Emma & BCT

Wow, a full three years has come to end. I felt this studio project was something I was really passionate about and I was really happy with how it went. It’s something that Sophie and I can continue on and makes a great addition to our portfolios.

The whole zero waste journey is a really great way to cut unnecessary waste from our lives but I found it also really stressful. I felt that my efforts were just not good enough and I couldn’t win. I soon realised that I was doing a lot better than majority and started to feel proud of my efforts and changes I had made. I hope with our project, this doesn’t happen. This is not the impression we want to give but as a mild perfectionist myself, I was my own fault for feeling like that.

After being introduced to the term “solutionism” in Emerging Practices, I’m asking myself whether I think our work is “solutionism”? As our project hasn’t been implemented into society yet, it’s hard to judge yet I feel like we aren’t assuming that one event will fix everything. We understand that change takes time and we don’t expect everyone to change their lifestyles immediately (as nice as that would be). I guess we’re hoping for organic change.

I must say, I do love our little display. I think it shows our brand values really well. It’s so easy to compare your work to everyone else and think this just isn’t good enough but I need to realise that your work is just different. Overall, I am really happy and I like that we’ve done something we’re really passionate about!

Fyi: All of our signage was hand cut out of card as we didn’t want to use vinyl due to it’s non-recyclable nature. The plinths and table were borrowed from Charlotte, reusing at it’s finest!

So currently our idea is to be a zero waste shop where we sell hand made products at an affordable price from recycled fabrics or sell donated products too. We’re tossing up whether this is actually enough or if we need a bit more, perhaps maybe a social enterprise? We need to work out a point of difference between other business, more incentive for people to buy from us. Maybe if we create some events with our profits, might be worth looking into?

We also really value that we’re attacking mass production as well. A lot of zero waste products are made offshore when they could be made from recycled materials like we hope to. 

A physical booklet, repressing a zero waste business. Hmm. That could be a bit contradicting. Yeah, we’ve thought about it a fair bit. Not only did we want to create a beautiful piece of graphic art for the attendee of educational events and our markers to view but there is a fair bit of reasoning behind why. 

First of all, we did consider doing a digital pdf yet we understood the likely hood of people after an event, going to the pdf is slim. Why not make it easy for them, put all the information they need, into their hands? 

Money is not our priority, we do not exist for profit. It does seem strange but as a social enterprise, getting the message out is more important to us. We will differ from other sustainable living companies as we are not for profit. 

Our business concept is to sell zero waste products at an affordable price and then the money to go towards educating people on how to live more sustainably. 

We’ll have a website and social media accounts to get our idea out there and to use for marketing. There will be very little budget for marketing so using these free platforms are essential. You’ll be able to buy the products from the website and also get in contact to book us for a sustainability event. 

As we know how challenging it is to get large corporations on board for sustainability, we started to realise that the change needed to come from us. Thinking about implementing an education program, we consider where it could go in society. We considered maybe free events where you sign up to attend although we would only be attracting those who are aware of the problem and may already live a zero waste lifestyle. So how can we target those who aren’t aware of the problem and need to make change? 

As we wanted the booklet to be engaging, I thought maybe I could use rhetorical questions that evoke the reader to think about their waste. I want to use something that majority of people have or use that we can all relate to. Then I thought about how we’re going to start by targeting large corporates and what do all office people need? COFFEE

“So how did you get your coffee this morning?”

Coffee cups are also a really large contributor to waste and getting a takeaway coffee in a reusable cup is such an easy change to make. Takeaway coffee cups also come in many different materials from compostable to recyclable to neither. 

Being a social enterprise - what’s our difference?

Originally, we were just going stock handmade zero waste products at an affordable price, exclaiming that we don’t exist for profit but for change. This was a good idea yet I felt it needed something a little more. Our point of difference would be it’s NZ made from recycled materials where possible and is cheaper which are quite good incentives. Thinking of it as a studio project, I feel it needs a bit more. I began to think about what the incentive could we have for them to buy products from us. We originally thought doing sustainable events with our profits would be a good incentive. 

http://akina.org.nz/venture/rekindle/ - “Initially established in Christchurch as a response to the mass demolition of damaged homes, Rekindle repurposes wood waste to make high-value furniture while equipping young people with skills and jobs. Rekindle is now looking to expand through a social franchising model.” Rekindle uses waste material to generate great products whilst teaching youth important skills and setting them up.

I really don’t want our little handout booklet to be boring and then be a waste of time and resources. There’s a heap of information that needs to get put in about  what the problem is, why we’re hear talking to you, defining the problem a little more, how we can fix it, different pathways and suggestions for changes they can make. I also don’t want to come on too strong.. Everyone needs to make change but it’s hard to say that without seeming like you’re attacking them. 

I decided perhaps I could make a little story like thing, make it a bit funny and put some cool illustrations in. 

Some main points of what needs to go in booklet:

The problem

Why we’re here

Composting

Recycling

Landfill

Changes that can be made

We aren’t trying to attack you

So, a pretty interesting twist to the last assignment, a proposal of a future version of a social robot from another classmates chosen robot. I completely understand why as it’d just be too easy to do the robots we originally chose. I was allocated Aibo, a robot dog which is great as I love dogs and have two myself. Confused as to why I didn’t choose Aibo at the start, conducting an evaluation report would’ve been far more within my comfort zone! Although, it’s good to get out of your comfort zone I hear. 

So Aibo. I’m going to start with my initial reaction, before I read the reports

Aibo seems pretty ridiculous. How can a piece of plastic ever simulate an actual dog? Dogs have so much personality and there’s so much more to owning a dog than just companionship such as looking after it, feeding it, just overall being an owner of a living thing, of course there’s more than companionship. 

Now that I’ve read the reports, I still share some of the same opinion. I understand that a robot companion is better than no companion and I also understand that not everyone can own a dog, such as those who live in apartments or rentals and those who cannot commit to the time and effort required to take of a dog. 

Something that could've been really interesting to look further into is the implications of growing up with Aibo then meeting a real dog. Behaviours of dogs can be very different for different people. Imagine if there we a toddler, interacting with Aibo who doesn’t give any negative feedback such as barking or biting. Your child can poke, tug and annoy Aibo with no consequences as it’s just a robot. You’re out walking with your child in a park and they see a dog. You don’t think much of it. The child acts the same way it does with Aibo not realising that there’s a real dog, with natural instincts and a non-programmed behaviours. What could happen? 

We felt a need to come up with our own zero waste definition in order people to understand what zero waste really is and can be as oppose to assuming that it’s literally no waste at all. From our experience, there seemed to be a lot of confusion around a zero waste lifestyle and suspicion about it. Defining zero waste from our experience is all about reducing as much as you can, making the effort and being conscious of your waste’s pathway. We really want to push accountability for your trash and consideration. 

“Here's the thing: I don't think making zero trash is really possible right now, and I'm skeptical of folks who claim they do. (Although if you want to try - more power to you). Instead, when I talk about zero waste, I'm really talking about low waste, or less waste. Fact is, we live in a culture that relies heavily on disposable products, and it's hard to avoid them completely.I think the beauty of zero waste is that you can dip your toe in at any level. If all you can do right now is commit to bringing your reusable water bottle with you when you leave the house, start there. When you've mastered that habit, add another. For your household, going zero waste may look like generating one bag of trash per week instead of three. Or, it may look like taking out the trash once a month instead of every week. Going zero waste will look different for every person and every family, and that’s perfectly okay!” ("ZERO WASTE", 2018)

Celia, from Litterless, above gave a really great angle to look at zero waste from. Our definition was inspired by hers as she showed the reality behind it all which is really important. We hope our definition allows people to look at zero waste living differently and realising that small changes make a big difference. 

“Generating as little waste as possible, during day-to-day living. Eliminating unnecessary waste and disposing of generated waste correctly.” 

- Olphert & Smythe

References:

Presenting to Rebecca from Dow Goodfolk was really good experience. We knew that our idea wasn’t a brand new idea but we had some good marketing tactics around building up to the idea. Sophie and I had a super long presentation, which wasn’t ideal by the time we got to presenting as we rushed it but we were still white happy with how it went. 

We got some good feedback too, as well as being pretty much turned down by Dow Goodfolk. We knew our idea wasn’t this amazing solution as we feel that isn't the right way to approach the problem. So weren’t that hopeful anyway but it was really good experience presenting to industry. It would be awesome to get in touch with Fonterra but the likely hood is slim. 

The biggest insight we’ve had from our projects so far is the chain reaction we seem to get from everyone around us. People notice how the changes we’ve made and comment on them and start to consider their lifestyles. I know my family have made some really big changes and my friends now accommodate my lifestyle. It’s been really good to see how it impacts everyone around us. Wouldn’t it be great if a few people made change then everyone around them started to think about it and eventually make change themselves? Like a change reaction. 

Andy put me on to reading “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell which was really interesting. Gladwell talked about how finding the right person at the right time can make a huge impact. Something that sat with me;

“Simply by nding and reaching those few special people who hold so much social power.” (Gladwell, 2000)

If we approach the right people, that have the perfect influence on a larger group, that could be so valuable. 

Reference:

I don’t really know why, but this evaluation stage seems far more challenging than the analysis stage. It could be because I’ve chosen a child associated robot and I happen to mildly dislike children.. I’m sure I’ll grow out of this at some point.. Which makes me feel like I don’t know where to start because I want to avoid children at all costs which isn’t that great for my project. I kind of just have to get over it! 

Anyway, I’m definitely interested in evaluating how well Luka fulfills a parents guilt for not being there. After discussing parental guilt with my parents and other parents I noticed it seemed to be a common thing. I was talking to a relative and they said “As a mother, you do everything in your power to give your child the best life you can, you’re constantly thinking about them.” (Personal Communication, 28th September 2018) This sort of comment is what you expect to hear from a mother of course. I wanted to do some online research about what some topics around why a parent feels guilty. There’s the obvious factor that parents might work too much but I wanted to know if there was any other reasoning.

Something that was interesting was an article I read on The Guardian; “My son was asked recently what he would change if he were boss of the school, and he said: “No after-school club, the parents come every day.”” (Guardian readers and Rachel Obordo, 2017). I thought was interesting coming from a child and also a good question to perhaps ask children for my assignment.

After a little bit of research, it shows that there’s so many things that make a parent feel guilty. Like what you feed your child, when you yell in front of them, when you can’t give them what they want etc. I sort of feel that this research didn’t really help me, as I got distracted by why parents feel guilty not how well an inanimate object helps relieve the guilt about parents not being around. So, I need to focus more on why parents aren’t round and like I said earlier it’s a given that parents are at work. 

In terms of my experiment, I’m still a little bit unsure. I like and idea of talking to parents and maybe tricking them? I also am thinking of a small marketing plan too.. Really up in the air. Have to get creative on how I can avoid children if I can.. 

References:

After completing our zero waste challenge, we gathered a fair amount fin sight to what the biggest challenges were. But we also noticed that the people around us were curious and wanted to make changes themselves and were more conscious of their lifestyles. After telling my parents and friends what I was doing for the week, they made the effort that entire week to make sure I was accommodated. My mum would go out and buy zero waste food for me and told me whether I could or couldn’t eat something if it came in plastic for dinner. Doing the challenge for just that one week, I noticed a huge difference within my household. 

“The World We Made” happened to be picked up one morning from my local library when I happened to be killing time. From the front of it, I didn’t think too much of it at the start, I was purely attracted to the colour (yellow) and then after reading the title. I didn’t know what they book would entail, but I decided to get it out anyway and have a flick through. Much to my surprise and excitement, it couldn’t have been a more perfect book! 

This book is fictional, Porritt writes as if he’s “Alex Mckay” from the year 2050. Alex is a teacher and worked with his students on creating this book as documentation of what large events has occurred and changes to the world up until 2050. The way the book is presented, through engaging literature, many realistic images and doodles/illustrations is what ties this great book together.

After reading the first few pages of the book, I thought to myself “Wow, this guy is so clever, he's included current sustainable companies that make change within the world.” After then flicking to the back to read the authors notes, this was his purpose for the book. This subtle promotion of companies that are doing good for the world is just a great idea. 

His concept of the future is honestly quite realistic too. He talks about his living conditions, where there’s small communities that share gardens and only have three cars available for 100 people and it just works. There are solar panels on majority of built surfaces for power etc. 

After reading the evaluation brief, I felt completely lost. I couldn't get out of my mind how I just couldn’t do anything for this, as if it was in the too hard basket. I knew that my target user was going to be the parents. I was far more interested in the reasoning behind why a parent would buy Luka for their child than perhaps Luka’s practicality or how good it was at increasing your child’s reading  capabilities. 

Some questions I’m starting off with;

Is Luka a good companion for children? 

How well does a social robot achieve companionship in young children?

How well does Luka do it’s job of making parents feel less guilty about spending limited time with their children?

How well Luka fulfills a parents guilt for not being there?