Project 1: Grey Water & Black Water
Grey Water
In simple definition, it’s the the relatively clean waste water from baths, sinks, washing machines, and other kitchen appliances. In a more complex definition, it’s the all wastewater generated in households or office buildings from streams without fecal contamination, in another way, all streams except for the wastewater from toilets. Sources of grey water include, sinks, showers, baths, clothes washing machines or dish washers. As grey water contains fewer pathogens than domestic wastewater, it is generally safer to handle and easier to treat and reuse onsite for toilet flushing, landscape or crop irrigation, and other non-potable uses.
Daily Quick Tips on Saving & Reusing Grey Water
1.Save the unused drinking water from the bottle that has been in the bottle for a week or more, and use it to water the house plants, or pour in into the filtering pitcher and put it into the fridge.
2. When waiting for the water to warm up before showering, place a bucket to save the water and use the water to flush the toilet, water the plants or even drink it.
3. Wash the dishes in a dishpan instead of using the sink, and use the water in the compost pile.
4. Wash the fruits and vegetables in a dishpan as well, so that the water can be reused for house plants.
Black Water
As it is mentioned in the previous definition of grey water, black water is the wastewater from the toilets. In a more complex definition, blackwater contains feces, urine, water and toilet paper from flush toilet. Blackwater is distinguished from grey water which comes from household use other than toilets due to its difficulty for being recycled. A main difference between grey water and black water is that black water is likely to contain pathogens.
Recycle Systems and Difficulties for Black Water
Recycle Systems (Steps):
1.Primary treatment tank
2.Secondary treatment tank
3.Blackwater aeration stage
4.Sludge setting chamber
5.Irrigation chamber
Difficulties & Unsolved Problems
1. Extreme High Cost (Major Problem)
2. Smell
3. Maintenance & Popularization
Black Water’s Recycle Execution in Real Life
Case 1: IPR Study in San Diego
Initial Cause & Need:
San Diego needs to develop its local, reliable sources of water due to the restrictions on Northern California water and drought on the Colorado River.
Solutions:
-Investment of 11.8 million dollars into IPR(Indirect Potable Reuse) study, a demo project at the North City Water Reclamation Plant
-Advanced Water Purification Facility at this time can produce 1 million gallons of purified water each day, though no water is being sent to the reservoir.
-IPR is more economical for San Diego than recycling more sewage for irrigation. In Orange County, for example, IPR costs $800-$850 to produce enough recycled water for 2 families of 4 for a year. Desalinating an equal amount of seawater would require $1,200-$1,800 because of the amount of energy needed.
Case 2:
480 million State-of-the-art water reclamation facility in Orange County, California
Initial Cause & Need:
Growing population and salt intrusion into the Orange County’s groundwater
Solutions:
– Half the recycled water is injected into the aquifer to create a barrier against saltwater intrusion.
-The other half goes to a percolation pond for further filtration by the soils, and then after about 6 months, ends up in drinking water well intakes. By this year, it’s expected to produce 85 million gallons a day.
Case 3: NeWater Project in Singapore
Initial Cause & Need:
With no natural aquifers and a small landmass, Singapore has struggled to provide a sustainable water supply for its residents for decades.
Solutions:
– Include techniques like microfiltration, reverse osmosis and UV disinfection
-After treatment, the water is added to the reservoirs.
-NEWater, which has passed more than 65,000 scientific tests and surpasses World Health Organization drinking water
standards, is clean enough to be used for the electronics industry and to be bottled as drinking water.
-NEWater is expected to produce 2.5% of Singapore’s total daily consumption this year.
Case 4: Namibia, southern Africa
Initial Cause & Need:
Lack of water source and droughts.
Solutions:
-People there has been drinking recycled water since 1969.
-The water reclamation plants produce 35% of the water for Windhoek, the capital city.
-There have been no negative health impacts connected with the consumption of recycled water.
Case 5: Los Angeles, California
Initial Cause & Need:
Major droughts on the west, little precipitation and hardship in transporting water.
Solutions & Doubts from Public:
In 2001, a $55 million water recycling project for water-stressed Los Angeles was scuttled by the public’s revulsion at the thought of drinking recycled water and the term “toilet to tap” was born. Are the public’s fears grounded? The answer is no. For recycling black and grey water in general, we are concerning for certain toxic chemicals remaining in the water, “chemicals of emerging concern” (CECs), such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other industrial chemicals. However, reviewing the study from the last 40 years, while some early studies reported the presence of chlorine disinfection byproducts, the panel noted that treatment methods at that time were less sophisticated. Current methods have been refined and disinfection byproducts have decreased. Discarding the unknown and undiscovered toxic chemical matter, scientist concluded that there was “robust evidence that recycled water represents a source of safe drinking water.”
Little Hand-on Experiment: Water Quality Test
Conclusion
Dr. Shane Snyder, Professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Arizona and a member of the science advisory panel, is now studying public perception of recycled water and is finding that “if they trust the utility, the majority of people understand that recycling water is unavoidable.” The truth is that all water is being recycled over and over—no water on earth is truly pristine. Snyder concludes,
“We’re going to drink recycled water one way or another, whether it comes from downstream flow or groundwater. I strongly believe we should to do it through engineered systems where we can actively control the process.”
Project 2: Food & Fashion
As me and Kelly were discussing upon what focus we should choose among fashion and food, we decided even fashion is what we love but food is something more daily related to everyone in the world. Followed by this decision, eggs popped into our mind. Kelly and I were both eggs lover, but we were often confused by the options in market between organic eggs and regular eggs. What are their differences? Why they have different price? Out of strong curiosity, we decided to research on the story behind that and make an infographic chart to educate the general confused public of their differences.
Commercial Egg Production
Organic Egg Production
Project 3: Systems Interventions-Preventing the Usage of Disposable cutlery
Why were we interested?
Sustainability is really the biggest thing that we should pursue and focus on nowadays as the new generation. Not using disposal cutlery should be something we start from right now On Amazon, a package of 1000 count disposable plastic white cutlery spoons weighs 5.25 pounds (2.38kg). If I assume one person only use one disposable spoon one day, a year one person can consume 0.8687 kg of plastic. Based on research, we know for every 1 kg of plastic, the production and the incineration of plastic bag, or plastic cutlery will generate 6 kg of carbon dioxide. Therefore, one person can prevent the generation of 5.2122 kg of carbon dioxide a year. The whole US has a population of 325.7 million. That means, if each person can save one plastic spoon a day, the whole US can keep 1.698 billion kilogram of carbon dioxide from releasing.
How were we going to change the situation?
Me and my partner Kelly together we came up with an idea of promoting a specific type of lunchbox with reusable cutlery, sold and sponsored by the New School for students to carry food from different outside restaurants to eat. By carrying the lunchbox into the one of assigned restaurants on the list, students will be given a total 5%-10% of discount out of the partnership between the school and that specific vender. We are wishing to pair with 4 restaurants near the school: Chipotle, Sweetgreen, Poke Spot, Pokeworks. By giving out discounts to students, we encourage a behavior of carrying reusable cutlery into dinning in specific restaurant, which help save the world from global warming.
Why our partners?
The 4 restaurants we have chosen have all stated their goals in being environmental friendly and beneficial to world’s environmental protection business. For example, Chipotle’s owner has stated when Chipotle first started that “Food served fast didn’t have to be a ‘fast-food’ experience.” It’s further stated in Chipotle’s sustainability report on their official website that” over 23 years later, our devotion to seeking out the very best ingredients we can—raised with respect for animals, farmers and the environment—remains at the core of our commitment to Food With Integrity. And as we’ve grown, our purpose has expanded to cultivating nourished communities where wholesome food is enjoyed every day.” Therefore, Obviously, Chipotle shares the same aspect with us when facing the issue of protecting our environment. This aspect is not only a claim from Chipotle, but also part of its brand image. Cooperating with us, Chipotle will be able to consolidate this healthy brand image and hopefully attractive even more customers from all around the world. Also, by having students over for discounts can win the chance of developing students into loyal customers, which can be translated into a lot of other benefits.
Project Logo
We decided on a somehow related and casual style. By combing our core ideas asking people to stay green and the logo of The New School, then we have “The New Greens”. We also use the complimentary color on the “The New Greens” to the previous red The New School logo. This way, it causes more people to think and notice our campaign.
Design
As we were designing the shape and style of the lunchbox. We decided to make the lunchbox as simple, clean, straight-forward as possible. Moreover, through branding, a catchy logo can bring more people’s attention to our project. It can also be seen as a type of protest on street when people carry it.
Map
Why The New Greens?
We want to let our partners know that they are not just giving out benefits, but they are being given a chance to consolidate their healthy brand image and promote themselves in a local base level. The win back is not only that, but also more favors from The New School students, which will probably grow into loyal customers and visit very often daily due to the close distance. Therefore, it is truly a win-win situation.
Execution & Plan
Selling Locations
1.University Center F2: cafeteria
2.University Center F1: souvenir store
In Campus Promotion
Poster
We planed to dispense the posters not only through hands but also through faculty emails. To make this promotion of The New Greens as widespread as possible, a tight follow up on question emails and students’ feedback is also required. 
