Sustainable Systems 9/14
Kenlee Danner
Part 1:
1 ask a question:
I will repair a hanger I accidentally snapped while I was taking a nap. I want to repair this object because I feel it is too weak to now hang clothes on but I know it is a quality hanger and I feel wasteful throwing such a nice and expensive (expensive for a hanger!) object away. I’m excited to do a “repair” project because I think design through repair creates a safe atmosphere for lots of design discoveries and innovations – after all can you really break something more when you’re actively trying to fix it?
2 photo:
3 do research:
I could possibly repair my object simply with tape or by using a fabric to tie the rod back together. I could repair it for its original use as a clothes hanger, however, I could also turn it into hanging storage for my jewelry or a somehow turn it into an interior design object with little clips to hang photos off of. I also might be able to bend the rod into a different form and create a tiny mobile.
4 construct a hypothesis:
I think my repair will be pretty quick but I want to make sure it is effortful so I am able to use my recreated object for a long time. I think repurposing the broken hanger as place to hang photos off of would be great to carry from this dorm back home at the end of the year because it will be so small but carrying meaningful memories in a compact and easy to pack up way.
Part 2:
Would you say that the culture you grew up in has a similar problem of dealing with the abundance of materials/objects with a cradle to grave ife? If no, how is it different? If yes, can you think of any materials/products that are part of your life today that you can return to its respective cycle for a renewed circular life?
No, I feel like I grew up pretty wastefully without realizing it. Our trash company at home sorted through our own recycling, which methods and success I always wondered about since I was doing the sorting myself. However, my elementary school was extremely environmentally focused. For example, after lunch we would separate all of our food and waste so it could be composted or recycled properly. We also would have classes in the national park we were located in, and a lot of clubs and electives focused on sustainability and being eco friendly. However, after reading about “Crate to Crate” I’ve realized that taking apart our waste to create a better future for planet earth goes far beyond food waste. I never realized that my shoes alone would contaminated grass with each step. I think that if companies, especially textile or fashion related, could make a shift from combining these two types of “biological nutrients” and “technical nutrients” the world would be a lot better off, companies would profit more, and consumers would feel less guilty of their spending habits. For objects that I currently own that could be cycled back into “nutrients”, I’d have to say clothes come to the top of my list once again because I definitely have nice clothes that I tend to go through when trends come and go. Although I try to save clothes or style them in different ways, I’d feel a lot less guilty shopping at the places I can afford (fast fashion outlets such as H&M, Urban Outfitters, ASOS, Forever 21, etc) If I knew that those companies were cleaning up their act and contributing less waste.
What are some of the ideas/concepts described in the text to address the loss of reusable materials embedded in “monstrous hybrids”? (page 104, 105, 111, 112, 114, 116,117)
When the author talks about monstrous hybrids, they are basically explaining that when we combine biological nutrients and technical nutrients together, we create a non-effective short term product. When the product is done being used we have unfortunately degraded the quality of both types of nutrients. Instead, we should focus on using biological nutrients alone and technical nutrients alone that way when their form needs to be changed we are just upcycling the already existing materials, instead of rendering both parts useless. One of the examples stated was a car that gets crushed. Once it is crush you can’t reuse the parts that were fused together but that might be in perfectly functioning condition or at least the separate metals could be melted down and remolded. Another thing the author discussed was packaging which can outlast the product it stores by centuries – something that companies and consumers don’t even look for in packaging. The proposal was to upcycle all high end plastic such as PET until a better option is available.
