I chose to write about the article called “Creating Healthy Homes.” This article talks about how we have everyday substances in our homes that contain dangerous chemical inside them, such as common household cleaners. Then there are also things that we wouldn’t expect to be harmful such as a mother’s milk. It is said that today breast milk contains a whole host of toxins. Who would have thought something so pure could be contaminated. These toxins are not only dangerous to us but also to the environment. But there are alternatives we can use to create a healthier home. These kitchen cleaners we use on a day-to-day basis can cause dizziness, kidney or liver failure, headaches, and lung irritation. Cleaners such as oven cleaners usually contain lye and sodium hydroxide. These chemicals can burn your skin, eyes, and your respiratory tract, and butoxyethanol, which can poison the blood, liver, and kidneys. There are ecofriendly and homemade alternatives that are available in stores. Rather than contaminating chemicals, these products contain ingredients such as diluted tea-tree oil; a terrific disinfectant; borax, which vinegar; great for cleaning floors and other surfaces, and a baking soda mixture. There are also things such as dryers that suck more energy out of our homes more than anything. There isn’t really much to do about that but there are a few tips we can do to reserve energy: keep the dryer in a warm part of the house, dry similar fabrics together, run separate loads consecutively to take advantage of residual heat, and clean the lint filter after every load. There are small things we can do to make our homes healthier for ourselves and for the environment; it’s just a matter of actually doing it.
During a time a time when American music was made up of jazz, rock and blues, the great music created abroad, especially in South Africa, had no place and no name in American culture. However, in 1980 a prominent group of DJs and record label businesses created the term “world music” to represent the melodies that came from around the world. While the term “world music” created a place for foreign music in the American stores, everything, whether it was Japanese hip-hop or Indian classical music, was placed on one shelf. It became very difficult to find a specific type of music, since it was all put into one category. Additionally, at this time, more modern, trans-cultural sounds emerged, which consisted if “indigenous traditional music with deep roots that is today being transformed by a new generation raised on electronic music and hip-hop”. Rather than just calling this music “world music”, it is now called modern global music, for its cross- culture musical experiments created by the youth around the world.
Never before have I heard of a house that already exists turned into an eco-friendly house. Before it was all about building a whole new house based around the idea that it should be earth friendly, but this idea sounds more convenient and better for those who don’t have the money to build a new home. First off, there is talk with in the chapter about rainwater being captured and used for tasks around the house. Unfortunately, the water isn’t drinkable but it still is impressive. Instead of the usual rain barrel capturing water and irrigating the garden, rain water is also captured to fill toilets. Just moving into a house that my life partner bought, I have come to understand a little about water bills. By having rain water fill a toilet, one could not only help the environment but also save a little bit of money. From what I understand, the toilet doesn’t use as much water as a sink or shower but there is still money being spent each time a toilet is flushed. So this idea of rain water in a toilet highly impressed me. Besides the rain water being used, I found it interesting how one can naturally cool down their house by the use of tree shade. Not only does one save money on energy bills and help the environment, but the yard must look amazing with all the trees. After all, part of the reason why my life partner picked out the house we live in now is because there was a massive amount of trees in the yard, which seems to also make the house more marketable. After taking a class in celtic and Nordic mythology, I have been excited to hear about green homes. Before the Christian Era, houses have been built around under ground springs to heat homes and houses where covered with grass. The pictures drawn to depict these homes not only looked intelligent for the environment but they also looked beautiful. It makes me wonder if any one would be willing to live not just in a hill, like the Nordics, but under ground with nothing but a giant yard for people see as they pass by. This might be a challenge because people do love sunlight and scenery. I wonder if sun light could be funneled in through sky lights and imagery could be falsely put on a wall some how?
I knew quite a bit about biomimicry before delving into this reading of World Changing. I had heard about how spider silk is stronger than steel, how Velcro had developed from the occurrence of burs sticking to fur. I had learned in biology class all about the “Lotus Effect” and how scientists studied a lotus to figure out how to shed water and dirt from rooftops after a rainstorm. However, something that had never crossed my mind until taking ADP III, was the idea of designing something biodegradable. Yes, I had always found it neat and worthwhile to study the way an animal or plant does something, and use that concept to apply it to my own life. However, taking that concept into account, on top of creating an environmentally- safe design, had never really occurred to me. Studying the objects and organisms of nature and how they interact with their environment could lead to some wonderful solutions our world is currently facing. For example, and I know I talk about this a lot, but there has to be something out there that acts in similar ways to plastic, but that is biodegradable. There are simply too many things made of plastic and thrown away to never return to any other form – at least not for a long time. If we could learn from other organisms how to carry food or water or anything else that we find ourselves carrying in plastic bags these days, it would be a tremendous innovation.
I had no idea what a megacity was until about ten minutes ago when I read “Megacity Innovations” but would have foolishly assumed it had something to do with the flourishing cities I am accustomed to, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and the like. Ignorantly I was very wrong. In fact, a megacity is actually quite the opposite. Similarly, it is a large, very densely populated area, however it is in a developing country, most often characterized as belonging to the Third World. Megacities use the power of their numbers and the notion that everything for that place exists in the future, as they are up-and-coming, so the possibilities are endless. Not restrained by previous experience, thus they are filled with potential for unique projects and experiments that the developed world would never dream of. Strong leadership has been key to promoting the megacity. With minimal support from already established areas, the determined men and women running the megacity have the ability to inspire and empower their citizens. One example of a megacity is Bogotá, Colombia, where via a passionate leader and determined citizenry, huge changes have been made. The city now uses forty percent less water then they used to, pays optional taxes to stop corruption within the police department, has created a safer environment for women, formed a transit system, has improved infrastructure, made huge changes in the education system, and much more. “A bright green future will smell of curry and plantains, soy sauce and chipotle, and will sound more like Moroccan rap and twangy Mongol pop than Mariah Carey. We in the Global North don’t know—we can’t know—how the next generation of megacity urbanists will respond to the possibilities unfolding in front of them. The best research and development in urban planning won’t be done by established professionals in developed-world think tanks, corporate labs, or universities. It’ll be done on the streets of developing-world cities, by a younger generation just now coming into its own” (282). It is incredibly ethnocentric to believe that we as a developed nation hold all the answers because of past success, when the fact is that those places now looking for similar accomplishments have a newfound incentive to catch up and tools at their disposal that the First World cannot understand.
This week I chose to read the article “The Future of Food” (56). The battle involving genetically modified organisms and cross-breeding and smart-breeding is something that I have encountered in many of my environmental classes, and is something I have been able to form a strong opinion about. Honestly, I feel that smart-breeding – using genetic analysis to detect certain traits the plant exhibits based on its genome – is not an environmentally harmful practice. This is something that occurs in nature, even without the interaction of humans. A plant being fertilized automatically results in a random assortment of genes from those available. Thus, smart-breeding is this process, but faster, allowing for more desired products more quickly. What I am opposed to, is most genetically modified organisms. Specifically, the insertion of genes from one species into another. The example given in this article was of a tomato plant that had had salmon DNA inserted into its own genome. This is when science and agriculture cross the line for me. When you combine the genes of two completely different species into one, then you are no longer making a ‘tomato’ (as per the previous example), but some freakish hybrid. I can’t help but to imagine a tomato with gills or something. I suppose the scientific reasons behind this method of GMOs look good on paper, such as enhancing a plant’s ability to thrive in X, Y, and Z conditions, but if nature had intended them to live in those conditions, they would have those genes already, right?
When reading World Changing this weekend I decided to talk about the chapter Knowing What’s Green (p115). They first talk about how counterfiters are making knockoffs of certain green bags made with tarps off of semi-trucks. Not only is it a fake, they counterfiters use new, instead of recycled materials as well as poor labor laws. I personally have always thought counterfit bags, and clothing were stupid, but on top of the the way they treat there workers is horrible, and I think there should be ways of telling weather or not something is a counterfit before you buy it. Perhaps a certification stamp or something that all bags have to get.
Another interesting thing that was talked about in this chapter is how not everything recyclable is recycled. Lots of people buy things and then forget that they bought it know it could be returned to the store and recycled. When something finally gets worn out a lot of the time it just ends up going into the dumpster. The idea that was proposed for making sure they get everything recycled back was by putting an identification chip inside so that people can tell what in the items can be recycled and what cannot. The idea of having chips in my clothing and other such products sounded a bit scary at first, because is strange to have tracking devices inside your shoes and outfits. Yet the more I thought about it the better of an idea it seemed to be. Once the things are dumped, the thing could be easily retraceable. Making it easier to recycle things that are worn out.
I’ve always been a fan of Muji products, so I was surprised to see it in Worldchanging under the Branding section (p393-396), since I never linked Muji with changing the world. I’ve only used Muji notebooks before, but when I visited a Muji store in Korea last summer I saw that it was more than just a stationery line. The brand makes everything from clothes to plastic storage containers. However, Muji’s brand is different from what we would call a “brand name” because of its lack of branding. None of the products have on them any marking or logo on it to distinguish it as a Muji product. I think this was the initial reason why I was so attracted to this brand. I literally had to search the notebook my friend had given me to find what company it was made by. But this isn’t all. Muji also apparently “makes a point of utilizing recycled materials whenever possible, and reducing packaging to what’s absolutely necessary” (Steffen, 394). In this way, buyers can feel good about purchasing a product that isn’t obnoxiously proclaiming its identity and at the same time is helping the planet out a little bit. Although the “Branding” section of Worldchanging isn’t as environment-related as other sections may be, it was nonetheless intriguing to see the different philosophies that companies had regarding their thoughts on the issue. While branding is a key strategy in attracting costumers and selling products, Worldchanging emphasizes that branding doesn’t have to be a process that requires consumers to become walking advertisements. There are many ways other than flashy logos and blinding trademarks that can retain loyalty among customers and still incite excitement and freshness for the brand’s products.
World Changing Statement Demanding Human Rights Pg. 441
My fascination for human rights started when I was young and was still living in Indonesia. My teachers told me stories of when the Dutch colonized our country. They pressed the uneducated and took advantage of our resources. This was back then when human rights were not a concern. Fast forward to last semester where I did a paper on blood diamonds. I watched the movie, “Blood Diamond” and have read many books to really understand the horror of the oppressed, those whose hands and feet were amputated if not killed because they tried to hide a diamond. I thought that with the help of organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty such actions will not be common anymore, however this article talked about how people who tried to speak against the powerful become tortured if not “disappear.” This really opened my eyes to see how some organizations (or the government) will abuse its powers to “cover up” a dark past. The first article is entitled “Universal Jurisdiction.” It talked about General Charles Taylor the former president of Liberia. During his reign there was a civil war that started at 1989 to 1996 where at least 150,000 were murdered, mutilated, and Liberia became one of the poorest and most devastated countries in the planet. Fortunately the UN recognized his act and turned to universal jurisdiction. Unfortunately people like General Taylor is not rare. I personally have memories of Indonesia’s former President Suharto. I was not sure what had really happened other than he illegally took the nation’s money that caused the dollar amount to sky rocket. Many businesses could not do international trade anymore and Indonesia’s economy plummeted. Those who spoke up against the president disappeared. People who are brave enough to speak are risking their lives and perhaps the lives of others around them. After I kept reading the article, I thought to myself; how can we encourage those who have insights to those in power speak up? One possibility that the article discussed at least to protect the information is the Benetech, a nonprofit organization that develops technology for humanitarian purposes. Their Martus software is pure genus because it sorts and saves information that these humanitarians have put countless hours in. Benetech saves the information, however, who saves these witnesses? One thought I had was the UN stepping in to ensure safety to the witnesses and their families. Many people in power had done wrong in the past. It takes a lot of research, dedication, and a brave voice to take them down and so it inspired me to know that technologies have been developed to help their cause.
For this week’s world changing article I read Art Meets Technology. This section talks a lot about what this course is on which is how to apply art technologies as an effect to improve the world. It talks about how technologies today need to accomplish what art has all these years; which is to “trigger new experiences that transform our perceptions of what is and what could be,” (97). On invention that I found funny and interesting was the hug shirt. This is a shirt that has sensors that form the sensation of being hugged. The shirt is able to pick up signals such as heartbeats and body temperature from a loved one by simply talking on the phone. I am not sure if this technology is a good thing or not because it takes away from actually physical contact. On the other hand one technology that I thought was very successful was the carbon sniffing robot. This robot was designed by Sabrina Raaf as an attempt to keep the levels of CO2 in a room under control and to remind people to think about how clean our air actually is. The last technology that I felt I would want to use was a device that created your own “song” based on the urban area around you. Being from New York I am constantly surrounded by sounds and to be able to walk the streets while my own “personal sound-scape” would be very exciting. While this is not a necessity I think it would encourage people to travel and learn about more places around them.
For my World Changing article, I chose to read “Healing Polluted Land.” I think that this idea is very important for our environment if we are to move forwards as a society. Urban planning to prevent or invert sprawl is essential to recycling overdeveloped land and use what already exists to benefit a community. Turning a negative into a positive with bioremediation using such organisms as oyster mushrooms is very interesting. I took the opportunity to learn more about these ideas. In doing so, I read that various forms of fungi can cleanse an area of toxins and return the land to a usable state. Although I had prior knowledge on the remedial nature of fungi in such instances it was wonderful to hear of the extent to which these organisms can help. This article covered such topics as transforming abandoned factories and brownfields into parks that weave through these areas to embrace what these places represent and what can grow from destruction. It also focused on how art can be used in remediation zones among others of these places, which was an idea that directly related to me, as an artist. Several artists worked together on a performance pieces involving recordings and stories of the history of the place to make people aware of the overlooked area. The article was very enlightening on the steps that can be taken to turn something that has a negative connotation and give it a positive one for an urban area. Also it was helpful in showing what we as artists can do to contribute this process.
One world-changing chapter that caught my attention this week was called "Leapfrogging infrastructure" on page 302 in the book. It discussed how cities are the result of their own infrastructure and the idea of cities emerging through the technology that is available in their own city, one thing I find to be interesting about this--is the whole process of how cities are all competing with one another to have the "Greatest" infrastructure yet, there is such a range between the levels in which the cities are at compared to one another. Though, some cities in comparison with themselves have made such vast movements. So I question which is the best way to judge the infrastructure of a specific city? The main idea behind technology is for it to make something more easily accessible to the general public; and making transportation easier is one main part of technology that cities work on cause technology can affect so many people in the city- it can affect up to billions of people even! Its one of the few types of technology, relating to infrastructure that can totally effect the whole entire city-which is unusual--especially public transportation because it is cheap and makes it so easily accessible. There are also parts to the city like street lamps and solar panels and power-generated utility. These are all technologies that make up the infrastructure of the city and effect in small ways people would not normally think of taking an interest in. Even, something beyond the electricity involved just like the design of the street lamp or a mailbox even was thought about and made that way for a reason. There are so many miniscule details in the infrastructure of the city that are constantly ignored that I discovered in the world changing article that really fascinated me. -brynn kurlan
In light of this weeks World Changing reading I decided to protest… err I mean I read Protest (pg 450). As a consumer of many objects of interest on the internet I have seen many of the things talked about in this piece. I have been a fan of the street artist banksy for a while now. The Creative mind behind the name is clearly a very intelligent one and it’s always interesting to see his views on different political issues. The thing though is that his medium has gone through a renaissance of sorts due in part of his success. What this means though is that a lot of street art is now protesting just to be hip and sell. I think the movie “exit through the looking glass” shows this transition well and help also give some insight into the mind of this “art terrorist.” Leaving my little plug for banksy aside now for my thoughts on the rest of the protesting section…well I guess it was fine. I was a little sad that there was not a stronger look at the power of internet groups and online protests. In fact what I did see pertaining to online mobs was a snippet afterthought that missed both the mark about DRM/Pirating and failed to talk about the power the internet has. I would have felt that some mention of the concept of flash mobs would also have been a worthy addition. Many online protests work in a similar way so it would be helpful to look in depth at such behavior.
For this week’s World Changing response I chose to read an article titled, Big Green Buildings and Skyscrapers. I have always been interested in architecture and how the design of a building can draw you to it and even make you feel better about doing various activities inside of it. Immediately this article caught my eye because of the inspiring architectural pictures throughout its writing. The article goes on to discuss the importance of changing what has become the stereotypical office build skyscraper and how this style of building has gone from amazing and intriguing to a bland day at the office/white-collar prison. The people who are trying to revamp cities and get people excited about going to work are designing new and innovative ways to make buildings beautiful inside and out. I look at cities like Chicago and Detroit and see them quickly losing their sparkle. The cities that used to drop jaws now resort to becoming just another day downtown with cityscapes that no longer demand attention. Buildings that stray from the norm intrigue the public and effortlessly invite pedestrians into their doors. For example, I am from near Milwaukee and can say that my favorite place to go downtown is the art museum. The building is an architectural gem and makes a visit to even the road in front of the museum a treat. I understand that an art museum and a skyscraper are built for entirely different uses but I would still think that the same concepts apply. This concept even applies to me on campus. Some of my favorite places to go to study or just visit on campus are the new wing of the art museum, the computer science building on north, and palmer commons on central. All of these buildings are very open and full of light and produce an effective work environment for me. This article and my experiences show that the right architecture can make a big difference inside and out.
I have always had a fixation with small towns. Perhaps this love stemmed out of the fact that I grew up in the suburbs, a concrete jungle lacking any kind of character, perhaps it grew out of my many travels up north to my cottage on Lake Huron where I passed many small towns. I love small towns despite their deteriorating and sometimes depressing quality. Small towns are shrinking; family farming is neigh unto extinction. In World Changing the issue arises, how do we preserve small town rural life and address sustainability at the same time? One solution addressed was harvesting the wind, a process I have seen done in the thumb of Michigan. The article states that while the turbines are huge, their footprint is relatively modest. Wind turbines can bring income to struggling farmers but at the same time allow them to plant their harvest and raise their cattle on the same land. Another issue raised was that of conservation easements. As old farmers die and desire to pass on family farms to their children’s children, many of the modern day men and women don’t know how to farm or desire to do so as a career. This raises the question of what to do with the land. Is it sold to developers to be transformed from cornfields to condos? The article raises a solution I had never heard of, that is the process of a conservation easement where a government agency takes over the land for agricultural purposes. The beautiful rural land is both conserved and worked, and the owner pays it forward, getting tax reductions as a result as well as peace of mind. I found this section very fascinating as it reminded me of the British illustrator Beatrix Potter who in 1905 began buying up working farms in the Lake District in England to conserve farmland.
The debate between individuals that support naturally grown food and genetically engineered food has been going on for quite some time, however, to me the issue is quite black and white. As long as there are not harmful chemicals introduced to the foods that we consume as Americans, then I see no problem with altering a plants genetic makeup in order to achieve the desired traits in the mature product. Selective breeding has been occurring for years, and so I believe that genetic engineering is simply the next step in this action, which have been able to carry out with the advancement of technology. Another concept that greatly supports genetically engineered crops is the fact that genetically engineered crops are required to feed all of the people that are currently living on this planet. As of right now, there are already many people that do not have enough food foe survival, and we are currently using genetically engineered crops, which yield a larger harvest. In the event that we were to stop using these techniques, then there would be increased levels of world hunger. Clearly, the genetically engineered crops have become a necessary part of life, which is needed in order to feed the most people possible. I suppose that there is room for small market, which would serve naturally grown crops to those who would be willing to pay a premium price for the goods, similar to organic foods, but I do not believe that the world will ever completely return to naturally grown crops.
The section Home Energy Systems discusses the ideal home energy system options. Though there are three main sources for clean, renewable energy, wind, solar and tidal, only wind and solar energy are practical home use options. The author explains that only those who live on the beach shore would tidal, or wave powered energy be efficient. The most common energy source used for home-generated power is solar photovoltaics. While many homeowners are do not mind having panels bolted into their rooftops, there is another option. Homeowners can buy building-integrated photovoltaics that look like rooftop shingles. These solar roof tiles provide the same shield against leaks and creates sixty watts each, at around 12% efficiency. Wind power is the other power source option for homeowners but has become increasing less popular. Nonetheless, a small turbine can be enough to offset a large amount of the electricity used in the average home. The article explains, “but when a microturbine is combined with a building-integrated solar system and high-efficiency consumption-relatively inexpensive home additions-it can turn into a net producer of power”. I chose to write about this article because it applied some of what we learned in ADP lecture to real-life situations.
I chose to write about the article called “Creating Healthy Homes.” This article talks about how we have everyday substances in our homes that contain dangerous chemical inside them, such as common household cleaners. Then there are also things that we wouldn’t expect to be harmful such as a mother’s milk. It is said that today breast milk contains a whole host of toxins. Who would have thought something so pure could be contaminated. These toxins are not only dangerous to us but also to the environment. But there are alternatives we can use to create a healthier home. These kitchen cleaners we use on a day-to-day basis can cause dizziness, kidney or liver failure, headaches, and lung irritation. Cleaners such as oven cleaners usually contain lye and sodium hydroxide. These chemicals can burn your skin, eyes, and your respiratory tract, and butoxyethanol, which can poison the blood, liver, and kidneys. There are ecofriendly and homemade alternatives that are available in stores. Rather than contaminating chemicals, these products contain ingredients such as diluted tea-tree oil; a terrific disinfectant; borax, which vinegar; great for cleaning floors and other surfaces, and a baking soda mixture. There are also things such as dryers that suck more energy out of our homes more than anything. There isn’t really much to do about that but there are a few tips we can do to reserve energy: keep the dryer in a warm part of the house, dry similar fabrics together, run separate loads consecutively to take advantage of residual heat, and clean the lint filter after every load. There are small things we can do to make our homes healthier for ourselves and for the environment; it’s just a matter of actually doing it.
ReplyDeleteDuring a time a time when American music was made up of jazz, rock and blues, the great music created abroad, especially in South Africa, had no place and no name in American culture. However, in 1980 a prominent group of DJs and record label businesses created the term “world music” to represent the melodies that came from around the world. While the term “world music” created a place for foreign music in the American stores, everything, whether it was Japanese hip-hop or Indian classical music, was placed on one shelf. It became very difficult to find a specific type of music, since it was all put into one category. Additionally, at this time, more modern, trans-cultural sounds emerged, which consisted if “indigenous traditional music with deep roots that is today being transformed by a new generation raised on electronic music and hip-hop”. Rather than just calling this music “world music”, it is now called modern global music, for its cross- culture musical experiments created by the youth around the world.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWoops. Wrong copy and paste last time!
ReplyDeleteEcoHouse Brazil p201
Never before have I heard of a house that already exists turned into an eco-friendly house. Before it was all about building a whole new house based around the idea that it should be earth friendly, but this idea sounds more convenient and better for those who don’t have the money to build a new home.
First off, there is talk with in the chapter about rainwater being captured and used for tasks around the house. Unfortunately, the water isn’t drinkable but it still is impressive. Instead of the usual rain barrel capturing water and irrigating the garden, rain water is also captured to fill toilets. Just moving into a house that my life partner bought, I have come to understand a little about water bills. By having rain water fill a toilet, one could not only help the environment but also save a little bit of money. From what I understand, the toilet doesn’t use as much water as a sink or shower but there is still money being spent each time a toilet is flushed. So this idea of rain water in a toilet highly impressed me.
Besides the rain water being used, I found it interesting how one can naturally cool down their house by the use of tree shade. Not only does one save money on energy bills and help the environment, but the yard must look amazing with all the trees. After all, part of the reason why my life partner picked out the house we live in now is because there was a massive amount of trees in the yard, which seems to also make the house more marketable.
After taking a class in celtic and Nordic mythology, I have been excited to hear about green homes. Before the Christian Era, houses have been built around under ground springs to heat homes and houses where covered with grass. The pictures drawn to depict these homes not only looked intelligent for the environment but they also looked beautiful. It makes me wonder if any one would be willing to live not just in a hill, like the Nordics, but under ground with nothing but a giant yard for people see as they pass by. This might be a challenge because people do love sunlight and scenery. I wonder if sun light could be funneled in through sky lights and imagery could be falsely put on a wall some how?
Biomimicry:
ReplyDeleteI knew quite a bit about biomimicry before delving into this reading of World Changing. I had heard about how spider silk is stronger than steel, how Velcro had developed from the occurrence of burs sticking to fur. I had learned in biology class all about the “Lotus Effect” and how scientists studied a lotus to figure out how to shed water and dirt from rooftops after a rainstorm. However, something that had never crossed my mind until taking ADP III, was the idea of designing something biodegradable. Yes, I had always found it neat and worthwhile to study the way an animal or plant does something, and use that concept to apply it to my own life. However, taking that concept into account, on top of creating an environmentally- safe design, had never really occurred to me.
Studying the objects and organisms of nature and how they interact with their environment could lead to some wonderful solutions our world is currently facing. For example, and I know I talk about this a lot, but there has to be something out there that acts in similar ways to plastic, but that is biodegradable. There are simply too many things made of plastic and thrown away to never return to any other form – at least not for a long time. If we could learn from other organisms how to carry food or water or anything else that we find ourselves carrying in plastic bags these days, it would be a tremendous innovation.
Megacity Innovations, page 282-286
ReplyDeleteI had no idea what a megacity was until about ten minutes ago when I read “Megacity Innovations” but would have foolishly assumed it had something to do with the flourishing cities I am accustomed to, such as New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, Rome, Tokyo, and the like. Ignorantly I was very wrong. In fact, a megacity is actually quite the opposite. Similarly, it is a large, very densely populated area, however it is in a developing country, most often characterized as belonging to the Third World. Megacities use the power of their numbers and the notion that everything for that place exists in the future, as they are up-and-coming, so the possibilities are endless. Not restrained by previous experience, thus they are filled with potential for unique projects and experiments that the developed world would never dream of.
Strong leadership has been key to promoting the megacity. With minimal support from already established areas, the determined men and women running the megacity have the ability to inspire and empower their citizens. One example of a megacity is Bogotá, Colombia, where via a passionate leader and determined citizenry, huge changes have been made. The city now uses forty percent less water then they used to, pays optional taxes to stop corruption within the police department, has created a safer environment for women, formed a transit system, has improved infrastructure, made huge changes in the education system, and much more.
“A bright green future will smell of curry and plantains, soy sauce and chipotle, and will sound more like Moroccan rap and twangy Mongol pop than Mariah Carey. We in the Global North don’t know—we can’t know—how the next generation of megacity urbanists will respond to the possibilities unfolding in front of them. The best research and development in urban planning won’t be done by established professionals in developed-world think tanks, corporate labs, or universities. It’ll be done on the streets of developing-world cities, by a younger generation just now coming into its own” (282). It is incredibly ethnocentric to believe that we as a developed nation hold all the answers because of past success, when the fact is that those places now looking for similar accomplishments have a newfound incentive to catch up and tools at their disposal that the First World cannot understand.
This week I chose to read the article “The Future of Food” (56). The battle involving genetically modified organisms and cross-breeding and smart-breeding is something that I have encountered in many of my environmental classes, and is something I have been able to form a strong opinion about. Honestly, I feel that smart-breeding – using genetic analysis to detect certain traits the plant exhibits based on its genome – is not an environmentally harmful practice. This is something that occurs in nature, even without the interaction of humans. A plant being fertilized automatically results in a random assortment of genes from those available. Thus, smart-breeding is this process, but faster, allowing for more desired products more quickly.
ReplyDeleteWhat I am opposed to, is most genetically modified organisms. Specifically, the insertion of genes from one species into another. The example given in this article was of a tomato plant that had had salmon DNA inserted into its own genome. This is when science and agriculture cross the line for me. When you combine the genes of two completely different species into one, then you are no longer making a ‘tomato’ (as per the previous example), but some freakish hybrid. I can’t help but to imagine a tomato with gills or something. I suppose the scientific reasons behind this method of GMOs look good on paper, such as enhancing a plant’s ability to thrive in X, Y, and Z conditions, but if nature had intended them to live in those conditions, they would have those genes already, right?
When reading World Changing this weekend I decided to talk about the chapter Knowing What’s Green (p115). They first talk about how counterfiters are making knockoffs of certain green bags made with tarps off of semi-trucks. Not only is it a fake, they counterfiters use new, instead of recycled materials as well as poor labor laws. I personally have always thought counterfit bags, and clothing were stupid, but on top of the the way they treat there workers is horrible, and I think there should be ways of telling weather or not something is a counterfit before you buy it. Perhaps a certification stamp or something that all bags have to get.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing that was talked about in this chapter is how not everything recyclable is recycled. Lots of people buy things and then forget that they bought it know it could be returned to the store and recycled. When something finally gets worn out a lot of the time it just ends up going into the dumpster. The idea that was proposed for making sure they get everything recycled back was by putting an identification chip inside so that people can tell what in the items can be recycled and what cannot. The idea of having chips in my clothing and other such products sounded a bit scary at first, because is strange to have tracking devices inside your shoes and outfits. Yet the more I thought about it the better of an idea it seemed to be. Once the things are dumped, the thing could be easily retraceable. Making it easier to recycle things that are worn out.
I’ve always been a fan of Muji products, so I was surprised to see it in Worldchanging under the Branding section (p393-396), since I never linked Muji with changing the world. I’ve only used Muji notebooks before, but when I visited a Muji store in Korea last summer I saw that it was more than just a stationery line. The brand makes everything from clothes to plastic storage containers. However, Muji’s brand is different from what we would call a “brand name” because of its lack of branding. None of the products have on them any marking or logo on it to distinguish it as a Muji product. I think this was the initial reason why I was so attracted to this brand. I literally had to search the notebook my friend had given me to find what company it was made by. But this isn’t all. Muji also apparently “makes a point of utilizing recycled materials whenever possible, and reducing packaging to what’s absolutely necessary” (Steffen, 394). In this way, buyers can feel good about purchasing a product that isn’t obnoxiously proclaiming its identity and at the same time is helping the planet out a little bit.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the “Branding” section of Worldchanging isn’t as environment-related as other sections may be, it was nonetheless intriguing to see the different philosophies that companies had regarding their thoughts on the issue. While branding is a key strategy in attracting costumers and selling products, Worldchanging emphasizes that branding doesn’t have to be a process that requires consumers to become walking advertisements. There are many ways other than flashy logos and blinding trademarks that can retain loyalty among customers and still incite excitement and freshness for the brand’s products.
World Changing Statement
ReplyDeleteDemanding Human Rights
Pg. 441
My fascination for human rights started when I was young and was still living in Indonesia. My teachers told me stories of when the Dutch colonized our country. They pressed the uneducated and took advantage of our resources. This was back then when human rights were not a concern. Fast forward to last semester where I did a paper on blood diamonds. I watched the movie, “Blood Diamond” and have read many books to really understand the horror of the oppressed, those whose hands and feet were amputated if not killed because they tried to hide a diamond. I thought that with the help of organizations such as the United Nations and Amnesty such actions will not be common anymore, however this article talked about how people who tried to speak against the powerful become tortured if not “disappear.” This really opened my eyes to see how some organizations (or the government) will abuse its powers to “cover up” a dark past.
The first article is entitled “Universal Jurisdiction.” It talked about General Charles Taylor the former president of Liberia. During his reign there was a civil war that started at 1989 to 1996 where at least 150,000 were murdered, mutilated, and Liberia became one of the poorest and most devastated countries in the planet. Fortunately the UN recognized his act and turned to universal jurisdiction. Unfortunately people like General Taylor is not rare. I personally have memories of Indonesia’s former President Suharto. I was not sure what had really happened other than he illegally took the nation’s money that caused the dollar amount to sky rocket. Many businesses could not do international trade anymore and Indonesia’s economy plummeted. Those who spoke up against the president disappeared.
People who are brave enough to speak are risking their lives and perhaps the lives of others around them. After I kept reading the article, I thought to myself; how can we encourage those who have insights to those in power speak up? One possibility that the article discussed at least to protect the information is the Benetech, a nonprofit organization that develops technology for humanitarian purposes. Their Martus software is pure genus because it sorts and saves information that these humanitarians have put countless hours in. Benetech saves the information, however, who saves these witnesses? One thought I had was the UN stepping in to ensure safety to the witnesses and their families. Many people in power had done wrong in the past. It takes a lot of research, dedication, and a brave voice to take them down and so it inspired me to know that technologies have been developed to help their cause.
For this week’s world changing article I read Art Meets Technology. This section talks a lot about what this course is on which is how to apply art technologies as an effect to improve the world. It talks about how technologies today need to accomplish what art has all these years; which is to “trigger new experiences that transform our perceptions of what is and what could be,” (97). On invention that I found funny and interesting was the hug shirt. This is a shirt that has sensors that form the sensation of being hugged. The shirt is able to pick up signals such as heartbeats and body temperature from a loved one by simply talking on the phone. I am not sure if this technology is a good thing or not because it takes away from actually physical contact. On the other hand one technology that I thought was very successful was the carbon sniffing robot. This robot was designed by Sabrina Raaf as an attempt to keep the levels of CO2 in a room under control and to remind people to think about how clean our air actually is. The last technology that I felt I would want to use was a device that created your own “song” based on the urban area around you. Being from New York I am constantly surrounded by sounds and to be able to walk the streets while my own “personal sound-scape” would be very exciting. While this is not a necessity I think it would encourage people to travel and learn about more places around them.
ReplyDeleteFor my World Changing article, I chose to read “Healing Polluted Land.” I think that this idea is very important for our environment if we are to move forwards as a society. Urban planning to prevent or invert sprawl is essential to recycling overdeveloped land and use what already exists to benefit a community. Turning a negative into a positive with bioremediation using such organisms as oyster mushrooms is very interesting. I took the opportunity to learn more about these ideas. In doing so, I read that various forms of fungi can cleanse an area of toxins and return the land to a usable state. Although I had prior knowledge on the remedial nature of fungi in such instances it was wonderful to hear of the extent to which these organisms can help.
ReplyDeleteThis article covered such topics as transforming abandoned factories and brownfields into parks that weave through these areas to embrace what these places represent and what can grow from destruction. It also focused on how art can be used in remediation zones among others of these places, which was an idea that directly related to me, as an artist. Several artists worked together on a performance pieces involving recordings and stories of the history of the place to make people aware of the overlooked area.
The article was very enlightening on the steps that can be taken to turn something that has a negative connotation and give it a positive one for an urban area. Also it was helpful in showing what we as artists can do to contribute this process.
One world-changing chapter that caught my attention this week was called "Leapfrogging infrastructure" on page 302 in the book. It discussed how cities are the result of their own infrastructure and the idea of cities emerging through the technology that is available in their own city, one thing I find to be interesting about this--is the whole process of how cities are all competing with one another to have the "Greatest" infrastructure yet, there is such a range between the levels in which the cities are at compared to one another. Though, some cities in comparison with themselves have made such vast movements. So I question which is the best way to judge the infrastructure of a specific city?
ReplyDeleteThe main idea behind technology is for it to make something more easily accessible to the general public; and making transportation easier is one main part of technology that cities work on cause technology can affect so many people in the city- it can affect up to billions of people even! Its one of the few types of technology, relating to infrastructure that can totally effect the whole entire city-which is unusual--especially public transportation because it is cheap and makes it so easily accessible. There are also parts to the city like street lamps and solar panels and power-generated utility. These are all technologies that make up the infrastructure of the city and effect in small ways people would not normally think of taking an interest in. Even, something beyond the electricity involved just like the design of the street lamp or a mailbox even was thought about and made that way for a reason. There are so many miniscule details in the infrastructure of the city that are constantly ignored that I discovered in the world changing article that really fascinated me. -brynn kurlan
In light of this weeks World Changing reading I decided to protest… err I mean I read Protest (pg 450).
ReplyDeleteAs a consumer of many objects of interest on the internet I have seen many of the things talked about in this piece. I have been a fan of the street artist banksy for a while now. The Creative mind behind the name is clearly a very intelligent one and it’s always interesting to see his views on different political issues. The thing though is that his medium has gone through a renaissance of sorts due in part of his success. What this means though is that a lot of street art is now protesting just to be hip and sell. I think the movie “exit through the looking glass” shows this transition well and help also give some insight into the mind of this “art terrorist.” Leaving my little plug for banksy aside now for my thoughts on the rest of the protesting section…well I guess it was fine. I was a little sad that there was not a stronger look at the power of internet groups and online protests. In fact what I did see pertaining to online mobs was a snippet afterthought that missed both the mark about DRM/Pirating and failed to talk about the power the internet has. I would have felt that some mention of the concept of flash mobs would also have been a worthy addition. Many online protests work in a similar way so it would be helpful to look in depth at such behavior.
For this week’s World Changing response I chose to read an article titled, Big Green Buildings and Skyscrapers. I have always been interested in architecture and how the design of a building can draw you to it and even make you feel better about doing various activities inside of it. Immediately this article caught my eye because of the inspiring architectural pictures throughout its writing. The article goes on to discuss the importance of changing what has become the stereotypical office build skyscraper and how this style of building has gone from amazing and intriguing to a bland day at the office/white-collar prison. The people who are trying to revamp cities and get people excited about going to work are designing new and innovative ways to make buildings beautiful inside and out. I look at cities like Chicago and Detroit and see them quickly losing their sparkle. The cities that used to drop jaws now resort to becoming just another day downtown with cityscapes that no longer demand attention. Buildings that stray from the norm intrigue the public and effortlessly invite pedestrians into their doors. For example, I am from near Milwaukee and can say that my favorite place to go downtown is the art museum. The building is an architectural gem and makes a visit to even the road in front of the museum a treat. I understand that an art museum and a skyscraper are built for entirely different uses but I would still think that the same concepts apply. This concept even applies to me on campus. Some of my favorite places to go to study or just visit on campus are the new wing of the art museum, the computer science building on north, and palmer commons on central. All of these buildings are very open and full of light and produce an effective work environment for me. This article and my experiences show that the right architecture can make a big difference inside and out.
ReplyDeleteThe Milwaukee Art Museum
ReplyDeletehttp://international.wi.gov/images/00330072CalatravaSmall.jpg
The Future of Small Towns
ReplyDeleteI have always had a fixation with small towns. Perhaps this love stemmed out of the fact that I grew up in the suburbs, a concrete jungle lacking any kind of character, perhaps it grew out of my many travels up north to my cottage on Lake Huron where I passed many small towns. I love small towns despite their deteriorating and sometimes depressing quality. Small towns are shrinking; family farming is neigh unto extinction. In World Changing the issue arises, how do we preserve small town rural life and address sustainability at the same time? One solution addressed was harvesting the wind, a process I have seen done in the thumb of Michigan. The article states that while the turbines are huge, their footprint is relatively modest. Wind turbines can bring income to struggling farmers but at the same time allow them to plant their harvest and raise their cattle on the same land. Another issue raised was that of conservation easements. As old farmers die and desire to pass on family farms to their children’s children, many of the modern day men and women don’t know how to farm or desire to do so as a career. This raises the question of what to do with the land. Is it sold to developers to be transformed from cornfields to condos? The article raises a solution I had never heard of, that is the process of a conservation easement where a government agency takes over the land for agricultural purposes. The beautiful rural land is both conserved and worked, and the owner pays it forward, getting tax reductions as a result as well as peace of mind. I found this section very fascinating as it reminded me of the British illustrator Beatrix Potter who in 1905 began buying up working farms in the Lake District in England to conserve farmland.
The debate between individuals that support naturally grown food and genetically engineered food has been going on for quite some time, however, to me the issue is quite black and white. As long as there are not harmful chemicals introduced to the foods that we consume as Americans, then I see no problem with altering a plants genetic makeup in order to achieve the desired traits in the mature product. Selective breeding has been occurring for years, and so I believe that genetic engineering is simply the next step in this action, which have been able to carry out with the advancement of technology. Another concept that greatly supports genetically engineered crops is the fact that genetically engineered crops are required to feed all of the people that are currently living on this planet. As of right now, there are already many people that do not have enough food foe survival, and we are currently using genetically engineered crops, which yield a larger harvest. In the event that we were to stop using these techniques, then there would be increased levels of world hunger. Clearly, the genetically engineered crops have become a necessary part of life, which is needed in order to feed the most people possible. I suppose that there is room for small market, which would serve naturally grown crops to those who would be willing to pay a premium price for the goods, similar to organic foods, but I do not believe that the world will ever completely return to naturally grown crops.
ReplyDeleteThe section Home Energy Systems discusses the ideal home energy system options. Though there are three main sources for clean, renewable energy, wind, solar and tidal, only wind and solar energy are practical home use options. The author explains that only those who live on the beach shore would tidal, or wave powered energy be efficient.
ReplyDeleteThe most common energy source used for home-generated power is solar photovoltaics. While many homeowners are do not mind having panels bolted into their rooftops, there is another option. Homeowners can buy building-integrated photovoltaics that look like rooftop shingles. These solar roof tiles provide the same shield against leaks and creates sixty watts each, at around 12% efficiency.
Wind power is the other power source option for homeowners but has become increasing less popular. Nonetheless, a small turbine can be enough to offset a large amount of the electricity used in the average home. The article explains, “but when a microturbine is combined with a building-integrated solar system and high-efficiency consumption-relatively inexpensive home additions-it can turn into a net producer of power”. I chose to write about this article because it applied some of what we learned in ADP lecture to real-life situations.