The United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD): Wastes are materials that are not prime products (that is products produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use in terms of his/her own purposes of production, transformation or consumption, and of which he/she wants to dispose. Wastes may be generated during the extraction of raw materials, the processing of raw materials into intermediate and final products, the consumption of final products, and other human activities. Residuals recycled or reused at the place of generation are excluded.
I wanted to reiterate the point of the defintion of waste as it seems that people were as confused about the meaning of it as I was, so much so that the United Nations had to create a definitive description.
I wanted to highlight a key line: "materials that are not prime products (...not produced for the market) for which the generator has no further use in terms of his/her own purposes of production"
This extract highlights the point that just because waste is generated in one area of manufacture, it could not be used in another area: "One man's rubbish is another man's treasure".
Refering to the post about the councils system for collecting food waste, the waste that is collected is used for local compost used in gardening. This is a perfect example of how other people or businesses, etc can use what is considered waste by a collection of people for something useful.
Relating to my project further is the skateboard I found in a skip destined for landfill - an individual felt that he/she could gain no further enjoyment or use from the skateboard an decided to throw it away. I salvaged it and not only does it speak as a metaphor my project and my developing personal philosophy about our consumer society, but it also gives me a chance to restore it to its original function and use it or pass it on as a gift!
Monday 25 January 2010
Waste generated where?
After researching and documenting the use of waste by designers, Boontje and Hein Eek, im intrigued as to where the waste is coming from, who wastes more: manufacture or consumer?
Eliminating this waste from the manufacture process is not detrimental to the above designers, as they were providing a use for waste that already existed. It is also highly unlikely that all the waste produced during the manufacture process would be able to be preveted as it is generally a by-product of the process to achieving a finished desirable consumer object.
A more important and potentially fruitful approach to the waste cycle issue is to make sure that all of it is either put back into the manufacture cycle in the form of recycling, or that every time designers like Boontje and Hein Eek create a piece of furniture such as a table, other consumer manufacturers produce one less unit of their table.
It is important that designers do not just litter an already flooded marketplace with extremely intuitive pieces of design but ones that the normal individual focused on the finished, perfect aesthetic will not appreciate in their home.
INSIGHT: The fight is not to reduce our consumption levels, but to reduce the wrong kind of consumption - irresponsible and harmful to the planet's resources. Designers such as Boontje and Hein Eek are an extremely important part of this fight as they lead by example and can change the consumption behaviours of many others, but if the global manufacturers keep spitting out the ever increasing levels of finished desirable objects, then there is simply more waste than before.
We, and I, must focus on both where the waste ends up and what use it can be put to, but maybe more importantly where the waste comes from and if there are any ways to prevent the amount of needless waste produced.
Eliminating this waste from the manufacture process is not detrimental to the above designers, as they were providing a use for waste that already existed. It is also highly unlikely that all the waste produced during the manufacture process would be able to be preveted as it is generally a by-product of the process to achieving a finished desirable consumer object.
A more important and potentially fruitful approach to the waste cycle issue is to make sure that all of it is either put back into the manufacture cycle in the form of recycling, or that every time designers like Boontje and Hein Eek create a piece of furniture such as a table, other consumer manufacturers produce one less unit of their table.
It is important that designers do not just litter an already flooded marketplace with extremely intuitive pieces of design but ones that the normal individual focused on the finished, perfect aesthetic will not appreciate in their home.
INSIGHT: The fight is not to reduce our consumption levels, but to reduce the wrong kind of consumption - irresponsible and harmful to the planet's resources. Designers such as Boontje and Hein Eek are an extremely important part of this fight as they lead by example and can change the consumption behaviours of many others, but if the global manufacturers keep spitting out the ever increasing levels of finished desirable objects, then there is simply more waste than before.
We, and I, must focus on both where the waste ends up and what use it can be put to, but maybe more importantly where the waste comes from and if there are any ways to prevent the amount of needless waste produced.
Waste cycle design
Similar to Piet Hein Eek is the designer Tord Boontje. His "Rough and Ready" collection and in particular the chair in this series is well publicised and it is noted that since 1998, over 30,000 of the chair's manufacture instructions have been distributed. The concept of the rough and ready chair is for individuals to build their own unique chair out of salvaged or scrap material with the free instructions from Boontje's studio.
Boontje's philosophy behind his designs are also similar to those of Piet Hein Eek: "They have a feeling of incompleteness, a feeling that things might change. They are utilitarian works, which acknowledge the beauty of imperfection and offers an alternative to slick objects" (Tord Boontje)
A second year student in my university has built his own Boontje chair out of scrap material found in our workshop. It is reasonably comfortable, depending on the material used or cushions placed on the chair, and it also has the added value of being completely free as all the material was waste anyway.
A fourth year student from last year had a final idea similar to the Rough and Ready chair - the consumer bought the main seat component and then found items that could be substituted for the chair legs and the backrest.
I am making note of the fourth year students design because although my project is focused around the waste use concept, I do not want to design anything too similar as I feel there are many versions of this type of product and mine would only devalue the ones before me.
One of my favourite examples of the use of waste material is by the dutch designer Piet Hein Eek. His use of basic manufacture waste material - wood, steel, etc. - is not for the climate change fight, i.e. to try to lower the amount of material going to landfill, but his goal is to be as different from what 'design' has become today.
"The scrapwood cupboard from 1990 was my reaction against the prevalent craving for flawlessness. I wanted to show that products that aren't perfect still can appeal to our sense of aestetic and functionality" (Piet Hein Eek)
What is 'waste'?
For a while now I have been mulling over the idea of what waste is. It seems there are two kinds of waste - waste as a by product of manufacture: offcuts, etc. and waste as the manufactured product itself, once it has become obsolete.
However to better understand the concept of waste, I felt a few simple dictionary definitions would help:
1. to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no
avail or profit; squander: to waste money; to waste words.
2. to fail or neglect to use: to waste an opportunity.
3. to destroy or consume gradually; wear away: The waves waste the rock of the shore.
4. to destroy, devastate, or ruin: a country wasted by a long and futile war.
These definitions act as a harrowing explanation of our consumption based culture today: "to consume uselessly, to destroy gradually".
One definition that I feel is most important is: "to fail or neglect to use: to waste an opportunity". Many of my ideas have focused around the concept of picking up materials or objects from the waste stream and putting them to good use, i.e. not wasting an opportunity.
From initial secondary research I have found that this concept is not new and some very publicised designers have answered this call.
However to better understand the concept of waste, I felt a few simple dictionary definitions would help:
1. to consume, spend, or employ uselessly or without adequate return; use to no
avail or profit; squander: to waste money; to waste words.
2. to fail or neglect to use: to waste an opportunity.
3. to destroy or consume gradually; wear away: The waves waste the rock of the shore.
4. to destroy, devastate, or ruin: a country wasted by a long and futile war.
These definitions act as a harrowing explanation of our consumption based culture today: "to consume uselessly, to destroy gradually".
One definition that I feel is most important is: "to fail or neglect to use: to waste an opportunity". Many of my ideas have focused around the concept of picking up materials or objects from the waste stream and putting them to good use, i.e. not wasting an opportunity.
From initial secondary research I have found that this concept is not new and some very publicised designers have answered this call.
Saturday 23 January 2010
Efficiency is the key
I have read a great deal on the Toyota Production System for my both essay and project and I believe this system could be the key to going GREEN.
Back in the 70's, after the oil crisis, a man named Taiichi Ohno began developing a production system that would be both efficient and profitable in a slow-growth economy.
The previous production system, based largely on Fordism,had to be changed if Toyota were to reach their goal: "catch up with America", as Ford's system did not work during these slow-growth economy periods.
Taiichi Ohno focused on how to achieve efficiency in the production system, the emphasis being on the system rather than the workers (Fordism focused more on the workers - division of labour). He believed that if the system was the most efficient it could be, then the productivity of the workers would then increase.
The ultimate goal of the Toyota Production System is "the absolute elimination of waste". Taiichi Ohno proved that by removing all the waste previously produced in the production of automobiles, that the system was more efficient and the productivity of the workers using the system increased also.
The "Just-In-Time" theory was one of the major measures developed to increase efficiency of the system. The idea was if all the components required in the production arrived where they were needed in the assembly at the time they were needed and in the quantity they were needed then Toyota would not require to store all the waiting components in store rooms, saving space and money.
Another system development was "Autonomation", or "Automation, with a human touch". This essentially meant that all production machines were fitted or redesigned to include the ability to stop production if a fault occured. For example if a foreign piece of material fell into a stamping machine, the unrequired object would be detected and the machine would stop until a worker could clear the obstruction. This would prevent any imperfect units, i.e. waste, being produced.
Both these systems allowed one worker to attend to several machines at the same time, thus increasing the productivity of the workforce, all achieved by the increased efficiency of the production system.
The Toyota Production System has today been developed for use in the office. 'Systems thinking' is a discipline that aims to increase the efficiency of the company. Like Toyota's system, this is achieved not by changing the workers or by focusing on the workers alone, but by placing emphasis on the system the workers are subject to. Develop the system to be most efficient and the productivity of the workers will follow.
Back in the 70's, after the oil crisis, a man named Taiichi Ohno began developing a production system that would be both efficient and profitable in a slow-growth economy.
The previous production system, based largely on Fordism,had to be changed if Toyota were to reach their goal: "catch up with America", as Ford's system did not work during these slow-growth economy periods.
Taiichi Ohno focused on how to achieve efficiency in the production system, the emphasis being on the system rather than the workers (Fordism focused more on the workers - division of labour). He believed that if the system was the most efficient it could be, then the productivity of the workers would then increase.
The ultimate goal of the Toyota Production System is "the absolute elimination of waste". Taiichi Ohno proved that by removing all the waste previously produced in the production of automobiles, that the system was more efficient and the productivity of the workers using the system increased also.
The "Just-In-Time" theory was one of the major measures developed to increase efficiency of the system. The idea was if all the components required in the production arrived where they were needed in the assembly at the time they were needed and in the quantity they were needed then Toyota would not require to store all the waiting components in store rooms, saving space and money.
Another system development was "Autonomation", or "Automation, with a human touch". This essentially meant that all production machines were fitted or redesigned to include the ability to stop production if a fault occured. For example if a foreign piece of material fell into a stamping machine, the unrequired object would be detected and the machine would stop until a worker could clear the obstruction. This would prevent any imperfect units, i.e. waste, being produced.
Both these systems allowed one worker to attend to several machines at the same time, thus increasing the productivity of the workforce, all achieved by the increased efficiency of the production system.
The Toyota Production System has today been developed for use in the office. 'Systems thinking' is a discipline that aims to increase the efficiency of the company. Like Toyota's system, this is achieved not by changing the workers or by focusing on the workers alone, but by placing emphasis on the system the workers are subject to. Develop the system to be most efficient and the productivity of the workers will follow.
Sneaky sneaky council... well done!
I have found that the lack of adoption of green products and technology (or at least, the slow rate of adoption) is because it is so easy not to adopt. Individuals, and even businesses and governments want to go green, but just need someone to give them a detailed, step-by-step plan of how to do so.
After watching a tedtalk with Seth Godin, I noted that people are for more likely to do an activity if they DONT have to OPT IN to do it, but to not do it they have to actively OPT OUT. This could well be the key to having the whole planet's population going green!
Incidentally, a couple of months after the tedtalk, the council delivered to my door a food waste recycling bin and a leaflet explaining the councils weekly pick-up service, etc. I first thought to myself great! People dont want to have to go out and buy a recycling bin, they want the council to deliver it and pick up the waste every week, simple! However, due to experience and conversations ive had with some individuals, ive found that even solutions like these can be a pain for SOME individuals as they cant really be bothered to put the (recyclable or food, etc) waste in a seperate bin.
But I kept reading, and I found an ingenious solution to the sheer laziness of those individuals. The council might well have seen the same tedtalk as me because on the second page was a declaration form stating that if you did not want the bin or for the council to pick up the food waste, you had to tick the box stating that you DIDNT WANT TO USE THE SERVICE, and then you had to send this form off the council!
Some sceptics may say that this is an abuse of free will, or that it is playing on peoples weaknesses but I say screw them. It is the planet were trying to save here, and ourselves and if ths is the kick up the arse some individuals need then I really dont care about their weaknesses, in fact you cant even call laziness a weakness, as I feel it is an attribute that should have been rid of years ago!
After watching a tedtalk with Seth Godin, I noted that people are for more likely to do an activity if they DONT have to OPT IN to do it, but to not do it they have to actively OPT OUT. This could well be the key to having the whole planet's population going green!
Incidentally, a couple of months after the tedtalk, the council delivered to my door a food waste recycling bin and a leaflet explaining the councils weekly pick-up service, etc. I first thought to myself great! People dont want to have to go out and buy a recycling bin, they want the council to deliver it and pick up the waste every week, simple! However, due to experience and conversations ive had with some individuals, ive found that even solutions like these can be a pain for SOME individuals as they cant really be bothered to put the (recyclable or food, etc) waste in a seperate bin.
But I kept reading, and I found an ingenious solution to the sheer laziness of those individuals. The council might well have seen the same tedtalk as me because on the second page was a declaration form stating that if you did not want the bin or for the council to pick up the food waste, you had to tick the box stating that you DIDNT WANT TO USE THE SERVICE, and then you had to send this form off the council!
Some sceptics may say that this is an abuse of free will, or that it is playing on peoples weaknesses but I say screw them. It is the planet were trying to save here, and ourselves and if ths is the kick up the arse some individuals need then I really dont care about their weaknesses, in fact you cant even call laziness a weakness, as I feel it is an attribute that should have been rid of years ago!
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