Sara Chavdarova Gradinarska

Project title: Bio Basket

 

Project statement: An innovative way to create an everyday item from discarded plastic bags. A simple, heat-free method of creating a convenient basket, which can be repurposed as a plant holder, grocery bag or wet market products bag. It can further serve as decoration and/or storage for household items such as keys, cards or stationery supplies.

     

Significance and inspiration  behind the creation:

I was inspired similar designs which I found online, where people used thread and cloth, which they braided in various styles to create bags, mats, carpets or storage containers. The technique can be a simple braid or a complex four-ended braids in various combinations. After watching several tutorials, I discovered that most of them stitch the braids together with thread to make the basket take the shape of an oval, which can allow straps to be attached and repurposed.

   

Design and production/Description of creative process:

Inspiration for my basket:

 

A video of my final result.

I began my design process by deciding to create a medium-sized basket and I began practicing the braids. I discovered that the Ikea bag was rather hard to braid as it was made up of synthetic, rough thread, which had several other threads woven together. This resulted in several parts of the thread coming undone and having split ends, while I was braiding. The regular type 2 and 4 plastic bags, which I collected from food takeout orders are very thin and stretchy, and I discovered that I had to twist them around several times before I started braiding, so as to avoid them from tearing. The third type of material I experimented with was the synthetic food takeaway bags. This was the best material to braid the basket as it was most similar to thread and cloth and was easy to alter into the shape I needed, all while maintaining a clean appearance and a uniform look throughout the whole length of the braid.

The first image depicts the regular plastic bags (type 2 and 4). The following 3 pictures are the synthetic cloth bag which resembles a cloth bag.

 

The bags which I collected from the IMA labs on the 8th floor.

How the project was constructed (A step by step tutorial on how to recreate the process):

1. The first step is to cut up the plastic bag of your choosing into a square shape, the size of which is not important.

The IKEA bag that I used for my project.

2. The next step is to cut up sets of 3 strips that will be the 3 ends of the braid. This can be attached to a sturdy surface such as a table, using tape so as to provide a surface to which the braids can be attached to, which will allow for easy braiding.

3.Proceed to braid the 3 strips (as shown below). You should be left with pieces similar to the following test braids I did when I was experimenting with different types of plastic bag thickness and type.

4. When needed, twist the separate strips around so as to create a more rounded “yarn”, rather than the harsh ends of the initial strips.

 

5. The next step once you have at least 5 long strips of braided plastic, is to stack them on top of each other and stick them together using hot glue and/or tape. Repeat this process until you have created the entire outer “shell” of the basket. You can make this as deep or shallow as you want, depending on what kind of purpose you plan to use the basket for.

 

6. Once the shell is constructed, use any remaining braids to create a strap/straps for the basket. You can also choose to conceal  parts of the basket which contain tape remnants, glue residue of possible mistakes with pieces of the bag. I chose to do so with a strip of synthetic bag that contained Chinese characters which read ” Creation of a new future”.

7.The last and final step is to create the bottom of the basket. For this purpose, I used a discarded Amazon prime packaging bag to create a circular bottom for the basket. I used 2 identical cutouts from the same bag. The resulting bottom was rather sturdy and when conducting tests, I discovered that it could hold a phone, as well as several fruits.

 

8. Optional: if participants want to, they may choose to add a decoration to the basket. In my case, I decided to create a 4 ended braid out of the thin plastic bags(type 2 and 4). I chose to work with them, as they were not strong enough to be part of the basket design and would not support any added weight.  There are many tutorials that exist online in creating a simple 4 ended braid. The braid can then be tied to the strap of the basket by using a simple knot.

 

 

Failures: The initial attempt to braid the plastic was a fail, as the plastic tore quite easily and it was rather hard to wind the braids in an oval shape to resemble a basket. In addition, since I used different materials of bags, it was difficult to stick the pieces together in a way that allowed them to hold items inside.

 

Successes: I discovered that in order to obtain the smooth and polished look of the braid, I had to twist the 3 separate strips around themselves to create a stronger and sturdier strap.

 Research:

   

The goal of my project was to create an easy to make, heat-free method of creating baskets and bowls. I aimed to create an easy to follow tutorial for students of all ages, as well as local Shanghainese adults to follow and learn how to apply skills that they already possess (braiding and crafts) to find a new use for their plastic bags. 

Collecting the necessary materials and producing my project:

I collected plastic bags from the 823 IMA labs, as well as scissors and tape and a glue gun from the 825 IMA studio.  In addition, I used bags which I obtained from takeout orders of tea and dinner sets, which I had delivered to the AB. The only item which I used that required heat was the glue gun, however I did this to save time and be expedient in the creation of my project. This process can be replicated using normal glue or stitching the plastic braids together. 

Conclusion (implementation of my project in Shanghai):

I believe that this tutorial can be followed by members of the Shanghai community or in any other Chinese community. The process can be taught and adopted with ease, and children and adults of all ages can take part in this. I believe that there is possibility for holding seminars and workshops, where members of the community can be creative and find a new use for their plastic bags, while at the same time being educated about the large amounts of plastic waste that each household produces every day. My project is scalable to any small or large community and can be implemented without the use of machines and electricity. This project can raise awareness about the ongoing environmental pollution and overwhelming amount of plastic bags and packaging that is present in all Chinese communities, as well as the inadequate rate of recycling with which the plastics are processed. A community coming together to create baskets and use their crafting abilities in a creative setting will allow for education on these issues, as well as give residents novel ideas on how to repurpose materials, which they would have otherwise discarded. If I had more time to develop my project, I would like to experiment with larger scale items and perhaps plastic bottles, to see what I can create if I combined plastic bags and bottles. I would also like to learn new techniques to weave or braid the plastic, all without using any heat.

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Swap event (Beach cleanup substitute event):

On Dec 5th, along with other students that could not make the beach cleanup organized an old clothes swap event. The idea was that students would meet in the 2f cafe and swap items that they np longer wear or use and exchange them with each other free of charge. However, there was no turnout for the event, despite the posters that we distributed throughout campus to promote the event. We moved the event to the 8th floor lounge and left the items: a bug jacket, water bottle, umbrella and several kitchen utensils in the bins in the lounge. We did this, along with a “Free for all” sign so that students could take whatever they liked, free of charge. What I learned from this event is that people have a desire to reuse items and limit the amount of things they buy, however they often lack incentive to devote the time to doing so. As a continuation of this event, I would like to host a similar event in the future, where students perhaps donate old IMA projects and students can pick them apart and select pieces that they might want to use for future projects.

Final project process:

For my final project, my initial idea was to create an art installation in the form of a painting out of discarded plastic pieces much like the following art pieces which I was inspired by below. 

 

After extensive research into the Shanghai community and a self-run research trip to a small Jing’an neighborhood in Shanghai, I decided to change my idea to better reflect the knowledge I gained in the course of the semester and give back to the community all while creating an upcycled product. My plan is to create plant holders solely out of plastic bottles. I chose this method as it can be done by hand and the skill be easily transferrable to entire communities in Shanghai and elsewhere. During multiple guest lectures we learned that one of the major sources of plastic pollution is from plastic bottles. These statistics infuriated me, as I notice a large portion of Chinese households in the Jing’an area producing large amounts of plastic trash, particularly in the form of bottles. At the same time, I noticed that the residents of the neighbourhood enjoy owning plants but often do not have enough space to display and care for their plants. I decided to combine these two ideas and decrease the amount of plastic/metal used to produce new plant holders by creating an easy to make product that anyone can create at home. It will not only be a fun activity for the young and elderly, but will also raise awareness about the extent of plastic pollution in local Shanghainese communities, and introduce new ways of reusing this plastic.

I discovered the following interesting ideas that use plastic bottles to create art:

 

     

 

These are two methods that I plan on using to create an attractive design for my plant holders:

   

The above methods involve cutting the bottom of plastic bottles, twisting the ends and “braiding” them to create a design without sharp edges. The third picture uses a hand soap or shampoo bottle to create an attractive plant holder. I plan to hold the piece together and upright using plastic straws.

 

Additionally, I discovered that the plant holders can also be redesigned to create jewelry holders. This can be done by slightly altering the design, as shown in the following example:

I will work on this project in the coming weeks and estimate that it will take me 2-3 days, including any decoration elements that I may decide to ass such as spray paint or colors.

Experiment results and process:

In last week’s class we learned how to use the wood cutter. We learned that when compared to the laser cutter, its advantage is that it is useful for cutting larger chunks of wood. An IMA fellow showed us how to use the slicer software and vector software Rhino to create the design, which we wish to cut out and then send it to the woodcutter for printing. I learned that this is a rather fast but noisy process and will most likely not use this machine for my final project. However, I will be using the laser cutter to create a sign for my final project.

The wood cutter is to be used in the process of creating the stool, which we started a couple of classes ago. We learned that we had to cut out specific pieces to make them fit together and then measure them in an accurate way so that there is enough space between the pieces. The wood must also be kept firmly in place by the supports of the machine, so as to prevent it from becoming dislodged during the cutting.

Plastic alternative updates:

As for the update on our previous project with the potato starch, the project is rather disappointing since we did not heat it at the right temperature and the mixture was firm and burnt at some places and then soft and sticky at others. My partner Eva and I decided to replicate the project with the right measurements of both glycerol and the heating duration, during the coming week.

I have decided to take a different approach towards my final project. I have decided that the delivery packaging project has enormous scale and would take a long time to implement, exceeding the time frame of the class. I might pursue this project as a personal venture sometime, however for the time being I do not have the funds to pursue it. My new project idea is an art installation that will create a visual representation of ocean pollution and raise awareness about this issue in an eye-catching way. I was inspired by the following art projects, one by Taiwanese students from the National University of Arts and the other from Josh Kline’s Skittles installation which I saw in New York’s MoMa museum, during my time studying away in New York.

Popsicle Art:

https://popupcity.net/pretty-polluted-popsicles/

Josh Kline’s Skittles:

https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/51

I plan on creating an installation similar to these two, as they were effective in drawing my attention to the water pollution issue and successfully and tastefully portrayed the severity of the issue, through visual representation of the various items discarded in our waters.

My hypothesis is that people care about and appreciate art and that they would be affected by such an installation and prompted to learn more about how to mitigate the impact of water pollution.

The following images I found online inspired to create such a final project.

The first one is art created from plastic pieces and various discarded thread and wires. The other idea I had was to create an installation similar to the water dispenser one, where people could interact with my project and pour themselves a glass of the “water” of the future. I think that this will make people think about the severity of the issue, through tasteful art.

 

The last image is one of my favorites because it shows how trash art is incorporated into the streets of a small Brazilian town. To me, this shows that today’s generation pays attention to the pressing social issues of today and values their representation through art.

 

Experiments and workshop results and reflection:

For the in-class workshop I was in a group with 2 other students and we had the task of using potato starch to create a substance similar to plastic. What I enjoyed about this recipe is that it is a sustainable and easy to make recipe that eliminates the need of producing additional plastic and can be done in one’s home with few ingredients. 

Ingredients:

50 ml water

5ml glycerol

7.5 grams potato starch   

   

We mixed the ingredients in a glass beaker first and then switched to a metal tray. We measured the ingredients in a grams measuring spoon and scale. The mixing was done in the small automatized mixer. After a few minutes on the heating pad, the ingredients quickly took the form of a goo-like substance and quickly began to burn. Parts of the mixture adopted a brownish color and became rather hard. We learned that the heat of the pad had to be lower and we had to continue mixing the substance. The end product was meant to resemble a moldable sheet of clear plastic-like substance, however our attempt resulted in a soft gooey paste that was too sticky to resemble a sheet.

      

We allowed the substance to cool for a bit and placed it between 2 pieces of glass, however the substance did not lose its goo-like consistency and we decided that a second attempt will definitely be needed to achieve the optimum elasticity, yet firmness of the potato starch plastic sheet.

 

 

Reflection:

The conclusion from this project is that it is important to make several attempts before the desired consistency is achieved. I would not attempt to recreate this process again, however I do want to try creating the coffee ground molds, which another team was tasked with.

Readings Notes:

The Plastic and the work of the biodegradable (Pages 208 – 225) reading:

 

• the plastic found in the ocean gyres and suspended throughout the seas is not exclusively composed of identifiable objects in the form of water bottles, toy ducks or sandwich bags, but also consists of microplastics.
• These small-scale pellets, or nurdles, and other plastic fragments are residues from the breakdown of plastic products or fallout from manufacturing sites where tiny plastic feedstock drifts in considerable quantities from factory lots to the seas.
•  recent European Union (EU) Maritime Affairs and Fisheries initiative to pay fishermen in the Mediterranean to catch plastic rather than fish
• Fishing for plastics also seems to address the pollution of the seas, which not only affects water quality but also impairs the lives of many marine organisms
• Accumulation in this sense points less towards an exclusive emphasis on environmental contamination and more towards processes of environmental modification in which we are situated with multiple more-than-human entities.
• Accumulation here refers not just to the literal accretion of residual matter in the seas, but also to the build-up of plastics within environmental processes and corporealities
• From marine organisms that ingest plastics with concentrated levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), to bacteria and algae that colonize plastic, and marine organisms that incorporate plastic debris as habitat or flotation medium, plastics are having considerable effects on organisms and environments.
• Eight per cent of world oil production contributes to the substance and energy required to manufacture plastics 
• Upon disposal, plastics travel to those carbon sinks of oceans and landfills. In these zones, they further degrade and, depending upon chemical composition, may release carbon dioxide or lodge in the bodies of ocean organisms, thereby diversely influencing the material composition of the ocean as a carbon sink
• Biodegradability has at times been a sought-after quality for plastics, as it signals the seamless elimination of this highly disposable material.
• Most plastics do not actually biodegrade, but instead degrade into smaller particles through chemical processes and physical weathering.
• Biodegradation may be the sought-after quality for plastics, but degradation is the concrete way in which plastics dematerialize and rematerialize to generate new environmental conditions
• The bio-of degradation then has as much to do with the forms of life – the organisms, processes and environments – that are drawn into the ongoing breakdown of plastics, whether by inadvertently ingesting microplastics or undergoing increased exposure to pollutants that are concentrated on plastic debris surfaces.
• Plastics also collect and sediment over time in cumulative quantities. All plastics ever manufactured since the rise of the Plastic Age are still likely to be present in the environment and oceans in some form, as they will not have completely broken down yet.
• Bodies and natures form in and through shared contexts. In the space of plastic accumulation, both humans and more-than-humans take part in material and relational exchanges filtered through plastics and their residues.
• At the same time, plastics have been shown to be an adsorption medium for potentially harmful chemicals, carrying and dispersing additives and plasticizers such as flame retardants, Bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates, as well as drawing in and concentrating chemicals from seawater.
• When ingested, these plastics then potentially pass on chemical loads to other types of marine life, which regularly make a meal of plastic particles, thereby amplifying chemical effects in the food chain.
• Trees – and the many other more-than-humans that inhabit forests – are also implicitly included as carbon workers in this context, since their participation is gauged in relation to the project of reducing carbon.
• More than-humans might then be more explicitly included as workers in the carbon project – entities the participation of which becomes identified as relevant in relation to reducing (or contributing to) carbon emissions.
• concerns and actions. In his metabolic theory of labour and value, Marx excluded the non-human from his definition of human labour. For Marx, labour was an expression of ‘man’s’ metabolic relation with and conversion of ‘nature’.
• might not consist of ‘man’ labouring to transform ‘nature’ through metabolic relation, but rather occur through intra-actions and processes of materialization that direct new possibilities for material politics. 
• The degradation of plastics in oceans and terrestrial environments is part of the contradictory way in which plastics accumulate: not primarily as identifiable objects but mostly in the form of microplastics, chemical migration and bodily accumulation.

 

Steps I will take to test my hypothesis:

• I will interview NYUSH students and faculty, as well as cleaning staff about whether they know of a similar solution that already exists (such as bags made from potato peel waste)
• I will research the financial incentive that companies would have with implementing such a packaging system in China
• I will test the viability of materials that resemble the properties of plastic and whether they will withstand the weight of heavy items 
• I will attempt to use the heating press, oven, as well as shredder to test the strength of products made from discarded plastic, as well as the possibility of creating plastic alternatives.

Items and machines I will need for my experiment:

• the heating press
• the weighing scales
• the plastics oven
• the shredder
• the small irons

 

 

 

Experiment and results from workshop:

Last class, we had a guest speaker from Precious Plastics Shanghai. She was one of the co-founders of the organization that upcycles plastics and uses donations from citizens to create new products from plastic, in order to give them a new life. We had a talk about the work of the company and the different types of plastic. We learned that the best type of plastic for recycling is type 2 plastic, and there are certain types of plastics that we should avoid melting, as we do not know how they will react when heated. The plastic that we must never melt is PVC as this plastic burns and could cause damage if inhaled. We learned that type 2 and 4 are all plastic bags and plastic juice and milk bottles, as well as bottle caps.

 

 

The guest speaker also explained the various machines they have in the lab for melting plastics such as a heat press, shredder, bike-propelled shredder and a machine that specializes in creating spinning tops out of melted recycled plastic. We also talked about the multiple tests that her team does to find the right consistency for their plastic projects. They did a total of 5 tests on melted plastic shreddings and pellets to find that depending on the kind of the baking paper used in the melting, as well as the length of heating and heating temperature, there were different results to the plastic outcome. Sometimes the plastic came out malleable and glossy, and sometimes it had a marble-like structure and was rather rough to the touch.

   

 

The guest speaker and professor Godoy then showed us how to create the plastic products such as bowls and plates through melting and heat pressing. We first cut up plastic bags and detergent and juice bottles and then inserted them in the shredder. After using the shredder, we obtained tiny plastic shavings which we placed on the heat press between 2 pieces of baking paper. one of the baking sheets had a glossy finish and the other had a matte feature. After 10 mins at around 170 degrees, we removed the melted plastic and pressed it together and left it to cool down. 

After we removed the plastic from the heat press, we saw that one sample was glossy and the other was matte. We concluded that if the plastic is left to cool longer, the result is better.

 

 

We also used plastic shredding and pellets which Marcela and the speaker had from before and put it in a metal mold baking pan which we put in the oven. When we removed the pan from the oven, we were left with a soft think sheet of plastic. Due to the class time ending, we were not able to complete the stool creation process, which we will resume next class. 

 

 

Readings notes:

The Truth About Bioplastics: 

• The world has produced over nine billion tons of plastic since the 1950s.
• 165 million tons of it have trashed our ocean.
• Almost 9 million more tons entering the oceans each year.
• Traditional plastic is made from petroleum-based raw materials. Some say bioplastics—made from 20 percent or more of renewable materials—could be the solution to plastic pollution.
• The often-cited advantages of bioplastic are reduced use of fossil fuel resources, a smaller carbon footprint, and faster decomposition.
• Bioplastic is also less toxic and does not contain bisphenol A (BPA), a hormone disrupter that is often found in traditional plastics.
• Degradable – All plastic is degradable, even traditional plastic, but just because it can be broken down into tiny fragments or powder does not mean the materials will ever return to nature.
• Biodegradable – Biodegradable plastic can be broken down completely into water, carbon dioxide and compost by microorganisms under the right conditions
• Compostable – Compostable plastic will biodegrade in a compost site.
• The global bioplastic market is projected to grow from $17 billion this year to almost $44 billion in 2022.

There are two main types of bioplastics.

• PLA (polyactic acid) is typically made from the sugars in corn starch, cassava or sugarcane. It is biodegradable, carbon-neutral and edible.

PLA can look and behave like polyethylene (used in plastic films, packing and bottles), polystyrene (Styrofoam and plastic cutlery) or polypropylene (packaging, auto parts, textiles).

• PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) is made by microorganisms, sometimes genetically engineered, that produce plastic from organic materials.
• While bioplastics are generally considered to be more eco-friendly than traditional plastics, a 2010 study from the University of Pittsburgh found that wasn’t necessarily true when the materials’ life cycles were taken into consideration.
• The researchers determined that bioplastics production resulted in greater amounts of pollutants, due to the fertilizers and pesticides used in growing the crops and the chemical processing needed to turn organic material into plastic. 
• The bioplastics also contributed more to ozone depletion than the traditional plastics, and required extensive land use.
• Bioplastics do produce significantly fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional plastics over their lifetime.
• A 2017 study determined that switching from traditional plastic to corn-based PLA would cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent. 
• While the biodegradability of bioplastics is an advantage, most need high temperature industrial composting facilities to break down and very few cities have the infrastructure needed to deal with them.
• When bioplastics are not discarded properly, they can contaminate batches of recycled plastic and harm recycling infrastructure.
• The land required for bioplastics competes with food production because the crops that produce bioplastics can also be used to feed people.
• Bioplastics are also relatively expensive; PLA can be 20 to 50 percent more costly than comparable materials because of the complex process used to convert corn or sugarcane into the building blocks for PLA.
• If you integrate wastewater treatment or address food waste challenges with bioplastic production, then this is quite favorable [economically]
• Chandran hopes to close the loop so that, one day, waste products will routinely serve as a resource that can be converted into useful products like bioplastic.
• Full Cycle Bioplastics in California is also producing PHA from organic waste such as food waste, crop residue such as stalks and inedible leaves, garden waste, and unrecycled paper or cardboard.
• Stanford University researchers and California-based startup Mango Materials are transforming methane gas from wastewater treatment plants or landfills into bioplastic.
• Pennsylvania-based Renmatix is utilizing woody biomass, energy grasses and crop residue instead of costlier food crops.
• Japanese design company AMAM is producing packaging materials made from the agar in red marine algae.
• The U.S. Department of Agriculture is developing a biodegradable and edible film from the milk protein casein to wrap food in; it is 500 times better at keeping food fresh than traditional plastic film.

Final Project Ideas:

1.  A product that is a substitute for rope or marble or clothing that uses materials that would otherwise be discarded.
2.  A packaging material that is made from recycled materials, and which can be reused, as a way to decrease the amount of packaging that is used for food delivery and product delivery in Shanghai.

I aim to find out if there exists a material that can be made from recycled plastic bags or bottles or thread, which can be given a new life and used to reduce the need for the production of new materials.

I am proposing this project, because I notice the immense amount of waste produced on a daily basis in Shanghai and other Chinese cities, due to the large amount of online orders and excessive packaging used to transport the products. I believe that this idea could create a new market mechanism that will decrease the amount of waste produced by consumers daily and provide a cost-effective solution for businesses. If I am able to create this alternative, I will significantly reduce the amount of trash per person in Shanghai and other major Chinese cities. My hyphotesis aims to test whether such an alternative already exists, what would its costs of production be, and whether it is a viable option that will attract the attention and positive reception by brands.

Workshop discoveries and experience:

         

During the class, Professor Marcela showed us how to melt plastic. She showed us how to use the oven in the room next to the room 823 lab. The oven is to be used with caution and the molds are to be used with gloves so as to avoid burning. The oven takes around 10 minutes to heat up and we learned that we must stay on the 8th floor while we are melting our plastic into the molds so as to avoid burning the plastic. Interestingly enough, burnt plastic turns a gruesome brown or dark yellowish color. 

 

      

In addition, we got to see how to use the sawing machine for creating little stumps of wood with which we would hard press the molds into each other. This is the part of the process that flattens the shape in place and creates the final shape of the plate we are creating. The scary part of this was the sawing operation and the blades on the machine. 

 

       

In order to create the melted plastic bowls and plates, we are supposed to cut plastic type 2,4, or 5 and create at least 100 grams of plastic cutouts for the medium size bowl. We can also use juice caps and bottles to melt, which would take around 15 more minutes to melt. Before putting the plastic pieces in the mold, we must put wax all over the molds and make sure that there is a thick layer of it on the entire surface.

Readings discoveries:

Circular Business Models Developing a Sustainable Future reading, chapter Multiple-Helix Collaboration for the Development of a Circular Economy: (key points and takeaways)

• The transformation of transport systems constitutes one of the areas that need to be transformed in the development of a circular economy
• This concept of industrial strength based on the joint efforts of companies, public organizations, and organizations providing research, education, and training was further developed by Professor Henry Etkowitz M. Larsson  and given the name of Triple Helix collaboration
•  Each of the sectors of the private, public, and research and educational sectors representing a helix, a concept similar to the double helix structure of DNA.
• A fifth helix is made up by civil society that also has an important role in the spreading of information and as customers that demand innovative products and services.
• All of these together make up the multiple-helix system that will become necessary in order for circular systems to develop
• Compared to the concept of clusters, the term implies a certain amount of goal orientation and management.
•  In many parts of the world, governments have taken on the role of developing, managing, and financing the activities of NGOs that support development and systems are increasingly treated by governments and authorities as important drivers of innovation.
• long-term and large-scale government investments have significantly contributed to speeding up development
• Ruttan described the important role of governments as providers of financing for research and in their capacity as customers in the early stages of development.
• The reason behind the need for government investments is the very large amount of financing necessary to drive the development of new technologies and systems from the first prototypes to the stage where technologies become inexpensive general purpose technologies
• In order to play the role of pilot customer and provider of funding for key steps in the chain of activities that are necessary for companies and industries to move forward, government organizations need to build an understanding of development needs and the steps that are necessary to take in a sequence of development and application projects.
• As technologies mature, they become less expensive and can be utilized in a wide range of applications.
• Different forms of government financing, EU-project funding, and procurement schemes by public buyers are some of the tools that have been used in order to promote development.
• Politicians and public officials on EU, national, and local levels spend increasing amounts of time communicating with business leaders and users of products. They pick up new needs for support activities, matchmaking, and financing and spend time lobbying for funds and trying to attract more attention to their favourite industries and causes.
• Governments also supply the basic financing for research, education, and training.
• Another role carried by universities, schools, and companies specializing in training is to supply companies and organizations with competent personnel and providing training services for professionals
• NGOs take on important roles in the innovation system: organizing clusters of companies and partner organizations, running projects for research and training, and identifying opportunities for development.
• Despite their role as organizers of projects, seminars, and receivers of development financing, the contributions of NGOs are often not recognized to their full extent.
• the activities of all NGOs combined constitute an important driver of innovation and one that becomes increasingly important as the complexity of society increases and it becomes more and more resource consuming for companies themselves to identify prospective collaboration partners and areas where they may want to become involved.
• Consumers contribute to making or breaking companies and business models. By selecting a product or service they, very simply, communicate their approval and signal that they want more of the goods or services of a particular supplier.
• One of the challenges related to the development of a circular economy is to persuade the powerful community of consumers to increasingly demand products from companies that apply circular models and buy less from companies that do not.
• Influencing consumers is likely to require substantial resources and take time.
• Region Skåne is the regional health care provider for a population in excess of one million in the southernmost region in Sweden.
• The organization has implemented a number of innovative practices, using the method of innovation procurement. This has provided an opportunity for the small company Gaia Biomaterials to become the supplier of disposable aprons made from a biologically based plastics material.
• the challenge is particularly difficult due to the unprecedented level of specialization in present-day society and the intricate network of companies, public organizations, service firms, and organizations that form part of the innovation systems of countries, which is at present primarily geared towards innovations within the linear economy

Optional video opinions:

The video titled. “My Perspective on Profit” talks about how a company makes profit after incurring costs on rent and production. He defines profit as “bonus money”, and talks about how a company can improve people’s lives and reduce their energy usage, producing more locally and reducing carbon footprint. However, these things cost companies more money and their lack of improvement in these areas saves them money. These are companies with lots of profit, which is often not fairly distributed

• Learn from China
• Sustainable Local Chinese craft techniques: 
• Local materials that Chinese people have been using

Sustainable local Chinese art techniques and their components:

• Chinese Silk
• Chinese Puppetry
• China Seals
• Paper-cutting– Chinese paper-cuts have been a traditional form of decoration in China at Chinese New Year and events all year round for thousands of years. By cutting a particular theme inspired by daily life into red paper with scissors or an engraving knife, for example plants, Chinese zodiac animals and some famous Chinese legendary figures, the Chinese people express their good wishes for health, prosperity and happiness in the future.
• Chinese painting– Chinese painting is one of the oldest artistic traditions in the world. The most traditional way of Chinese painting is known as “national” or “native painting” （国画）, which is quite different from the Western styles of painting. The artists paint on rice paper or thin silk with brushes, Chinese ink and Chinese painting dye. The main themes of paintings include human figure, landscape, plants and animals.
• Chinese kites
• Chinese embroidery- After the opening of Silk Road in Han Dynasty, the silk production and trade became flourishing. Several major silk embroidery styles had been developed, like Song embroidery (Song Jin 宋锦) in Suzhou, Cloud embroidery (Yun Jin 云锦) in Nanjing and Shu embroidery (Shu Jin 蜀锦) in Sichuan. The major modern embroidery styles are Su embroidery, Xiang embroidery, Yue embroidery and Shu embroidery.
• Folk toys-mainly made from cloth, grass, straw, clay, paper 

Can it be replicated through plastic?

• The use of plastic to create traditional Chinese lantern decorations:

https://www.queenslibrary.org/about-us/news-media/blog/1555

Perhaps if plastic packaging from food or waste from delivered items is melted and cut up, it can be used to create traditional Chinese lanterns for festivals such as the Lunar New Year.

• Shredded plastic can be used in the place of  paper to recreate the traditional Chinese knotting craft, which will utilize the otherwise wasteful material to serve a new purpose. In addition, colorful discarded wires, such as the ones left over from the NYUSH IMA lab can also be used to create various knot designs.

 

   

• Recycled thread can be used to recreate traditional Chinese embroidery designs, which serve as decorations for bags, clothes and various other fabrics. In addition, perhaps plastic thread can be woven together to mimic a natural cotton thread.

               

• References
  

Interesting solutions that deal with upcycling plastic and other wasteful materials to create sustainable products:

• The use of plastic bottles as bird feeders and pots for growing plants. There have been multiple projects that create herb gardens from plastic bottles that can easily be painted and cut to hold soil or become bird feeders.

                

• Another creative idea is creating stationary holders for pens, pencils and even paper holders with plastic bottles, milk jugs, as well as everyday water bottles.

 

             

• An interesting idea I found is the use of cut up and melted plastic to create sculptures of animals or poplar characters from pop culture, similar to the chicken sculpture from South African artists. In addition, the artists used plastic bag, ties together with discarded rope and simply tied around plastic bags of various texture to create the illusion of animal feathers or fur. This technique can also be used to mimic the texture of glass.

                                                           

Analysis:

I will use the Natural Capitalism framework from the “Design is the Problem” text to evaluate the feasibility of these ideas:

The Natural Capitalism evaluation model creates a quick foundation for understanding the value of sustainability.The framework describes 4 types of capital:natural, human, manufactured and financial capital. There are also multiple radical shifts that are observed within the frameworks: radical resource productivity, ecological redesign, service and flow economies and investing in natural capital. According to the radical resource productivity analysis, the above mentioned ideas do not dramatically increase the productivity of a certain natural resource, they simply extend the usage life cycle of materials such as plastic and paper, that would have been simply discarded at a landfill or ended up in our oceans. According to the ecological redesign shift analysis the above mentioned solutions successfully shifts our perspectives and processes to biologically-inspired models. This is done by showing people what their waste can transform into and how upcycling creates new uses fro old materials.  According to the service and flow economies shift analysis, the challenge to deliver better function, value, and relationships from services—even with the involvement of an object, is clearly achieved with the creation of bird feeders and stationary holders. And finally, the investing in natural economies shift factor is not fulfilled, as the above mentioned projects do not build a stronger resource base for our natural resource-based needs. All in all, I believe that although the above mentioned solutions are viable and somewhat reduce the need for the creation of new materials, they are not ultimately a sustainable solution for the future.

    Midterm Project Documentation for Jewelry Set:

Final results from my matching jewelry set in the gallery:

                   

Project Title: “Trash Flow“

Project Statement:

The idea behind “Trash Flow” is by the ocean and for the ocean. It is an exploration of the severity of the waste presently in our oceans and the toxic materials that pollute its fauna and flora. With the symbolism of the ship’s steering wheel and the fishing nets in the earrings, I illustrate the degree of water contamination through nautical elements. However, it is important to start small, in order to make a big impact. The usage of university-held event posters from our very own NYU Shanghai hallways in the creation of the necklace, illustrates the need for involvement and awareness of the importance of proper trash disposal and limited resource waste.

Design and production/Description of creative process:

In the beginning of my brainstorming for the midterm project, I knew i wanted to create a fun and eye-catching piece that had a deeper environmental message behind it. In my search for materials for my project, I used only materials I found in the NYUSH building, mainly from the IMA labs on the 8th floor, as well as from the cafeteria and recycled trash containers all around the school.

As a main theme of my midterm, I wanted to educate the NYUSH community about the pollution in oceans and seas, as well as the daily waste that students contribute to in the academic building itself.

I collected pieces of cloth, blue thread, 2 plastic chips can lids, metal wire and cookies plastic packaging in an attempt to create a jewelry set. I also used discarded multicolor wires from the IMA lab on the 8th floor, which I twisted into one piece, as decoration for my earrings. For the necklace, I used posters from the event boards arounds school (for events that had already passed) and tape, as well as the same discarded wires and thread which I used for the earrings.

          

                   

How the wearable was constructed:

All items used for the earrings and necklace were chosen from trash around campus to show that almost all plastic, paper and cloth waste can be reused or “upcycled” to create something new, without the need of creating anew product or utilizing fresh resources.

Necklace: The necklace was constructed mainly with event posters I found around the NYUSH academic building (for events that had already passed). I cut the posters in a color theme similar to that of the earrings (red, blue, yellow). The posters were cut into 2 sets of different size cutouts which I twisted around a recycled paper straw I found in the cafeteria to give each of the pieces a uniform shape. Then I pasted the paper tubes together using tape and I arranged them in a symmetrical way so that there would be equal number of tubes on each side. Then I saw that one of the posters had a beautiful dragon design on it and I decided to use this in my piece, placing it on the top to conceal the tape of the tubes.

                

Earrings:  I used the chips can lids as the base of the earrings. Then I cut the bottom part of the cookies container and pasted it with tape to the lid. Then I placed the colorful, twisted wires on the border of the lid and attached them with tape to the plastic cookie packaging. Afterwards, I wrapped the blue woolen yarn around the earrings in a star pattern, which I once again attached with tape. Then I cut circles from the plastic bags I collected, with random patterns which I pasted on the center of the earrings to tie the whole piece together. 

To create the earrings hole for attaching to the ears, I twisted a metal wire I found in room 823 and pushed it through a whole I made in the yellow chips lit. Finally, I found a rather interesting piece of cloth in the IMA lab, which was a white lace-like material with holes. It worked nicely as the final touch to the piece, which gave the jewelry a dainty feel. Lastly, I recreated the same process to create a second earring, using the same materials and process of creation.

   

 

     

 Research:

Links I used for my research on the effects of plastic on marine life:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/

https://www.pegasusfoundation.org/the-effect-of-plastic-pollution-on-marine-life/

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2018/09/24/plastic-pollution-affects-sea-life-throughout-the-ocean

https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/toxic-ecosystems-the-impact-of-plastic-on-marine-life/

Images that illustrate the issue of water pollution:

 

 

 

Statistics of the severity of the issue:

Synopsis of my research:

• According to the United Nations, at least 800 species worldwide are affected by marine debris, and as much as 80 percent of that litter is plastic.
• Up to 13 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the ocean each year—the equivalent of a rubbish or garbage truck load’s worth every minute. Fish, seabirds, sea turtles, and marine mammals can become entangled in or ingest plastic debris, causing suffocation, starvation, and drowning. 
•  Half of sea turtles worldwide have ingested plastic.
• Some starve after doing so, mistakenly believing they have eaten enough because their stomachs are full. On many beaches, plastic pollution is so pervasive that it is affecting turtles’ reproduction rates by altering the temperatures of the sand where incubation occurs.
• Plastic waste can encourage the growth of pathogens in the ocean. Corals that come into contact with plastic have an 89 percent chance of contracting disease, compared with a 4 percent likelihood for corals that do not.

 

Significance and inspiration  behind the creation:

My midterm project will include pieces of plastic and cloth waste with a central theme around the Earth’s oceans. Each of the materials for the creation of my earrings represent a main pollutant of our oceans-plastic lids, plastic packaging, cloth fragments, metal wires. I believe a project such as mine can easily be reproduced as a large-scale business and will serve as a trendy, yet socially responsible accessory since its creation requires items that would have previously been considered trash.

Necklace:The necklace represents the waste from the NYUSH student body that is produced on a daily basis and signifies the impact that each and every student can have an immense impact in the reduction of overall waste on campus. The usage of student event posters illustrates the idea that each student is responsible for the trash that they produce and must play an active role in reducing his or her waste on campus. The discarded wires from the IMA lab reflect the impact of the student labs in campus, where there is a daily usage of new wires for IMA projects, while piles of slightly used wires are thrown away.From excessive printing to the wasteful usage of IMA equipment and resources, the necklace is more than a statement fashion piece, it is a warning that trash is all around us and that it is our responsibility to be mindful of our waste contribution.

 

Earrings: The lacy cloth on top of the earrings is meant to allude to the discarded fishing nets that marine life often get entangled in and unfortunately result in fatalities. Lastly, the shape and symmetrical design of the earrings represent a ship’s wheel and the colors are chosen to compliment an overall nautical theme. The earrings are also composed of textile, paper and plastic waste found around campus, however they are a symbolic piece that centers around the issue with the pollution of our oceans and the frightening outlook for the future of our planet.

 

Collecting the necessary materials and producing my wearable:

I will be using materials i find in the IMA labs such as fabrics, plastic pieces and wire, as well as plastic bottles that I have previously purchased.

          

Conclusion:

The goals of my project were to educate the NYUSH student body about the waste produced on campus, as well as the immense amount of waste in our oceans. In addition to creating a rather appealing and colorful jewelry set, I believe that I satisfied the goals of my project. After engaging with my peers and showing them my creation, they stated that my message was clear and delivered in a creative and attractive way. The difficulties encountered during the creation if this project was time management and the finding of appropriate materials. However, I believe that the IMA labs, as well as multiple locations on campus provided the necessary plastic, cardboard and binding materials (thread, wire, glue, tape) to complete my vision. My desire for people viewing the jewelry set was to spark their curiosity about its meaning and educate them in an interactive way about the issue of the pollution of our oceans, which I believe was successfully accomplished. From the creative process involved in this project, I learned that people do indeed care about the pressing climate issues we are currently faced with and actively seek out ways to get involved, especially in the NYUSH community. This gave me hope that change is indeed possible and that the younger generation is not oblivious to the high degree of plastic pollution. If i were to make further changes to my project, I would expand the collection to include matching clothing and/or more accessory items, since I believe that art should make a statement and art from trash, in particular, has the very important task of not only inspiring, but also educating.