Over the rapid prototyping process, one thing to note is that I have a lot less confidence to be silly than I thought I would have. I was very self conscious about how people were looking at me while I was clapping as myself. As soon as I dressed up, it took the personal element away because no one knew it was me, and I was a lot more confident being very publicly silly.

It is very easy to be dismissive of Big Clapper. When I found it on Kickstarter I was frustrated and disappointed by this wasteful, purposeless creation that would only become tomorrows garbage. Personally, I am passionate about environmental sustainability and therefore, I am interested in the justification of new products on the market and what value they will have to society. If a product has been designed well, for an authentic need then it is justifiable, however, my immediate response to Big Clapper was that it was a waste of money, time and resources that had no value.

Due to the fact that this product is still on Kickstarter and isn’t readily available to buy, all online reviews are based off information directly from Takahashi or other reviews. There isn’t any information from people that have used and interacted with the product first hand. Despite this, there are already a lot of controversial reviews with contrasting opinionsonline. In a rather light-hearted review of Big Clapper, by Callum Booth of Plugged, he discusse multiple points that were similar to my initial thoughts. His discussion is entitled “All this hellish red robot wants to do is clap at you”, (Booth, 2018), which already suggests what his view of the product is. Throughout his review his opinion of Big Clapper shift similarly to the way mine has throughout this investigation. He starts by posing the question “Have you ever sat on a hillside in the dead of the night, gazed towards the heavens, and thought, why oh why, dear lord, isn’t there a red lollipop shaped robot that claps at my enemies?” (Booth, 2018). Interestingly his initial impression depicts the robot as ‘hellish’ and describes the action as ‘clapping at his enemies’.

This couldn’t be further from what the pitch is prescribing. I have to agree that there is something sickly-sweet about this robot. In the Kickstarter pitch, Takahashi touches numerous times on the ‘cuteness’ of this robot but my initial feeling is that it is actually more creepy and weird looking. Don’t get me wrong, there is a cute element to Big Clapper, especially when it speaks in Japanese and claps furiously but overall, the mood is off.

The Kickstarter campaign for Big Clapper is still currently running and with only 4 days remaining and I doubt it will meet it’s goal.

References:

Booth, C. (2018, July 10) All this hellish red robot wants to do is clap at you. Retrieved from https://thenextweb.com/plugged/2018/07/10/all-this-hellish-red-robot-wants-to-do-is-clap-at-you/

One laptop per child. I remember at church as a kid, this charity was promoted and it seemed amazing. This must have been back when technology was only just becoming mainstream (and I mean technology in the way that we use it everyday), which means that they would have been aiming to give these children access to something we didn’t even have. I remember thinking that those kids were so lucky to get their own laptop because I didn’t even have my own phone. Even as a kid I thought it was strnage that these children didn’t have access to clean water and good food, and yet they were being given a laptop.

“If you criticise this idea, you’re stupid.” Lol. Who even says that. 

Thirteen years ago, OLPC told the world that every child should get a laptop. It never stopped to prove that they needed one (Robertson, 2018). Same with the New Zealand flag referendum. This is the case with so many things that fail, or end up in the trash. Yes, you might be able to do it but should you do it??

You can never connect structure with its function, it has to go through behavior.  When its new, you don’t really have access to the full behaviour, you need to use it continuously for a while to really understand the behaviour associated with using it. 

You can judge a product from your experience with it (like crutches) but emerging practices are emerging so those behavioral 

Refrences

Robertson, A. (2018, April 16). OLPC's $100 laptop was going to change the world ? then it all went wrong. Retrieved from https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17233946/olpcs-100-laptop-education-where-is-it-now

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/16/17233946/olpcs-100-laptop-education-where-is-it-now

I know I said I would focus on something I can actually make a difference in but I keep thinking of the bigger picture. Think about it, the majority of the world’s waste is coming from low-income places, third and second world countries. It’s because it’s easy and cheap to make plastic, therefore, it is convenient and cheap to buy and dispose of.

It is expensive at the moment to be sustainable. We also have huge issues with poverty in New Zealand and if there is a transformation towards zero waste, I want to know how this will impact poorer families. 

Again I’m going tooo far down the rabbit hole for this topic but I’m thinking about not just food. Cheap products are affordable but break easily and need replacing. Most of these are also made unsustainably in sweatshops. Buying high quality is more expensive but will be better in the long run because they will last longer. BUT you need to be able to afford it in the first place, and this isn’t the case in most instances. 

From the changes I’ve made over the past couple of months, going sustainable is actually cheaper, in the long run, especially bulk buy. Communities are key. Imagine a speculative community which was zero waste because they supported each other and all did their part. 

Ethics and expensive. 

How crazy is that?? It shouldn’t be so expensive to buy ethically and its so screwed up that it ever got to this stage where there is an option to shop unethically. Obviously we didn’t always know the full impact but even now, how can companies prioritise profit, over ethics. 

Another thing I’m going to add to this train of thought is that I listened to Daniel Flynn speak at the Aspiring Leaders Forum in Wellington. This guy is something special. He created the amazing Thank You charity that helps people in need.

BUT (and I feel uneasy to even be thinking about this) all of Thank You’s products are sold in plastic. Isn’t it ironic that the charity is helping people but destroying the environment? Why not use sustainable products and help people?

I guess there is a hierarchy of priorities. People need to care about people the most then the environment can be fixed once people are ok. However, people will never all be ok because of the growing population which is going to result in the earth being destroyed. They can’t be hierarchical, they need to help each other but I don’t know how to do that!

Case Study 1: Cath Kidston, Retail store

The Cath Kidston Glasgow branch is a well-known shop situated on West Nile Street in the city centre which was blighted by dozens of bins, belonging to surrounding businesses, left in front of their shop window 24 hours a day. Since the new commercial waste project there has been a dramatic improvement in the appearance and cleanliness of the street outside their business.

Megan Maguire, sales assistant in Cath Kidston, was regularly dismayed by the appearance of the street having spent a lot of time and effort in the presentation of their front window display, “Before this project, the street was an absolute mess. There were tonnes of overflowing bins, bins that didn’t belong to our business and they stunk. You couldn’t have a customer walk past and stop and have a look in our window as you could barely get past the mess.”

Megan is delighted with the results, “The clear up has been fantastic. You can walk down the street now with no smell, no blocked drains anymore and it’s just so much more pleasant when walking past the store”

Case Study 2: Merchant City and Trongate Community Council

The Merchant City and Trongate Community Council is a residents’ forum whose role is to seek and represent the opinions of local people and businesses and to express the wider views of the entire neighbourhood on issues affecting their environment.

Both Garth Street and John Street, in particular, had become a bugbear for residents who were coming home at night to overflowing bins, vermin and litter derived from commercial waste. Merchant City has benefited from a range of public realm work over recent years so the proliferation of big bulky trade waste bins was unwelcome.

Tam Coyle, chair of the community council, is already impressed with the change, “I’m delighted the council has put this initiative in place and it’s back to the way it should be. When we do have the café culture in Glasgow, all these bars and restaurants will benefit, the local residents will benefit and tourists will benefit.”

“Certainly, a few people have mentioned the results already to the community council as they known we’ve been liaising with the council on the issue. I’m absolutely delighted that it’s giving people their streets back.”

Case Study 3: Apex Hotel

The award-winning Apex Hotel had been using Sauchiehall Lane to permanently store their commercial waste containers. Since the start of the new trade waste policy, the Apex Hotel has put in place a variety of measures to not only ensure compliance but see them become a champion in effective trade waste management.

Lindsay Sturrock, General Manager felt the project could be challenging initially. He said, “When we were initially told about the changes, there was definitely going to be benefits to us in that the lane was going to be clear and we were going to see a big improvement in the hygiene. From our point of view, it was quite a lot of work as we had nowhere to put the bins and no space inside the building so we had to be a bit creative in thinking where we could put the bins.”

The Apex also attended one of our waste minimisation workshops, carried out by Zero Waste Scotland, in an effort to look at their waste at source and identify any possible reductions and ultimately savings, “In a lot of places they’re used to just opening up the bin and throwing the waste in so we all had to get used to what goes in the correct bins and that it’s effectively flattened. As we’ve only got limited space, it was a re-training exercise.”

The Apex has since created an internal storage enclosure for storage of commercial waste and already managed to reduce their bin numbers by 2.

“Sometimes it’s worth looking at the bigger picture. Certainly, from our point of view, there are no bins on the lane, it’s nice and tidy and there’s no vermin. It’s made a big difference to us.”

Case Study 4: Malones, Bar/Restaurant

Malones Bar has its main entrance situated on Sauchiehall Lane so large, unsightly bins dumped in city centre lanes were a hindrance to the appearance of their business. There were around 15 large, commercial bins left near Malones front door, spoiling the look and feel of the area.

“Our front entrance is Sauchiehall Lane.” says Fergal McMahon, assistant manager of Malones, “So it has always been a priority for us to have the lane as clear as possible.”

By working closely with their waste contractor the bar was able to adapt well to the new changes by storing their bins inside and having them collected from within the premises, “A lot of work was involved in planning where we were going to put our bins. We had to speak to our waste contractor and it meant more regular uplifts and staff being shown exactly what was going to be happening.” By doing this, Malones now have a much more flexible approach to their waste management, having them collected out with the presentation windows.

And a cleaner, clearer lane has made an impact already on business, “Immediately you could see people looking down the lane and seeing it was pristine. We’ve noticed already our lunch trade has had a massive increase and every day has been busier than previously.”

(All Case Studies provided by Glasgow City Centre Strategy.)

Why does New Zealand suck so bad? Countries overseas have much more transparency surrounding their waste strategies primarily because they care about the choices they make and the impacts these have on the environment. These case studies I haven’t done personally but Emma and I have planned some specific case studies that we will approach in a similar way to these. 

References

Dr Ivanhoe Leung, Senior Lecturer at the School of Chemical Sciences and co-Deputy Director of the Centre for Green Chemical Science, University of Auckland, comments: "In particular, I think there is an urgent need for local end-of-life infrastructure so that we will not be over-reliant on third countries (e.g. China) to handle our recyclable materials.

"There is a massive opportunity for New Zealand, especially in the upcycling of broken-down plastic materials (e.g. conversion into useful starting materials for the chemical industry). This is an area of active research in industry and academia alike, and New Zealand has several world-leading researchers who work in this area,” (Leung, 2018).

"Retailers and manufacturers can drive changes in consumer behaviours and habits. Recent changes about phasing out single-use plastic bags and plastic straws and by providing drop-off points for old plastic bags inside supermarkets will help reduce the amount of plastic waste that is going to landfill,” (Leung, 2018).

"Supermarkets can (and should) also provide drop-off facilities for recycling other plastic materials (e.g. bottles). When recycling, consumers should also pay attention to the types of plastics (numbered 1 to 7) that they are handling. These numbers can always be found, for example, moulded into plastic bottles. This is important as some recycling facilities only accept certain types of plastics for recycling,” (Leung, 2018).

I really want to highlight the last two keynotes from Professor Leung. This is exactly what Emma and I have been saying for weeks so I’m glad that our point is about to be reiterated from other professionals. The strategy we plan on taking to Dow Goodfolf will include these points and give tips on how these businesses can actually achieve these goals. 

References:

The thing I’ve found the most interesting is the push for reusable bags, and more so, the most recent law change for ‘single use’ plastic bags. New Zealand have finally jumped on board for banning single use plastic bags which is great, becasue people have already been warming up to this idea over the course of 2018. The government is implementhing a 6 month phase out approach whichI believe is a good plan because we all have to make these changes.

“Change is hard and change is uncomfortable. What we need to make it successful is change of behaviour”, (Morrison, 2018). Nick Morrison discussed our concept that change needs to start with people and its getting people to change their mindset that will be the hardest part.

Obviously this is a step in the right direction, however, I keep wondering if this is actually going to make any difference in the grand scheme of things. ‘Single Use’ has to be used lightly because I would say almost everyone in New Zealand reuses those plastic bags in one way or another. Whether it be as a bin liner (most common), dog poop collector, wet clothes holder or any of the other many uses, most plastic bags in New Zealand at least had a second life. Once we eliminate ‘single use’ plastic bags, these will need to be replaced with something else.

After England bought in a 5p charge for plastic bags, the sales of plastic bin liners went through the roof, and many people just started collecting the plastic woven "bags for life" in their drawers instead of the "single-use" plastic bags. There was an 85 percent reduction in the number of single use plastic bags as they were classified, but the total amount of plastic being produced hardly changed. And guess what...they had no behaviour change campaign to educate, guide or support their public through how to live without plastic bags (Morrison, 2018). I find this the most interesting part about plastic reduction.

Unless we alter the entire system, there will always be a demand for plastic and people will never change.

References

The collapse in international recycling markets has left the recycling sector in New Zealand in a vulnerable position. Without decisive action to address the issue, recyclable material could be sent to landfill, councils and communities will suffer financially, and operators could go out of business. Action from the government is urgently needed. 

I believe the government level change should come in the form of making manufacturers responsible for the waste they are creating. The reason that hardly any companies or manufacturers are changing their ways is because we don’t know who to blame.

People buying the plastic > People using plastic > People making plastic

There wouldn’t be a supply if there wasn’t a demand. That is obvious. However, if plastic wasn’t an option (like if we ran out of oil) then we would find another way to package things. The opportunity we would have if the government made changes, or at least local councils, sets an example for everybody to follow. It’s not ‘real’ unless the government addresses the issue. 

In the latest report from the office of the Commissioner for the Environment, there was an address of climate change, however, the focus was on bigger picture sustainability like water and land management, marine life, greenhouse gases and tourism (PCE, 2018). While the office focuses on change for these, the change for people needs to be an everyday thing.

Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment Simon Upton has urged the Government to take a lead in dealing with the confusion surrounding biodegradable and compostable plastics.“There are all sorts of supposedly environmentally-friendly plastics coming onto the market, but it is extremely difficult for consumers to make sense of their respective claims,” said the Commissioner.

The problem is that whatever impact biodegradable plastics may have on the environment depends very much on what they are made from and, critically, how and where they are disposed of.

“There is a surprising degree of complexity at play here. One can’t simply toss these products onto the compost heap, or into our recycling bins, and go away thinking ‘job done’,” said Mr Upton. The Commissioner has released an online resource to help concerned consumers tackle the complexities of the issue, but he says the Government needs to step in and assume greater responsibility. See below for image.

Image: (PCE, 2018)

People just don’t understand what can be done with their plastics and other various recycling. That's why standards and labels are so vital in allowing consumers to make informed decisions. At the moment there are a plethora of standards and manufacturers are creating their own labels which only adds to the confusion. No single-use option is a good choice. There may be some which lessen the environmental effect to some degree - but ultimately they all have an impact. First and foremost people need to consider how they can reduce their consumption and then use reusable products where they can. As much as we need to get better guidance on the materials we use, we actually need to change our behavior and make better choices (Evans, 2018).

This is exactly what we need from companies and manufacturuers. New Zealander’s don’t actually know how to recycle and thats why 75% of our recycling ends up being contaminated. We need infographics like this from manufacturers or companies using packaging that educate consumers on actually how to recycle properly.

References

Evans, P. (2018, July 12). Biodegradable and compostable plastics in the environment | Scoop News. Retrieved from http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC1807/S00028/biodegradable-and-compostable-plastics-in-the-environment.htm

WasteMINZ is the largest representative body of the waste, resource recovery and contaminated land sectors in New Zealand. Formed in 1989 it is a membership-based organisation with over 1,000 members – from small operators through to councils and large companies (Wasteminz, 2018).

To be honest, before this project started, I didn’t even know that this organisation existed. Now that I know, I feel much more educated and enlightened, even from simple info. Wasteminz does lots of research which identifies big picture problems and furthermore, discuss things we can do in New Zealand, to take accountability for our actions. 

Below is a screenshot of their most recent publication which illustrates these problems and then identifies ways to combat them.

References:

In simple terms, the international market for recycled materials has collapsed because China is no longer accepting the quantity of material for recycling that they used to. Plastic, paper, and metal collected for recycling is traded internationally as a commodity. Historically China has been the largest buyer for this material and purchased over 50% of all the world’s recyclables (Wasteminz, 2018).

In July of 2017, China announced restrictions on the import of 24 types of material into the country (Wasteminz, 2018). The new policy was termed ‘National Sword’. National Sword has now been replaced by ‘Blue Sky’ which essentially extends the restricted imports policy. The part of the policy that has created issues in the recycling industry are new strict standards for mixed paper and mixed plastic. These materials can still theoretically be imported into China, but they are required to have very low levels of contamination – 0.5% (Wasteminz, 2018). The majority of kerbside recycling systems are not able to produce levels of contamination this low (around 2-4% is typical).

So, while China has not directly banned imports of recyclable materials, National Sword/Blue Sky has had the effect of drastically reducing demand in the biggest market (Wasteminz, 2018). The reduction in demand has seen prices for these and related grades of material fall dramatically. Sellers of these commodities have sought other markets, but there is not sufficient capacity currently in the plants outside of China to process all the materials. This has meant stockpiles are building up and some material may not be able to find an end market.

Unless solutions are found urgently, material collected for recycling could end up being landfilled.

References

Ok, I’m sure I’m not alone here, but I have trouble articulating my thoughts and writing them down on here. I haven’t been bad at blogging over the past couple years but there are 2 instances when I find myself unable to blog effectively. 

1. When I’m completely uninterested in a topic and have no motivation to study it. Over my time in BCT, this hasn’t happened very often because I usually find a way around the brief so that I can work on something I’m interested in.

2. The other time is the complete opposite of the first, when I’m 200% invested in a project and extremely passionate about it. 

I have tried other methods than writing blog posts and I found that using Chirbit (voice recording platform), I was much better talking about something, rather than writing it down. If you look at my posts or listen to one of my Chirbits over the past 3 years, the topics that I discuss on there are always ones where I have a strong opinion or am passionate about the topic. However, we have to submit written documents as part of our hand in at the end of the semester, therefore there is really no getting around writing. It has to be done. 

As some of you lovely readers may know, I attended the Aspiring Leader’s Forum in Wellington a few weeks ago and this was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life. Like I said, I’m not great at articulating, but bottom line, this forum made me think. And I mean thinking to a level that I usually try to avoid. When I start thinking in such depth my brain starts going into a tailspin and I drive myself kind of nuts. This is mostly to do with the fact that I am a very passionate and emotional person. 

The reason I am sharing this is because over the 2 weeks since, I haven’t been able to stop and articulate my thoughts. Emma and I have been working on a project that has always been something I am very invested in and this, coupled with my brain tailspin, has caused me to implode. I feel like my brain is constantly going at a million miles an hour and if I’ve talked to you recently, you’ve probably noticed that have been talking even more so than usual. And it's mostly babble. I haven’t been making much sense. Does that make sense?

In contrast to the past few years, my blog has been less than full over the past few weeks and I guess I just wanted to share a snapshot into why. 

Emma and I have been doing so much work over the past 4 weeks, we’re just bad, (well I am at least) at sharing our thoughts. We are both on the same wavelength when it comes to environmental sustainability and this is why I know it's going to be a successful project. The number of discussions we’ve had where we're both trying to come up with ways to dave the world is both inspiring and heartbreaking. Inspiring in the way that I am excited that there are other people who care about making a difference and actively make an effort. Heartbreaking in the way that the further we research and look into this project, the more obvious it is that the world is fucked and there's nothing we can do about it. We want more than anything to come up with a solution that’s going to fix the world’s waste problem but in reality, that is completely unachievable. People just don’t care enough...yet. One thing we need to just keep remembering is this: 

How did it all go so horribly wrong and what can we do to fix it?

Sustainable packaging options like bulk bins but there isn’t the demand yet so people just keep buying plastic. There aren’t any good alternatives yet but there won’t be until there is a demand. It’s a constant, vicious cycle. People know that they need to be more sustainable and it not like there is a shortage of awareness of the pollution there is, but people are becoming immune to seeing that sort of imagery.

This vicious cycle won’t end until there is a crisis. Unless a big player decides to stand up and do something differently.

People just don’t know how to recycle.

"Everyone has a slightly different way, and from an end user perspective that is confusing. Most people who put contamination in genuinely do care, they want to do the right thing but they are just not sure what that is.” "At a national level, we need better communication around this stuff", (Evans, 2018)

Even then, New Zealand can process about half of the paper and cardboard that is collected here but only a small proportion of the plastic – with no significant local processing of type three to seven plastics. We have a glass processing plant in Auckland, paper mills throughout New Zealand and clear PET recycling in the Wellington region but more infrastructure is needed.

Making manufacturers accountable

Work was underway on a recycling label in Australia and New Zealand, which manufacturers could put on their products to tell consumers what their options were to dispose of them. But it would be voluntary and likely only be adopted by progressive manufacturers. In other parts of the world there was more focus on product stewardship, so manufacturers had to take responsibility for what they produced when it reached the end of its life too. That made them invest in producing things that were easier to recycle, or with better quality material that would last. Either of these solutions could be adapted and both could help.

Need to create change from a government level.

Create consistency across all parts of the country

Make manufacturers more accountable for their waste

Only use one type of plastic rather the 3-7 types

References

I’m somewhat starting to like this class because it’s making me think. After this weeks lesson, I feel much more at ease and aware of what the outcomes of this paper are and what we will be doing. First thing is first, I need to be much more critical. 

When I posted about ‘The Clapper’ I was very quick to judge. It’s funny as well because before I had posted about ‘The Clapper’ I had discussed how people online form a strong opinion very quickly without knowing the whole story, understanding or being truly educated on the subject they are discussing. In the case of ‘The Clapper’, I liked the idea for a second and then almost immediately got frustrated with how pointless and wasteful it is. I really haven’t been critical enough and haven’t truly considered the benefits or the deeper purpose of ‘the clapper’. Amal mentioned that it would be valuable for children. What about mental health? If it had a positive impact on even one person’s mental health, wouldn’t that be justification enough, for ‘the clappers’ to be made?

We don’t fully understand where technology is going so “we need the clapper’s to figure out what is next,” (Sosa, 2018). 

The majority of technologies and products that are being created are being made without this deeper, critical level of thinking. Much like Alonso’s toilet seat foot pedal, we all know why it would be helpful but how necessary is it really? I want to analyse my social robot from the perspective of sustainability, therefore would the benefits of a foot pedal (convenience, health and safety) outweigh the environmental impact it would have. Is it just encouraging people to be lazy and not really solving the problem? Obviously, a toilet seat foot pedal would be an awesome, simple thing to have in the bathroom, but are we just being wasteful?

The full analysis brief hasn’t been released yet but for now, I know the sort of questions that I should be asking. To get me prepared for the analysis of my social robot, I plan to do an analysis of an everyday object, like a door. This should help to get me in the critical headspace needed for analysing my social robot.

The emerging practice that I will investigate will a social robot by the name of Oscar. Oscar is a sorting bin that harnesses artificial intelligence technology to aid you in sorting your rubbish. He sorts rubbish from recycling. 

Initial thoughts:

No compost option, only rubbish and recycling

Made from biodegradable cardboard

Compartmentalised so individual components can be replaced. 

Uses a plastic bag and still recommends that you wipe the inside everytime you empty.

The space for dropping trash is quite small

Retails for $1000 which is ridiculous for a bin fwaaaaa! How much does it cost to make this and how much is profit? Kickstarter has then for $300 so is this a massive markup or are they losing money on kickstarter??

It’s called ‘Oscar’ and he’s a bin so I wonder if he was named after Oscar the Grouch hehe

Why have I assumed the bin is a male??

I like the look, it’s very aesthetically pleasing and would still look nice in modern kitchens

The company that created this makes office products like desks and chairs so why did they branch out to this?

There isn’t much on the market already for products like this.

Is it too far ahead of its time possibly?