Based on what we have learned during this class, I deeply realized that climate changes and all other environmental issues are real and urgent problems for us to be aware of. During one of our field trips, we collected bottles of water from different water sources in New York City and it’s clear to see some of the water systems have been polluted and damaged. It’s actually hard to believe what have we done to nature and our environment. Therefore, for this design project, I really want to focus on what can we do to practice sustainable in our everyday daily life?
My ideas start with my daily experience at the flower arrangement class. Every time when I finished with flower arrangement, there are always lots of fresh stems and leaves trimmed off to be the waster. Most of the time, those organic leaves are disposed through the regular trash collection system. However, I think that these organic wastes are extremely valuable if converted into being fertilizer in the flower shop in an economical way.
I have two design intentions for this project. The first design uses paper shredder as a model by collecting waste organics and put them into a shredder machine. After the process of shredding, organic wastes are divided into bags of fertilizer and it becomes reusable resources for gardening. he second design is an integrated solution under the sink in a flower shop setting. It uses the disposal machine under the sink as a design model, I want to create a prototype for a disposal machine that can separate waste leaves and excess water. The machine will then transfer organic wastes into a dryer machine. The dryer machine will dry out the leaves and then it will deliver the organic wastes to the packaging place. The dried leaves will be packed into bags of fresh fertilizers, and they will bring extra income for flower shops.
Wicked problem: How can we be more sustainable about waste recycling?
I want to start to work with flower shops within New York City and maybe going forward with more flower shops in other cities too. I chose to target on this is because I really want to address that being sustainable doesn’t require huge and challenging, it’s actually possible to protect the environment even from a daily bases like flower shops.
Although flower shop is only a smart part of our daily life, it’s still a sustainable way of saving our environment. Composting is actually the bigger topic that builds upon this idea. The project focus on how to transform waste into reusable resources which is the idea of converting organic waste into fertilizer in the flower shop setting. Based on my design intentions, I hope this way will bring flower shops both economical and ecological benefits.
I plan to use Adobe Illustrator to create a strategic design plan for this project. I want to show some research background and design prototypes within the illustration.
This project is trying to reach a sustainable way of waste recycling in a daily flower shop setting. Most of the flower shops usually send their organic waste to a specific composting company and it’s actually a quite big amount of expense for a flower shop. This design tends to help the flower shops both eco-friendly and economical way which makes the organic waste reusable and valuable. Furthermore, I hope this project will prompt people’s attention to a sustainable lifestyle in our daily life. Living sustainably doesn’t always require enormous inputs and efforts, it’s more about our awareness of protecting the environment.
It doesn’t require lots of time to design the machine because it’s actually very similar to disposal machines that we use in our daily life, but applying this idea to local flower shops should be taken as consideration. This design could be very challenging because it requires lots of research in this market and whether it will raise people’s interests, especially for flower shops owner. However, since more and more people start to be aware of living a sustainable lifestyle, I think it will get easier for people to accept the idea.
– References: Include 3 similar projects or designers that you are using as inspiration or reference.
https://www.behance.net/gallery/65674267/Nature-and-Us
https://www.behance.net/gallery/54666559/Taihi-Home-Composting-Bin
https://www.behance.net/gallery/17006487/Design-Thinking-for-creating-Treasure-from-Trash?tracking_source=search%7Ccomposting
