Food Movement. The Slow Food Movement was created to slow down the acceleration of modern cuisine such as McDonalds. This movement forces us to rededicate ourselves to the pursuit of pleasure through food. It was also created to help promote organic agriculture and support local farmers. Going back to organic foods, many people do not know what people mean when they say “organic’, they know that it’s good for you, but not what it actually means. Organic foods simply mean that the food has not been grown using synthetic fertilizers or covered in chemical pesticides. When buying organic foods, one does better for us and our environment.
ReplyDeleteProtest. P.450
ReplyDeleteObviously protesting has changed in the last few decades but I haven’t noticed. For some reason, I thought protesting still involved signs, chanting and tear gas but that could be due to my innocent look on what is protesting. Now people protest with tagging billboards or shop dropping.
In the book, shop dropping was referred to as culture jamming. Both of these I looked up online after reading the text. Instead of shop lifting, I find it intriguing that a person would leave something behind at a store with the intention of it being taken by another person. Is this type of act illegal? It seems innocent enough but I feel that if a person where to get caught shop dropping, they would be in a world of trouble. Or maybe I am just a paranoid person.
A big movie being used to show awareness about the environment seems like a good idea to me. It is funny that activists had a hard time not latching onto the idea of a big picture film speaking out for them. Then again, I agree with the book and I can see why an activist might not want to be associated with a film that might be seen as blown out of proportion. If I where to protest against something, I wouldn’t want to be linked to a group that is known for blowing things out of proportion, which is exactly what the big film industry does. This is why I like indie films more, they just seem a lot more wholesome.
From reading about protesting and activism, I get an understanding about what more I can do with my graphic design. I might feel a little guilty about selling protesting stickers or t-shirts but I gotta eat some how.
Engineer It Yourself
ReplyDeleteThe idea of making my own keyboard or any computer software by myself is amazing especially when I discovered that the first computers were invented less than a century ago, around the 1940s. Nowadays technology has improved drastically up to the point that our smart phones have more technology inside than the first aircraft that landed on the moon, whether this is a good thing or not is a very sensitive topic especially after my reading of “Engineer It Yourself.”
Even with the advancement of technology, it was never an easy process “from idea to research to meeting other makers to producing a finished collaborative project that could be shared around the planet” (Steffen, Alex) but with the help of internet and other networking technology such as the Internet, Skype, smart phones, etc. communication is expedited resulting in easier collaboration.
A site quoted by the book “instrutables.com” is a website mainly contributed to building objects by yourself (also known as DIY, Do It Yourself). People from all over the world are able post on how to make just about anything, cooking, making glowing goo, making LED shoes, etc. What this discovery made me think of is the future and its possibilities. If us as humans are able to be innovative with the types of we have now will we even need to go to stores to buy clothes and grocery in half a century?
Just like anything else in life, something new will bring about with them new consequences. What technologies should and should not be invented? For example, we would not want a technology that torture babies, it is just morally wrong, however we can invent a robot that goes through the waste we make and sort out the recyclable materials. We as artists have all discussed how far should technology go before it is detrimental to our own race. For instance toll booths now are electronically run which cause many people to loose their jobs. Until I read this article, I was not sure that technology could have a domino effect, meaning technology and its improvement has a lot of side effects to both community and people.
Citation
Steffen, Alex, and Albert Gore. Worldchanging: a User's Guide for the 21st Century.
New York: Abrams, 2008. Print.
World Change: Art Meet Technology
ReplyDeleteDue to inspiration from Dr. Seuss The Lomax, I decided to read Art Meets Technology in World Change for this weeks post since Dr. Sues uses his artistic ability to express environmental issues. One can state that he is poetic and his images give off the presence of the situations in exact detail. Art Meets Technology discusses how art prompts deeper reflections in our societies.
The article above talks about how artists use and misuse technology in some of their artwork (96). It states that usually these artists are not contemporary artists and much of their work is not exhibited in various fields (97). Whether or not their work is expressed in areas of life, they do meet the criteria for grabbing a certain audience attention. Usually artists are good at mixing media, creatively seducing the audience to a level that would emphasize their point on a particular position. Their field of study often labels different artists, but collectively we all serve the same purpose, and that is designing something.
Art meets Technology is a great title to explain the reason why some artwork turn out the way it does. People aren’t all interested in the same things, so of course somewhere down the line, your going to find someone who is interested in technology and is an artist. Also, artists use photography, and computers to create digital artwork that I think is very helpful because I love taking pictures. I also think that digital art is convenient although it doesn’t consist of doing all the work that a hands-on artist would do. Furthermore, the page 97 has some images that show technological settings and media collaborating with creative art visuals.
For my world changing article I read EcoHouse Brazil. The first part of this article was about rainwater catching. The house collects all the rainwater and the runoff water which is then pumped into a water recycling tank on the highest roof. The water is then distributed to toilets, garden irrigation systems and faucets that don’t require potable water. The house ended up using 28 percent of their water from the process. The next section talked about sewage recycling, which in my opinion is not sanitary no matter what we do to it. However one company in Brazil filters sewage water with sand and UV light to eliminate impurities. As far as cooling down the houses there is not much to do besides strategically build your house in the shade… The part of this article I found the most interesting was about renewable energy. Two solar systems heat all the liquids in the house; this eliminates the need to pump heated liquid throughout the house. The solar panels are mounted on the roof and heat water before flowing to a tank on the lower floors. Sometimes a tank is put above the solar collector and the water is stored at the roof and does not need to be moved back to the roof for reheating. If there are inexpensive ways in building these sort of technologies into houses today we could save so much more energy and be able to use other “bad” fossil fuels and not worry about things such as global warming as much.
ReplyDeleteFor this week’s World Changing article, I chose to read the both the article titled, “Craft It Yourself”, on page 90 and another similar article, “Engineer It Yourself.” Both of these articles immediately struck me as interesting because I have always been very intrigued by the idea of reusing materials in innovative ways. The article highlighted the Do-it-Yourself, or DIY, movement and how since the 1990’s this group has grown. People who follow this idea take unusable items and manipulate them into innovative yet functional products, such as a dish made from an old and unplayable record. I really appreciated this article because I myself own some items of this sort and would love to get more involved in this type of recycling. Some of the products I have personally seen include, purses made from old license plates, belts made from recycled seat belt parts, necklaces made from bottle caps, and so much more. This idea also reminded me of an organization that lets unemployed people in Africa take recycled wrappers and turn them into functional purses that are sold online in their benefit. Not only can we reuse many of our unwanted items, we can easily create something functional from something we may have thrown away and have fun doing it.
ReplyDeleteThe second article was more about the way of innovators and the groups of people who broadcast their innovations online. These days we can go online and find tutorials to create almost anything and everything we can think of. As an engineer, I found it interesting that so many people innovate and share their ideas even without full knowledge of the potential of their creations. They create for fun and live to share their innovations and this really inspired me. I look forward to searching for all of the inventions that internet can provide me with and look forward to the future of small these small inventions.
Art Meets Technology
ReplyDeleteIn my readings in the World Changing book this week I decided to read a section on Art meets Technology. Technology seems to be changing so rapidly and most of the knowledge that we learn these days is gathered through that technology. We are mostly computer based when it comes to learning things these days. I think with the use of new age art we can convey messages and get people to realize things about the environment more then with just photographs or movies.
Disaffected was one of the technology arts that is being used to help the environment. I think that it is very interesting to make some one be on the other side of consumerism and watch and deal with people making prints and wasting paper. Even though I think this is a good idea, people may get to frustrated and quit playing the game. But I guess if that does happen, its getting the point across that working somewhere hectic like that can be difficult, and to think before you waste a ton of paper at Kinko’s.
My favorite part of this section though was the carbon-sniffing robot. The robot would draw lines with a green crayon on the walls of a gallery. Based on how much carbon was in the room at that moment the lines would get longer and shorter. Making lines that resemble grass. As simple a thing as lines could show how many people are in the room at a time. And the color green helps bring about the idea of the environment and how people influence it.
By using technology we can help convey messages that we couldn’t have done before.
I chose to read the passages “Water” and “Conserving Water” to tie in with the photoessay about the Ganges River in India. The problem presented here is one that will be on the plates of many nations worldwide if we continue to exploit natural resources the way we do now. The photoessay shows a story of the type of people that depend on the river and the ways in which it is used unsustainably. These people cannot afford to purchase bottled water or pipe water in from hundreds of miles away. As Americans, we may not see it as our problem as we use our own water, and we have enough of it. This is a horrible way to look at it for multiple reasons. The same result will most likely fall upon us if we continue to use water in the same manner in the future that we currently do. Additionally, when this river eventually fails to provide for the communities near it, we will have to spend more money shipping water to the dry areas. Therefore we need to act now, and we need to see this as foreshadowing.
ReplyDeleteThe passages provide many ways in which to decrease our water use and also save money. I feel that sustainable practices will only catch on when it is too late for future generations to have adequate water. As Americans, we look at the cost in the short-term. There is no reason to invest in efficient technology because water is so cheap. We do not look at or pay the total cost of our use, and instead it is passed on to future communities. It is similar to our use of gasoline. When gas was cheap, we knew we had only a finite amount, but we made cars that used maximum amounts of it. It wasn’t until gas got expensive that more people looked to alternative ways to fuel their cars, either by less fuel, hybrids, or electric cars. The same will happen with water, and the changes will come slowly so that our water supply will become limited. There is no reason we need to waste the ‘grey water’ that we generate except for the convenience of not having to pay an initial cost to install water recycling systems. We need to push for legislation that will cause people to realize the full price of all the water they use, and hopefully this will cause us to start using water in a sustainable fashion.
For my World Changing reading I focused on the case study titled, “Going Off the Grid.” This is a subject that has always interested me. During high school I was involved in a program called Envirothon where we were tested on our knowledge of the natural world and the environment issues we face today. One of these subjects was alternative energy and reducing your footprint by making everyday changes to your lifestyle. Therefore, it would only be natural for me to pursue more knowledge surrounding the changes that can be made and the topics brought up in the passage gave me new insights for the future. “Going Off the Grid” primarily focused on ways of altering one’s home to decrease the amount of non-renewable resources used on a daily basis. Examples were given of people taking action with their own homes as well as success stories about companies providing cheaper alternative energy around the world. Although I do not own a home currently, in the future I would like to make it a goal to install solar panels on my roof along with other methods to reduce my carbon footprint. When I have the ability and resources to make large-scale changes to my lifestyle, I plan on doing so in order to become a more responsible “global citizen.” This article showed me that it is possible and in fact economically beneficial to utilize alternative energy methods to power your home and, in doing so, take into your own hands a sustainable plan for the future.
ReplyDeleteI decided to read this week “Art meets Technology” on page 96. The article was a basic highlight reel of a few notable pieces of independent technology. Such as a robot dog that searches for Carbon Dioxide within a room to a shirt that lets one feel the hug of someone far away. These are perfectly odd ball ideas that I have been reading about for a while now. See before I knew I was going to become an artist, I was looking at following my dad and becoming an engineer. I didn’t realize how much I would be unable to stand math and physics until late in high school. Nor did I realize that I really loved the idea of creating new worlds and characters. Nope. Instead I though engineering was the coolest thing because I was reading about projects like these. There is a quarterly magazine called “MAKE” that showcases these kinds of projects and shows people how to design such things on their own. All of it was equally amazing and almost impossible to do without some heavy investment in shop tools. Sadly even I could not persuade my shop teacher to let me do truthfully stupid things to make some of these objects. At any rate if anyone is interested in these kinds of projects you can check out http://makezine.com/ and their sister site http://craftzine.com/ that does weird things with knitting projects. They also run the Maker Faire, An event that brings creative people of all sorts together to showcase interesting projects.
ReplyDeleteDeveloping Green Housing:
ReplyDeleteWhile cleaning my apartment, I noticed that I had a lot of cardboard boxes lying around that were unused and taking up space. I also noticed that the furniture that came with the apartment was very, very ugly. This got me thinking about house décor and how it can be functional in more than one way.
BedZED, mentioned in Worldchanging, is a low-impact complex that has eighty-two units and is a model of sustainable urban development. It always amazes me how “environment-friendly” doesn’t have to imply hippie tree-huggers. BedZED’s development, powered only from on-site energy sources, emits zero carbon emissions and makes use of waste timber fuel, which would usually go to landfills. How often do I think of the effect that I am having on this planet when I look into living situations?
Our goal, Worldchanging mentions, should be for all our expertise to be shared freely in order to reach our goals and to encourage better building practices. Society should be more open about these ideas that work toward a greener nation so that communication on the issue can be made more effective and impactful. I know that I am bad at taking initiative in looking for information on ideas that I am not fully convinced of or aware of. However, visuals are effective at grabbing my attention, and mere exposure to books such as Worldchanging really do change my world through its images and case study examples. If more attention is paid to the communication of these ideas to the general public, it is not too late for us to change our unhealthy environmental effects in not only housing but in our general lifestyles as well.
In light of the main theme of the lecture, I believe that green energy is an important topic related to this class. In World Changing, they discussed many topics that I already had either read about or had heard about in the lectures. Obviously, when going through one’s home it is best to check and see if you are currently using energy efficient appliances. These energy efficient appliances save individual families on utility bills, while also lowering the consumption on energy, which is beneficial to the environment. As of right now, I believe that a good portion of the country is endorsing the energy efficient appliances idea, most likely due to the fact that consumers are attracted to the idea of saving money on utility bills. The one area that was discussed in the book, which has not yet been embraced by the masses is the idea if energy efficient housing. This would include solar panels, wind turbines, and possibly even electrical generators. All of these instruments would be used along with traditional utilities, but the consumption of these utilities would decrease by a great deal. There are a few problems with plan, which must be ironed out before the general public begins investing in it. Problems include the fact that utility companies would be losing large sums of money due to the decreased consumption of their product, and that becomes a problem when the government intervenes in the private sector and promotes a product that will hurt a certain business. Aside from the legal issues, the cost of the tools which would be required in order to make one’s home energy efficient cost a lot more than an average American can afford. Although the government was beginning to talk about offering tax incentives for individuals that convert their home to be energy efficient, the cost is still too high.
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