Thoughts on Precious Plastics workshop:

I thought that the workshop was really interesting not only because of the experimentation part, but the other ideas and inspirations drawn from the talk as well. One thing I was especially inspired by was a project Adele showed that one of her interns was experimenting with, which was using a hot air gun to shrink plastic onto a mold:

There were also many new interesting pattern samples she showed us that I thought were very visually appealing and unlike other examples I’ve seen before, such as Pollock PP:

Pictures shown during the presentation of plastic tiles that had a more feathery sort of pattern were especially inspiring because it was a completely new pattern to me; Adele mentioned that kind of pattern can be created with an extruder.

From the workshop part, I was a little surprised at the amount of plastic that needed to go into the top part of the stool. I’m wondering if there is a way to make it hollow while also using that molding technique so that less plastic can be used.

 

Thoughts on Reading 1: Social Innovation in China

This reading’s focus on replicability (of something that works) and scalability is really important, and something I often forget about. When creating projects or examining social issues around us, I think it’s easy to get stuck in a very localized mindset. Seeing things or issues happening in one’s direct surroundings or community can lead to losing sight of the fact that other communities are also facing the same or similar issues. As the reading mentions, this is why it’s so important to spread the information of your solution out there if you have one that works.

There was one thing in the reading, however, I was a bit unsure about. On page four It talks about shifts in mindsets, and says “consumers have begun looking for safe, reliable, high value products, and more importantly they are showing that they are willing to pay a premium.” Yes, the economy is growing and people’s incomes are rising but there is still a wage gap that exists. What about consumers who fall into the lower bracket, who can’t afford to pay a premium for safer, reliable and high value products? Will their needs get left behind?

 

Thoughts on Reading 2: Multiple-Helix Collaboration for the Development of a Circular Economy

If anything, this reading made the idea of a truly circular economy pretty much impossible. With the multiple helixes that exist and operate in a very linear economy, it proves that achieving a circular economy would be extraordinarily difficult. On page 64, it mentions that “the success of a country’s most important export companies becomes a priority not only for the companies themselves, but also for suppliers, public organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), and the general public in entire regions and nations where they have their operational and strategic centres.” This means that if one aspect is changed in an effort to operate more circularly, all of these other organizations and people are affected as well. The direct relationship each component has with each other means that one little change makes it necessary for many other changes to happen, which is no easy task.

There is another point I found really important towards the end of the reading: “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…The favourable choices made by customers represent a carte blanche for companies to continue with business practices and continue to expand operations” (71-72). This highlights the importance of being aware, as consumers, of the products we are thinking about purchasing in terms of their social and environmental impact. If we keep purchasing unethical-y made products, then we are supporting that unethical practice.

Learn from China

Some local craft techniques that I have seen and known are hand sewing, wood making, and making things out of paper. What I have observed from my ayi is that she embroidered her own bags with a type of silk that looked a bit like plastic and she would sew up and down through a bag. I’m not exactly sure what she’s doing with those bags if she’s re-selling them or just it could just be her hobby. Not only my ayi, there are many Chinese locals that you could see on the street that would be constantly working on some type of craft with certain material and they would try to resell their work. I believe there are definitely techniques that could be replaced with plastics but the question is who will provide the certain type of plastics they need? For example, as we have seen, plastics could replace jewelry, clothing, and other materials. However, they are all built with machines or have gone through a process with machines that transformed those plastics into different materials. For the locals, who is going to do that for them? Are they suppose to replicate their materials to plastics themselves? What is the likelihood of them switching their material?

   

Find References

Solution 1: One popular or up-coming solution people and large drink companies have been trying to implement are paper straws instead of plastic straws. Instead of using plastic straws, the alternative is to use paper. However, there are some cons to using paper straw. From an user experience, the paper itself will start to go soft and people won’t be able to drink as well when the straw goes soft. Another issue is cutting down more trees to make the straw. Therefore even though we are using less plastic, but we’re cutting down more trees. 

From the reading “Bio-Thinking”, we can categorize paper straw as innocent-looking product threaten the environment. Though paper straw seems like a better alternative than plastic straw, it still uses large amount of water, energy and produces carbon footprint as well. Moreover, it cuts down more trees which disrupts the oxygen on earth. 

Solution 2: Another solution is a toothbrush that is made out of a Bamboo wood instead of plastic. I believe some NYU Shanghai students has created this product called Boomi and they used 100% biodegradable and compassable material for the handle of the toothbrush. In the “Bio-Thinking” article, it talked about sustainability and a key factor to remember is that a product can only be considered sustainable when they are fully compatible with nature throughout their entire lifecycle. Therefore, when I drop a Boomi toothbrush on the ground, it should be able to decompose and become soil again. 

Solution 3: Another solution that exists is rechargeable batteries. This is actually a crucial and important invention for the society. The reason is that batteries not only uses a lot of plastics to make but also it contains toxic chemicals. Therefore when they are being thrown out into the trash that may not be sorted and gets dumped into the ocean, a lot of the chemicals from the old batteries would leak into the ocean. Rechargeable batteries would allow less production of batteries and becomes more eco-friendly. As the reading “Bio-Thinking” said, “using less energy or materials means there is often a cost saving as well as an environmental benefit”. Therefore rechargeable batteries are another good solution to plastic waste.  

Last class, we had Adele from Precious Plastics Shanghai lead a workshop on upcycling plastic to make a stool. She first spoke about how Precious Plastics started in Shanghai, and how it has grown from a small scale organization to become a larger local community. One of the major parts of Precious Plastics Shanghai is that they take the community’s plastic waste and give it a new life by using various upcycling methods. During Adele’s lecture, we also learned about the different kinds of plastic and the specific qualities they have. We learned that type 1 plastic is the most commonly recycled plastic on a large scale, but that we can recycle types 2, 4, and 5 ourselves using the Precious Plastics’ methods. Their lab in Xinchejian has many kinds of machines for upcycling – a heat press, motor-powered shredder, an injection machine, and even a bike-powered shredder. Our re-maker space/lab also has heat presses and a motor-powered shredder, as well as an oven and hydraulic press.

Adele brought examples from Precious Plastic Shanghai’s plastic experiments, with variations in material form, heat, duration, texture, and molds. As we moved towards the demo portion of the workshop, she taught us how to sort, shred, and heat plastic. We began by sorting the various kinds of plastic that we brought to class, and the optimal type of plastic to use is type 2 because it has the most flexible melting range, and it also often comes in a variety of colors.

We then cut up type 2 plastic bottles and put them through the shredder. The resulting material was small plastic flakes that are easily melted. We used some pre-shredded plastic flakes to use as the material for the stool. The mold for the stool was a metal pan that we waxed down, and we filled it with plastic flakes and put it into the oven to melt at 180 degrees Celsius for over 30 minutes.

While the stool seat was “cooking”, we conducted another experiment with the plastic flakes using the heat presses. We sandwiched the flakes between two baking sheets – one set with matte sheets and one set with glossy sheets – and pressed them down for 10 minutes at 170 degrees Celsius. Since we removed the resulting plastic sheets too early, we were left with a wavy and not quite fully fused object. If we pressed them again and left them to cool, the result would be more uniform.

We were unable to complete the stool because of class time, but the way the in-progress stool seat looked was very interesting. There were pockets of unmelted plastic and air, so we left it inside the oven to melt more.

Response to Social Innovation in China

This presentation/reading by Collective Responsibility is an in-depth analysis of entrepreneurship that deals with social issues in China. China is an interesting country to look at because of its economic growth. Now as business in China moves towards trying to solve social problems and induce social change, it is crucial to look at what kinds of entrepreneurship works, and what potential problems could arise. My takeaway is that in order to make a long-lasting impact, making the effort to scale social innovations is the most important and most difficult part. Organizations in Shanghai that deal with upcycling, like Precious Plastics Shanghai and UseDem are both committed not only to the reach but to the scaleability of their respective business models.

Response to Multiple-Helix Collaboration for the Development of a Circular Economy

A circular economy is comprised of four components:

1. Governments – which finance research and development, as well as fund universities and research institutes.
2. Non-Governmental Organizations – which conduct additional research and development for projects that are outside of governmental interests.
3. Consumers (Civic Society and the General Public) – who “vote” through purchase and can make or break a business model.
4. Companies in the Public Sector – which run campaigns and spread information to impact consumers’ choices.

It is the cooperation and collaboration between these groups that lead to successful business and social impact. When applied to the Chinese economy, Precious Plastics Shanghai and UseDem fall under the category of NGO or small company respectively. While both organizations have a small consumer base already, it seems that there is governmental assistance – either financially or institutionally – in order for the circular economy to thrive. 

I firmly believe that the government and larger companies in the public sector hold a lot of power in determining the economic and social trends, and it is imperative for consumers and smaller NGOs/companies to lead by example.

 

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.

Reflection 

The workshop about remaking plastic was really amazing. When watching the advertising video about Precious Plastics Shanghai, I was super happy and excited seeing a group of people doing such interesting and meaningful things by themselves and wanted to participate in it. I am also surprised by the plastic products they made since they look so beautiful, just like marvel and are even more colorful. Remaking plastic is great, but when watching the video they made and heard Adele mentioned that she took remaking plastic as her full-time job, I became curious about how the group of people from Xinchejian can make a living on this and spread the ideas to the people, to the government. 

 

Plastic products from Precious Plastic Shanghai

 

Process of making plastic products during the workshop

 

According to “Multiple-Helix Collaboration for the Development of a Circular Economy”, NGOs are becoming more and more important since they support important aspects of development in industry and society at large, such as activities to protect the environment or support business development in different sectors. After looking through Precious Plastics Shanghai’s Instagram account and how they remade plastic in the workshop, I get some basic concepts on how they work. As an NGO based in Shanghai, there are many critical stakeholders in the company, such as non-profit-leaders, employees and universities. Since Adele mentioned that they are going to hold activities and lectures in Chengdu to talk about precious plastic for future plans, and they are having activities in our school and other colleges, companies as well, I simply assume that they have already been able to make a living on this, which is a really big step on contributing to the development of remaking plastic. During the talk, Adeld also said they post more information on We Chat instead of Media platforms like Instagram since most Chinese people are used to We Chat. This also corresponds to the localization of the platform mentioned in Social Innovation in China, as well as the funny detail is shown in the video that a nice, friendly grandma from Shanghai appreciated what Precious Plastic Shanghai is devoted to. The precious plastic organizations’ global map shows that these organizations work in an “affiliation” model (pp.28), which contributes to the development of organizations themselves. 

 

However, as Carol CHyaucai has pointed out, “People treat every part of the manufacturing process like art, but it’s actually science. The process goes by many factories, if there’s not a set method and everyone does it by their feelings, products come out all different. That infrastructure isn’t there so it’s a lot of little battles. (pp.16)” To achieve further success in recycling/ upcycling plastic, the process also needs other important rules. Mats Larsson argues that governments play a critical role in the development of circular economy since they are usually “providers of financing for research and in their capacity as customers in the early stages of development”. Additionally, “unlike companies or private investors, governments can take a long-term view of investments, investing in technologies, systems, and methods that are important for the development of society at a stage when these technologies are not cost-effective or competitive enough to meet investor criteria for sales and return on investment”. This kind of long-term perspective is especially important when solving the issue of plastic because we all know that plastic won’t disappear in the following hundreds of years and its pollution will continue. Governments also supply the basic financing for research, education, and training, which are also important factors in spreading knowledge during generations and in space. Along with the government, there are also significant roles like the powerful community of consumers and Buyers in the public sector. Without large numbers of consumers or procurement officers at companies that put circularity ahead of other criteria, it will be difficult for the circular economy and companies with offerings based on circular flows to grow. But this dilemma can be saved by the public sector, who are easier to reach and their choices can to a large extent be influenced through political decisions. To develop a circular economy, particularly in the solve of plastic (pollution) issue, we really need the cooperation from all perspectives and Precious Plastic offer great and brand new solutions on solving it.

 

Field Trip Documentation

 

“Do you hate human now?”

“Even more than before.”

 

The strongest feeling I had after cleaning was I will NEVER throw away any trash outside of the trash bin. When I first entered the park I was happy and optimistic that the environment here seems to be super nice — what cleaning do we need to do? It is even cleaner than my room. However, my black trousers turn into greyish black when I finish the cleaning. It is indeed beach cleaning, where the beach is made up of microplastic, shoes, bottles, clothes, big plastic pieces, condoms, lighters, everything that you can imagine. When cleaning, an old couple asked me is this trash from the ocean, I said I am not sure but I think so. They then asked me if we can clean all the trash, I shook my head and smiled bitterly.

 

How could that be possible? In less than two hours, we have collected more than 30 kilos of trash, but it is just the tip of the iceberg. I climbed out of the sea wall, seeing floating plastics just near the shore. All the gaps among the walls are filled with different types of trash, flowers and plants grow among the trash and then covered by the growing amount of trash. I wanted to take a picture of the wildflowers, but I cannot get rid of any plastic trash since the flower is rooted in the trash.

 

 

When I and Kimmy were squatting and picking up trash, a lot of people passed by. Most of them were primary school students, and the three words they repeated most often were “捡垃圾”, which means picking up trash. However, when adults passed by, some of them would come and have a close look at what we are picking and asked what we were doing. I know that my knowledge about recycling and environmental protection was almost 0 when I was a primary school, even as a middle school student. I saw the students having different varieties of activities today in the park, so is it possible to hold activities about trash sorting for them, or bringing in the Picking up Trash Run into the school? We are able to distinguish different kinds of trash and contribute to cleaning up a little today, but as the TED talk has shown, to solve the plastic pollution better, we need cooperation globally, and this is also an issue that multiple generations will face, that needs the contribution from those primary school students.

 

Project Title: RainBrella

Project Statement:

“This raincoat is made of 100% old and used umbrellas that I either found it in the trash or from lost and found. I wanted to emphasize on the positive aspect of plastic which is their ability of being waterproof. I wanted to use umbrellas to showcase that they do in fact have a second life and there really is no need to just toss them away after they are broken.”

Research:

For this project, I research mostly on how to put together a raincoat. Previously, I have learned how to used the sewing machine in a workshop with Marcela so I knew I could put together textiles but I wasn’t sure if plastics would work the same way. I’ve research a bit on plastic durability with sewing machines and it is actually possible to use a sewing machine with plastic. I first tested with some plastics bags that were ironed together and I stitched them together which worked well. I also looked up online of how to sew and make a raincoat out of plastics. I saw there were people making a raincoat out of Ikea bags which looked amazing. I wanted to recreate something like that but I didn’t want to just directly copy it so I tried to use other materials instead of Ikea bags. Then, I looked up how to make a raincoat out of plastic bags since we have an abundant amount of them in our classroom and they are great resources. I saw a Youtube video of a person using plastic bags and actually attaching each part of the coat with an iron! I was very intrigued by this technique and I never thought about it either. The only part that I think of when I use iron was just to make the plastic materials thicker but I forgot that it actually acts as a glue. So I thought about how I would actually go about attaching my pieces of umbrellas into a coat and I actually tried both of the methods and realized I liked the iron technique more. So I actually looked up and even easier way to put together a raincoat with plastics and saw this website that taught an easy way of cutting up the plastic material. 

 

Ikea bag link: https://www.instructables.com/id/Make-an-Ikea-Raincoat/

Google link for plastic bags to raincoat: how to make a raincoat out of plastic bags

Easier way to cut and attach a raincoat: https://www.prettyprudent.com/2013/01/baby-kid/how-to-sew-a-raincoat/

Significance:

The significance of this project is to demonstrate that when a plastic product or wearable to broken or “useless” it does not necessarily mean it cannot have a second life. I wanted to reuse and give a second chance for umbrellas and also continue to let them serve their purpose as a rain/water blocker. More importantly, most household who own an iron or a sewing kit are able to do this as well. All they need to do is cut up the umbrella material and attach them. This project’s significance works both as an art statement and an actual feasible product. 

Design and Production:

For the design of RainBrella, I used a total of four umbrellas to produce my product. One umbrella for the base which is the coat itself, two for two sleeves and another one for the hood. Now a days the umbrellas are more for personal use than to share with others therefore the material itself is less therefore the raincoat turned out to be quite small. 

This image above the one of the umbrellas that were flatten out and I had to fold it in half in order to make the sleeves. I tried to follow the order that I saw on the website step by step. 

Then I began to measure each sleeve by using my own sleeves from my hoodie so I could try fitting it in myself (that’s was what I was going for initially). 

Then, I cut out the sleeves accordingly and used two umbrellas for it. Then I needed to make the body  or the “coat” itself. I folded another umbrella that I had broken apart into a half and cut a half circle on top of it and cut a line in the middle of the half circle. So when I would open up this umbrella, the half circle becomes the hole for the neck and hoodie attachment and the line would break the umbrella apart so you could wear it like a raincoat instead of a poncho. 

then, I began attaching the sleeves together by ironing them and it actually takes about less than one second to iron the umbrella materials together so I had to be pretty quick and precise. I had a video for it but the upload size is too large for this website so I won’t be able to show it. But what I did was that I used baking paper to put underneath and on top of my sleeves and used an iron to go around the sleeve edges to connect them and I did that for attaching them to the coat as well. Overall, the process went fairly fast and easy but the RainBrella turned out to be a little small. 

Conclusions:

In conclusion, I really enjoyed doing this project because I felt like I was really making a statement by using old or broken umbrellas to re-create it into a raincoat. Though one thing that I would like to focus more on next time is the production of the raincoat. I had no prior experience with putting clothes together or even in fashion studies itself. Therefore it was actually quite a challenge for me when I heard we had to create a wearable for this project. Something that I would focus a bit more on would be measuring the actual size of the model and try to make it possible for everyone to wear. Moreover, the ironing skills were also a bit rough and I actually didn’t do a test try for the iron since I had a limited amount of umbrellas. There were a lot of things that I would focus on again if I had another try and more time to do it but I am happy with what I have created and through this process I really enjoyed the real process of “recycling” plastic waste. 

Here is a picture of my model wearing my project!

 

 

 

Name: Mehr Un Nisa Javed

Professor: Marcela Godoy 

Date: 6th November’ 2019

Objective: 

Document and post your discoveries and thoughts on the workshop and readings.

Read the two readings;

• Collective Responsibility Social Innovation in China
• Circular Business Models Developing a Sustainable Future, Mats Larsson Multiple-Helix Collaboration for the Development of a Circular Economy

Workshop:

Adele from “Precious Plastic” came to give a workshop on making us help make a stool. We started with the introduction about Precious Plastic and how it was started in Shanghai. It was very interesting to hear how they started from a small scale and took it to a larger scale. This shows that you just need motivation to keep moving forward even though you would face many setbacks in the way. 

For making the stool we first sorted out all the plastic and then we had to shred the plastic. After shredding the plastic we put it in the oven and then heated it on 180 degrees. After that Marcela and Adele pressed it an added more shredded plastic and then put it in the oven again. After that the plastic took a long time and I waited until 5pm to see the results and then the plastic had melted and then they took it out and then pressed it again. They left it in the press for a long time so that the it could be a smooth surface. The stool however, could not be fully completed due to time constraints so we just got the upper seat part of the stool and did not work on the legs of the stool. 

Here are some photos from the workshop:

 

 

Readings Response

I really found the two readings really interesting and my takeaway from the first readings “Collective Responsibility Social Innovation in China” is that China is a very big country in size and population therefore, in order to address the big problems in China which are being addressed by the social enterprise, many stakeholder would need to work together and then only the will be able to Bring a collective impactful impact. But, we know that as this would bring a vast amount of opportunities so then we must not be hesitant to fact the challenges which are brought up with the opportunities. Thus, we can only stay positive and look forward to more and more opportunities for the social innovation by non-profit and profit organizations. 

The second reading was also very meaningful and the biggest takeaways for me were; that different authorities play different role for a project and for me the individual role was very important because as they are the real buyers of the products produced. “Through purchases, people every day decide which companies to support. Every time a person goes shopping he or she selects a number of products. Purchases could be viewed as votes in favour of some companies and votes against others, the ones that a particular customer decides not to purchase goods or services from.”Therefore,”One of the challenges related to the development of a circular econ- omy 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. Without large numbers of consumers or procurement officers at companies that put circularity ahead of other criteria, it will be difficult for the circular economy and companies with offerings based on circular flows to grow.” Here, we can see that the main key players in the industry are actually the consumers and we play the biggest difference. I myself, being a consumer need to reflect on my practices because my decision would affect the future of the industry and would decide if the circular model will be prevalent or not. This made me realize about my importance as a buyer and how I need to be really careful and in future shift my choices If I want to have a change and bring a positive impact to my community. Thus, we need to be more cautious and focus on what Mats Larrson said, “The enemy, as many people have already realized, is us!” 

Name: Mehr Un Nisa Javed

Date: 6th November’2019

Professor: Marcela Godoy 

Objective:

Find local craft techniques, and find local materials that Chinese people have been using. Is there any technique we can replicate using plastic? Do you think we can replicate those materials using plastic?

Research about plastic solutions and post it on your journal.Choose one between “Design Is The Problem” and “Bio-Thinking” as an evaluation framework or tool for assessing the sustainability of your these solutions.

Chinese Craft:

Whenever I think about Chinese craft Chinese Fan,  is the first thing that comes to my mind as I have always watched this in movies to represent Chinese Culture. “The history of Chinese fan can be dated to over 3,000 years ago, around the Shang Dynasty (C.16th-11th BC). … Later this Shanhan became a long-handled fan made of thin and tough silk or birds’ feathers, called a zhangshan fan, which was mainly used by the emperor’s honour guard as decoration.”

I think we can make Chinese fan using plastic because I think it would be really nice to have plastic inlace of the materials already being used. The material used to make the fan is really of thin nature therefore, we would need to use a thin natured plastic fully compressed in order to make a fan. We would also either need to use mold or we can laser cut later to give it the fan shape. 

Response:

 

Research on the Famous Companies working in China for Recycling Plastic 

1)Shanghai Yadu Plastic Co Ltd:

I have never heard about this comply before but after reading more about the work they do I was really impressed as they are making an impact in the plastic recycling industry in China.Their main products are PE and PP woven coating fabrics, printing paper molds, triplicate composite aluminum, blowing bags, printing of bump version. I had never thought that these items could be made and would provide an effective suction to the plastic waste.

2)Kuusakoski Recycling:

References:

https://www.chinadailyhk.com/articles/85/48/241/1550217148425.html

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2018-12/01/c_137644567.htm

https://www.kuusakoski.com/en/china/

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A Plastic Recycling Revolution Is Brewing … in China

Learn from China:

I think we can replicate plastic into the local craft techniques: weaving techniques. The weaving of Chinese folk crafts is world-famous, and various representative weaving techniques have been spread since “hemudu” culture period. Archaeologists proved that the folk craft in “liangzhu” culture period two or three thousand years ago already had a reed, bamboo, and other woven fabrics. Slowly folk craft appeared more kwai, brown, willow, hemp weaving. So I think we can use plastic to be the material for weaving techniques. We can use the heating iron to melt many layers of plastic to make a strong fabrication for weaving. 

 

Interesting Plastic Solutions In “Bio-Thinking” Framework:

1. Environmental-friendly Recycled Plastic Material in the Sneakers Industry 

I discover interesting solutions in the sneakers industry, which is my favorite hobby. So as I mentioned in the first class, many sneakers brand had the techniques for recycled materials.

 

For example, Adidas collects plastic materials from the ocean. Adidas uses all recycled materials for shoes. “Adidas says it has been working on this project for the past six years, and the goal with it is to do its part in generating less plastic waste”. The quotation from a news report(link is at the bottom) shows the intention of Adidas- to reduce generating less plastic waste. That perfectly matches the Bio-thinking framework “Design is the key”. We need to improve the “eco-efficiency ” from the design. For the big shoe industry, the promotion of recycled materials can fundamentally reduce the use of materials for making shoes. 

2.Plastic Packaging Alternatives ( Substitute Materials, Bio-everything in Bio-thinking frame)

There are many alternatives materials for packaging. What I find out are:

1. Plant-based plastics
2. Mushroom root
3. Mushroom root
4. Seaweed water bubbles
5. Shower-friendly paper
6.  Stone paper and plastic
7. Palm leaves
8. Corn starch and sorghum loose fill
9. Edible six-pack ring
10. Silberboard – metallised paper
11. Wood pulp cellophane
12. Prawn shell plastic bags
13. Milk plastic

Most of them are bio-degradable and environmental-friendly. More details in the link at the bottom. That matches with the framework in Bio-thinking, “Substitute Materials” and “Bio-everything”.

3.  Patagonia Worn Wear Project.

Patagonia has a Worn Wear Project. The owner of Patagonia clothes can return their clothes back to Patagonia and Patagonia will help them recycle it. This project is good communication with consumers, which can help the consumers to have a sense of recycling and protecting the environment. That is just what Bio-thinking thought: “The product communicates information that leads to a better environmental performance, usually by changing the behaviour of users”.

Patagonia ’ve made progress on recycling the high-quality polyester and nylon used in many products—in 1993, Patagonia was the first outdoor clothing manufacturer to transform trash into fleece. They are constantly evaluating new materials and reevaluating existing ones. When the best available materials aren’t good enough to meet the need, they work closely with our suppliers to develop outstanding new fabrics.

Reference:

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/31163665

https://www.engadget.com/2019/04/17/adidas-futurecraft-loop-recycled-running-shoes-sustainability-speedfactory/\

https://www.innovationexcellence.com/blog/2018/07/02/13-plastic-packaging-alternatives/

https://www.patagonia.ca/reuse-recycle.html

 

Chinese Craft Techniques

Papercutting is a type of Chinese folk art that is hung up as decoration on windows or doors, and is also used during festivals or special events because they symbolize luck and happiness.

This craft is thought to have originated from as early as 3BC, when people used other thin materials such as leaves to create artwork. The switch to paper, however, came when the price of paper became more affordable. It basically involves scissors to cut paper, usually red, into an artwork, making use of negative and positive space.

The paper material can potentially be replicated with plastic. Since the paper used is pretty thin, the plastic would also have to be thin. The ironing technique could potentially be used with perhaps two layers of plastic bags to somewhat match the characteristics of paper in terms of thickness, and to make the plastic less flimsy.

 

Interesting Plastic Solutions (Using the “Bio-Thinking” Framework)

There is a large selection of shops on Etsy that specialize in creating products from recycled plastic:

1. AsterandQuail’s hanging lamp

The cool geometric shape of this lamp is made out of plastic drinking straws. I really like this lamp because it both looks beautiful and is a statement piece for interior design. What I’m curious about, however, is where exactly they get these plastic straws. Each one is made to order and takes about 3 to 4 weeks – does this include time to collect single-color straws? 

2. UniqueYarnsCo’s eco friendly yarn

This yarn is made from recycled plastic bottles. I like the idea of this product because it is completely transforming the shape, texture, and use of plastic bottles, which can then be turned into a wearable or any other project you can make with yarn. It gives a material for another person to make their own wearables with rather than buying something that isn’t necessarily environmentally friendly from a store.

3. OtagRecycle’s recycled plastic wallet

I know this one isn’t really introducing a new technique or concept since we have looked at wallets and things made from ironing plastic before…but I wanted to include this wallet because I think it’s just very well-crafted and uniquely beautiful. A lot of wallets using this technique that I’ve seen, I’ve always had the thought that while they were creative solutions, they would still look better visually and fashionably with a different, more conventional material. With this wallet, however, the opposite is true. If you were to recreate this design with say, leather, it wouldn’t look as beautiful because the plastic fusing technique in this case matches the design well. I think this is an important thing to consider when trying to use plastic as a material: rather than trying to make plastic look like something else or another material…what if we focused our attention on creating a design that works the best or looks the best with upcycling plastic techniques?

 

The problem with Etsy products is they are a bit hard to evaluate with some of the components of the Bio-Thinking framework:

• Cyclic: Depending on the type of plastic used, the product could or could not be recyclable.
• Solar: Unless the product is an appliance, this one doesn’t really apply use-wise. Since the manufacturing process is handmade, these products are potentially using less energy than an industrial product would.
• Safe: Again, since these products are handmade, they are potentially not releasing anything toxic or disrupting ecosystems as much as a factory would.
• Efficient: Because of the incorporation of recycled plastic materials, less overall energy is needed to originally produce each product (in this round of the plastic material’s lifetime). From a time efficiency and business standpoint, however, the handmade aspect negatively influences each product’s efficiency because of the amount of time it takes to craft a single product by yourself.
• Social: Assuming the Etsy shop-owner takes good care of themselves, this component isn’t really an issue because of, again, the handmade aspect of each of the products. However, we have less information about the raw materials and where each material comes from.