Learning Kit.

Here is my learning kit for this week. It shows some insight to a design companies ideation and process behind design. They are also hiring, so I used them for another class in writing a resume and cover letter on a place I have interest in interning at. 

Sustainability through education

“Alright class, go to your LEAGUE GREEN, and click on game 2.”

The classroom of the future is already based heavily in computer education in addition to traditional methods. LEAGUE GREEN is meant to be the new version of DARE. DARE is a mandatory program that teaches children about drugs. LEAGUE GREEN is a school program that teaches kids about living sustainably, and its affect on the world. Along with the learning units, it’s important to have art and design lessons that integrate GREEN as a fashionable aesthetic in children’s lives. This is mainly due to social influences dominating a large part of social development at younger ages.

Lesson |

GREEN HOUSE: Visual navigation games for ages 5-7 and trivia questions for 8-10.
1. How to separate recycling
2. How to reuse water
3. Remember to turn off water when: brushing teeth, washing hands, etc.

combining technology and teaching to get kids outside

 

 The idea is to bring children back into the wilderness through the use of technology. Children of this generation are fascinated with technology, the idea is to harness this fascination and partner it with exploration and a positive learning experience in nature. Similar to Geo-caching my idea is to combine cameras and GPS units to facilitate learning specific animals and plants of the region.

We will do this by publishing a series of pamphlets each with a specific species hunt. Each pamphlet will have illustrations and information on a variety of birds, plants and insects native to the area.  Each page will focus on a specific species and have a check box and space for GPS location for when each page is completed.

Like the drawing below each page will have a detailed drawing of some part of the species being looked for. But the item being looked for might not necessarily be in the drawing. For example the page below shows a drawing of a Bur Oak leaf and bark of a Bur Oak tree. The search could be specifically for the Bur Oak acorn, which does not have a drawing but only a description to guide the trekker, once he has found a tree. This encourages exploring, problem solving and observation of the person’s surroundings. 

The pamphlets will ultimately be available online through state parks and private facilities websites, as well as on location. When the species is found the person hunting for it will mark down the GPS coordinates where it was found. If they are trying to get to the next level, more proof is necessary. The trekking will snap a picture of the object with the coordinates showing.

(Illustrations will be up soon)

 

Infrastructure/ Technology

            Most state parks, including most of Minnesota State Parks have GPS systems available for free rental for the day, upon providing a drivers license and filling out a form. These GPS systems are available for Geo-caching, which is already set up within the State park system. The cameras could be disposable, or use the same rental system as the GPS units. Many less cameras would be needed because they are a much more common accessory, but it is important to have a free option in order to not single out any financial group. 

           For facilities where buying either disposable cameras, or buying digital cameras to rent out with the GPS units are not financially possible this section can be replaced with journals in which the GPS location would be taken down with a drawing of the found species by the people.

 

The Audience

This idea can be used for families, children, adults, summer camps, nature classes. There will be a variety of different levels meant for targeting different ages and interests, but also as a sort of ladder for the trekker(s) to climb as they become more experienced. This idea could altered small amounts to fit, a classroom setting having these treks on a smaller scale, using nature journals and written descriptions instead of  GPS units and cameras. 

 

 

GREEN AVENGERS!!!

The mission is to create a GREEN education program that holds the same urgency as DARE.  Beyond that, just about every cartoon network has an online game realm.  LEAGUE GREEN should be a TV network game hub as well.  This is a place where Kids could select games to play from every network, and play them with their homework games.  Kids would be shown how to access this game, and put it on their computers while in the LEAGUE GREEN class.

Farming Report #8

Terrarium Pictures

Below are pictures of my terrarium, whose fate is as of yet uncertain. We shall see how it goes...

NOTE: The bad pictures will very soon be replaced by better ones very soon!

Renewable Energy in NYC

The Major of New York City, Michael Bloomberg,
who has made “energy efficiency the cornerstone of his
administration”, is currently planning on putting wind
turbines above skyscrapers and bridges around the city.

Specifically because of past black outs within New York
City, Bloomberg believes that using wind turbines directly
in the city will allow enough energy produced to back up the
city, without the problem of week power grids.

As I addressed in my previous reports, the United States is
still using a power grid that is not strong enough to transfer
power from wind turbines in rural areas to cities (Like New
York City). While updating the country’s power grid would
be ideal, it is extremely exspenisve and would require going
through numerous state legislaters. Bloomberg’s plan to
place wind turbines directly in an area that needs energy
but can’t neccasarely rely on a power grid to get is basically
the next best thing.

The plan is still in early stages, so which sky scrapers and
bridges will be used in the plan are still un specified, though
Bloomberg acknowledged the importance of city officals
working with property owners to maxamize the efficiency of
the project.

Locations in Queens, Long Island, and Brooklyn will probably
be the first locations in which turbines will be built.
According to the New York Times, these places alone
could generate 10 percent of the city’s electricity needs in
10 years.

Several companies are already experimenting with different
types of “Urban-friendly” wind turbines. Smaller turbines
would be required above buildings, while larger, more
similar to rural turbines would be used on shores and
bridges.

According to researchers, “the iea of renewable power in
New York is realistic”, but expecting a drastic change in
how the city gets it’s power in the next ten years is
unrealistic.

Aside wind turbines, Bloomberg is also interested in using
solar panels above buildings as well. He believes
companies could buy individual panels and sell the energy
produced to residents within the city.

Before Wind and Hydro: The building blocks of a sustainable nation

Scandinavia could be considered one of the leaders in sustainable and environmentally friendly business practice and technology development, through the examples outlined in the previous green market article and to be described through product in the next article. However, how did they get to where they are now?

No happy accident

The rise of green and sustainable culture in the Scandinavian region was no accident. In fact, even before the technology existed, the mindset of sustainable practice was already there. Sweden’s history is a good example of how the building blocks to sustainability were present for many decades before it became a top-of-mind issue. It all started in 1973, with the OPEC-fueled oil crisis. This event, an oil embargo by OPEC on all nations that would support Israel in its conflict with Syria, Egypt, and Iraq, provided a dire lesson to the government of Sweden on nonrenewable commodity-based energy. This lesson was enough to prompt the nation into looking into not only alternative energy sources, but ways to conserve energy as well.

Some of the simplest yet most effective practices were in city and home planning. Houses were built with windows only facing the south, east, or west. A certain style of wall insulation for wooden homes had already been in use since the turn of the century. In addition, in 1975 a new Code of Building practice was established that helped to ensure houses used energy as efficiently as possible.

The first in a new energy legacy

The first real renewable energy source Sweden turned to was Solar. Solar was used to varying degrees of success, due to the countries northern locale. Solar panels were first applied to buildings to assist in the heating of water in the individual building. But as time went on, solar was utilized in larger grids, and to cut down on the amount of non-renewable fuel needed to run buildings. This later became subsumed by wind and hydroelectric power, which works better in the low solar-radiation climate of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Its clear to see that Sweden, and Scandinavia have been in the renewable frame of mind for a long time in coming.

Product Design

Yet another week of exploration of the future of product design and where it is going in the future. Im gathering a wide range of information and resources to use on my final installation. 

Weekly Number 9

Report 8 - Aveda

Aveda is showing leadership in sustainable development. The company is maximizing the efficiency of their office by purchasing wind power, illuminating work areas with sunlight, and repairing broken palettes for continued use with Forestry Stewardship Council-certified lumber.

"At Aveda, we can change the world by changing the way the world does business," says Aveda President Dominique Conseil." As stewards of the Earth, Aveda’s indigenous partners help ensure that our ingredients and products are both high quality and high integrity."



The manufacturer of earthy products hosted a gathering of "green" manufacturers which Aveda attended. Aveda hosted a conference for the Sustainable Packaging Committee of the Institute of Packaging Professionals.

Since 1991 Aveda has implemented energy-efficient lighting, machines and infrastructure; reconfigured the wastewater-disposal system to use gravity instead of electrical pumps and installed native plantings to further filter industrial wastewater before int enters the watershed.

An EcoPartners group met at Aveda where Aveda pointed out: Electrical power used at the Blaine campus and the Aveda Institute in MPLS is 100% offset by renewable wind energy purchases. Aveda reuses corugated cardboard, reducing the amount by 29% since 2000. In 2008 they recycled 62% of all solid manufacturing waste and it is working to further reduce even its recycled waste through reuse.

Aveda uses old bottle caps in the production of the Vintage Clove shampoo packaging. Anyone can drop off bottle caps at any Aveda. Aveda also retrofitted their manufacturing headquarters building at a cost that outstrips the value of the property. The company created an indoor water tower to ensure a constant supply of reusable chilling water and implemented a gravity wastewater system. (1)

1. Star Tribune - Tues. OCT 14th. Business D5 The beauty of green: Spreading the gospel by Maria Elena Baca - 612.673.4409

A Day at the Arboretum

The Five Panels are here.

Thank you.

Population Song

My song that shows the evolution of man and its stages, including a final optimistic look towards our future.

part four image of soil described in part 1

no till farming guide part 3

no till farming guide part 2

sources will be listed soon 

Terrarium!

here are some shots of my Terrarium. The green plant is called Babies Tears, unfortunately I don't remember the name of the redish one. They have both been doing very well the past two-three weeks or so. I even have a little water left from the first desalinization process. Sleven, my roommates cat still wishes it was a fishbowl...

Coca-Cola Becoming Water Neutral! or so they say...

http://k.homes.mcad.edu/~kblock/cocacolawater.pdf

the link to my report on Coca-Cola announcing it's plan to become totally water neutral by 2010.

on a totally side note regarding layout, for once I'm actually proud of the presentation of my report. Past ones weren't so great but something clicked here for me.

My forgotten first article of the semester.

Arboretum

Terrarium Outline

ARBORETUM

Here is my PDF of my eight by eight document.

HERE

Article 7 - Arboretum Report

For this report, I took my experiences at the Arboretum and related them to each other in an unusual way. When I was at the Arboretum, I took notes on things I did and thought were interesting and then made a short Flash piece about my experience.






















I also took a glorious nap!

Farming Reports #7

River Gym

Friendlier Cars

Advertisements future and Design??

Im starting to basic research on my final presentation and installation piece, so I did a weekly look into Advertisement and some new designs and topics dealing with it. Hur is the PDF

WEEK EIGHT//  (zoom out)

Raise Changes + Awareness

This report is officially moving over to current events and sponsorships for green living and learning. Why? There are so many dilemmas happening in African sustainable movements that the biggest problem there is money. The nation needs money to buy the supplies that move the ideas to improve their farming economy. By studying different ways that pop culture events, stars, designers, and other entertainment venues choose to adapt to sustainable needs, there may actually be a source of finding the dollars necessary to progress more of our world in a sustainable direction.
I found the University of Minnesota arboretum to be a shining example of how great ideas have to scrape by because they don’t integrate themselves into money-making practices, (U of M Arboretum). The arboretum seems to be an entertainment venue that thrives off of people seeking out this kind of entertainment. The experience of nature, it’s beautiful, and it only goes so far. Many people don’t want to visit a park reserve on a daily basis, and can’t because they’re busy working or getting life accomplished. So where can a great place like the arboretum learn to appeal to the cultural demands of a nation enthralled by super stars, fashion, possession, and more?
I have to say that one of my favorite blog and article web sites is definitely Tree Hugger. Despite a name that would turn away many heads that have a hard time being badgered that their lifestyle is plain wrong, generally without unbiased explanation. Tree Hugger provides interesting readings on ‘big names’ that are changing the face of the entertainment industry. And frankly, where the entertainment industry thrives money usually flows. The “Green Buying Guide” page shows general consumers everything from tables to cars that allow them to move their lifestyles in a sustainable direction, (Tree hugger). So why can’t more places like the “Aesthetics of Sustainability” blog be a resource of reports that reference a more general lifestyle? The point of all this and the introduction to one of my new favorite blogs, is that sustainable advocates cannot just walk up to a person who happens to own a truck, and say, “my lungs hurt, thanks.” We as reporters should be responsible for making educated suggestions. We should ask questions like, “Why do you use such a large truck,” or “Does your company have any future ideas about pollution connected to large trucks?” I’m making this one of my new goals. To change my own thinking, by knowing what everything is used for, know what the alternatives are, and find ways for people to afford them. Because my recent answer to the question, “why didn’t the world do it this way?” is: it was too expensive then, and it’s more expensive now.

Bibliography |

University of Minnesota. About Us. 2008. University of Minnesota.
Oct.14, 2008. http://www.arboretum.umn.edu/aboutus.aspx

TreeHugger.com. Buy Green. 2008. TreeHugger.com.
Oct.14, 2008. http://www.treehugger.com/buygreen/

the Arboretum!!!!!!

There are several different growing patterns that were seen throughout the entire arboretum. All were very different, but interestingly enough, while seeing this it was fun to notice that we were seeing some decomposers as well. For example Seeing some dead bark taking on the pattern of a dried desert scene, was also seeing a large number of asian beetles and bees crawling all over it. This just happened to be a decomposing method I hadn't seen in nature.
Beyond these pattern studies and other observations it was more interesting to see how such a huge variety of different species interact with eachother. Some images above will show great examples of nature as a system and a visual.

The Terrarium: Laura

AHHHH! Well it's still alive, and kicking with little water. The lack of water is due to the lengthy process of the filtering, but no matter. The part that is indicating some suffering for the plant was the initial fruit flies, but is now the MOLD growing on the actual plant! I'm not even sure where that's coming from, but it's definitely there. The best I can do is continue the project and find out some interesting things about why this has happened.

Fruit Flies = Sick!

It Might be sick, but read up. Hopefully It didnt get to distorted in the text when I exported it. 

Algaculture

Algaculture: a form of aquaculture involving the farming of algae.

So far my research of algae bio-fuels has been very informative and productive. Now that I am completely convinced that algae fuels are the solution to oil crisis and the greenhouse gas emissions, it is time for me to begin investigating the algaculture process. I hope to discover the most effective of algae varieties, and their different contributions.

Starting off: Microalgae is the preferred form of algae for crop production. Microalgae come in different forms such as phytoplankton, microphytes, and planktonic algae. When growing algae it is extremely necessary to obtain a pure culture in order to cultivate it. Each variety of algae has its own traits; one outsider could ruin the whole bunch.

The pure culture of algae is then placed into a PBR, also known as a photobioreactor. Photobioreactors are commonly referred to as “closed systems”, compared to a swamp pond; virtually any closed transparent container would work. The closed systems must remain at a controlled temperature, deserts work well, for the algae to produce regularly.

Photobioreactors are often designed into round tubes or long plastic sleves, both connected to a hose that is placed at the bottom. It is these hoses that inject the necessary Carbon Dioxide for the algae to survive. To harvest the oil the algae solution must be filtered through micro screens first, the cells are then either mechanically crushed, immersed in solvents or both. There are a few different types of chemical oil extraction; Soxhlet, Enzymatic, Expression/Expel press, Osmotic shock, Super critical fluid, and Ultrasonic-assisted extraction. Explanations for the listed extraction processes are on the way.

Terrarium Week 2

Still no growth, but moisture has been consistently collecting on the sides and falling. The seal appears to be tight enough. I've noticed a few small white dots in the soil, and I'm hoping its not salt crystals. The water was distilled and tasted fine, but its possible some of the salt could have remained and recrystallized as the water in the terrarium continues to evaporate and fall.

I keep having dreams that things have started growing in it, so I think that's a good sign. : )

Product Design.

Yet another week of product design and booklets. Still in the process of working on this guy. I did some research on cleaning products. 

Weekly Six.

Article 6

For this report, I created a website outlining what I want in my dream home. This doesn't have much to do with Leadership, but I really wanted to spend some time on this. It gave me an excuse to learn CSS and HTML. It was also a fun brainstorming process, and got me to think outside the box - a good exercise at this time in the semester.



Click here to go to the site

Stressed Water | Countries in need of irrigation(AFRICA)

This great information is from what I consider to be a valuable email_interview with 

Kevin Byrne

3.4. Increasing pressure on water resources

3.4.1. Population growth

The world population increases at a rate of some 211,000 people each
day, with estimates showing a 50% increase to 9.3 billion by 2050,
with the greatest increases occurring in urban areas.[1] This is an
obvious challenge to achieving universal drinking water and
sanitation coverage. Not only must services cope with all those
currently lacking access, but in addition, development must keep up
with a huge demographic growth.

3.4.2. Agricultural practice

Whilst most agriculture is rain fed, in developing countries,
irrigated land accounts for about one fifth of the total arable land.
Irrigation accounts for approximately 70% of all water withdrawals.
This is predicted to increase by 14% over the next 30 years, with the
expansion of irrigated land by a further 20%.

We are globally reliant on food crops produced via irrigation. In
1998, in developing countries, two fifths of all crops were produced
on irrigated land. There is a strong positive relationship between
investment in irrigation and poverty alleviation. In India, for
example, 69% of people in non-irrigated areas are categorised as
poor, whereas this falls to 26% in irrigated areas.[2]

However, of the 93 developing countries surveyed by the FAO, 10 are
already using 40% of their renewable freshwater for irrigation.[3]
Between 15-35% of irrigation withdrawals are estimated to be
unsustainable, with water “overdrafts” occurring in both
developing and developed nations.[4]
3.4.3. Economic growth

Humans can survive on just two litres of drinking water per day,
which is less than one cubic metre per year. Increasing sanitation
requirements and lifestyle demands result in a much greater water
“footprint” – in general, the wealthier the country, the larger
the per capita water “footprint”. The average person in Mali, for
example, uses 4 cubic metres per year, compared to 215 in the USA.

Global annual water use by industry is expected to rise from an
estimated 725 cubic kilometres per annum in 1995, to 1,170 cubic
kilometres per annum in 2025 – increasing the proportion of water
used by industry from 22% to 24%.[5]

As countries develop, so their domestic and industrial water demands
increase.

3.4.4. Pollution

A growing population, intensification of agriculture and
industrialisation all potentially increase the pollution burden of
fresh water systems. Some of the main types of pollution include:
organic matter, acidification and heavy metals from industry and
domestic sewerage; and nutrients, salinisation and sedimentation from
agricultural runoff. Pollution further reduces the water available
for human and agricultural use and carries a high environmental cost.

3.4.5. Water stress

Water stress results from an imbalance between the demands of water
use and available water resources.

Water stress indices can be calculated based on the ratio of total
water use to renewable water supply (from streams, rivers and shallow
groundwater). Areas where water use is equal to or in excess of 40%
of the renewable water resources, are considered to be in relative
water stress.[6] This is likely to result in severe restrictions to
both economic development and human health.

There are four ways in which people contribute to water stress:

Excessive withdrawal from surface waters e.g. as a result of river
diversion for irrigation, the Aral sea has shrunk to less than half
its original size in just 30 years with the additional effect of
doubling its salt concentration;[7]

Excessive withdrawal of water from underground aquifers e.g.
excessive fresh water extraction along the west coast of India has
caused sea water to enter aquifers rendering it unfit for human use;

Pollution of fresh water resources – this may render them unusable
without incurring high clean up costs;

Inefficient use of fresh water – leaking systems, wasteful
irrigation or industrial practice and excessive consumption can all
contribute.