CAT TRIP

On Thursday 25th October we had an all day visit to CAT, the centre of alternative technology in Wales. here we had an introduction that talked about the nature of sustainability, demise of oil, peak oil, climate change and CO2 reductions. We also looked at materials that had been used to build the Wise building which is located in the centre and talked about how they affected the environment, especially their link to C02 in terms of creation, use and disposal. I found this trip to be very interesting walking around the exhibitions, i especially liked the bright colour displays simplifying what the tool was trying to show you and found it really informative as you could practically see how small changes to your lifestyle can change the environment a huge deal and most importantly what you could do in order to help. below are a few photos that I took.

Week Three: Recycled Shoe box packaging

The Task: Design a theoretical prototype of a multi use shoe/trainer/boot box

For task three we were asked to produce a shoe box that used a combination of recycled goods. I began by researching the area of shoe/boot packaging  and discovered Boxes contribute to millions of tons of waste each year, I had to come up with a solution to produce a shoebox that would use minimal packaging yet still be fit for purpose. 

Research:

 I began my research by looking at brands that are currently trying to be more green when designing their product, and discovered PUMA had partnered with Fuseproject in order to create, "The Clever Box" an innovative, green packaging system...

When researching I discovered Millions of shoes shipped in this bag will reduce water, energy and diesel consumption in the manufacturing process by more than six percent per year. In summary: 8,500 tons less paper, 20 million megajoules of electricity saved, 1 million liters of fuel oil and 1 million liters of water will be conserved. During transport 500,000 liters of diesel will be saved and by replacing traditional shopping bags, the difference in weight will save almost 275 tons of plastic.

 

My Idea: ECO HEELS

Eco Heels. a company with Flare, selling fashionable statement footwear for females who want to change there lifestyles to change the planet. I looked at producing my box out materials such as Egg Carton cardboard or recycled cardboard and thought i could tie with string to prevent the use of glue similar to the 'Orange Canoe' design that we did in our learning teams previously. I also looked at other ideas such as not using any paper or cardboard inside the shoe box as it wasn't required and  or replacing the lid with a recycled paper slip on cover, using nothing but natural materials such as string to tie it and vegetable ink to make the box attractive to the buyer.

Benefits of my product: Eco Heels would be the following selling points:

* Manafactured with Recycled materials

* Recycable, biodegradable & Compostable

* Lower storage cost due to improved nesting

* Easy stackability

* Reduces freight & shipping costs

* Improved price stability, less dependence on oil, gas and resins

* Costs often lower than Plastic and foams

Eco Heels will use vegetable ink and stencils to make the design of the box more attractive to its cosumer.

 

egg carton design

layout of design 

Testing My Design on Actual Material

Conclusion:
ways to make a shoe box green could be taking the lid of a shoe box and replacing with a sheet of recycled paper. using string instead of glue to tie the box together and using egg carton material instead of cardboard and using vegetable ink to print a logo and leaving the box to its original colour. 

if you think Eco heels would be a good idea comment why & if you don't, why not!

 

Week Two: Sustainable Multi Use Packaging

The Task

For the second task we were asked to locate a Youtube video that deals with a Green/Sustainability issue which is related to one of the following: sustainable architecture, vegetable ink printing, sustainable packaging, sustainable product design or sustainable furniture design. I chose "Sustainable packaging: the body shop: Wood Positive.

Trees are the focus of the new Body Shop campaign called Wood Positive The beauty and skincare brand has an ongoing commitment and not just for one day or one month to target specific areas  in biodiversity. So far, the Body Shop Wood Positive campaign, together with teaming up with The World Land Trust has planted over 55,000 treas in the Ecuadorian Andes and Atlantic Rain-forest in Brazil. This year it will be working with the World Land Trust to plant and protect more trees than it used in 2010. The Eco Design Manifesto was also a discipline I looked at to see which points the body shop were corresponding with and I felt these points where most relevant:

Designing to satisfy real needs as opposed to transient, fashionable or market- driven needs, design to minimise the ecological footprint, Design inovation of lethargy by re-examining original assumptions behind existing concepts and products.

 

Seminar Task: Japanese Packaging

Japanese Packaging is crazy creative.

They are innovators, not imitators. One great difference I saw between Western and Japanese package and product design is the amount of energy and life found in the latter. Most Western packaging appeared limited, merely ‘contained’ on the canvas or package. Whereas Japanese design is more alive, spirited and energetic. 

Japanese packaging is created not to just contain the product, but has a unique soul of its own. It’s easy to tell–most of the packaging and product designs are based on nature and all things cute. In fact, they go through lengths to add tiny details like faces, eyes and smiles to products to make it more ‘kawaii’. Charming mascots, sweet characters and happy faces definitely sell in the company, and cute characters will definitely lure consumers into buying their products. here are the few examples of Japanese packaging I found clever.

 Infini Coffee - “It’s time for the gifted coffee.”

 Five eggs wrapped in rice straw

Featured in “How to Wrap Five Eggs: Traditional Japanese Packaging” by Hideyuki Oka, published in 1975 (each was featured in an exhibit by the Japan Society on traditional Japanese packaging).

 During our Lecture our task was to produce packaging for three oranges using the least materials possible using Japanese Packaging method.

In our learning teams we had to think of the best way to package these oranges so they complied with these specifications but were also displayed so they were visible and protected. we decided to go for a "pod design"our chosen design concept was made using reused cardboard and some string. we named our product 'orange canoe' simply making a box out the cardboard by tying it to some string. this made our product secure, yet visible and could be staked on top of each other in the supermarket.

 

Week One: Age of Stupid

:lll

Task 01: The Age of stupid Review

In order to help our awareness of Climate change we watched a Documentary called: The Age of Stupid (2011) Basically a video that talks about the underlying Issues that are contributing to Global Warming and asking the question Do people actually care enough to make a difference?
I personally feel as times have moved on generations have become more selfish and lazy when it comes to making a difference to the world and its resources. I don't think people want to change their lifestyles enough in order to change the world. it's out of sight and out of mind, if they don't pay attention to the issue then they aren't going to do anything about it.
below is a video about the "Basel Ban" which is yet to be ratified, this would prevent waste being dumped in third world countries... Would this be a good thing? I found this video to be very Interesting. is there ever going to be a solution to the waste? Should more money be spent in teaching people how to reduce their waste, and more importantly... would they listen?

Introduction

WELCOME

 Hello I'm Heather and welcome to my Green Design Modle blog. over the next few months I am going to be looking into many different elements of 'Being Green' and how this can effect both people and the environment especially when it comes to design solutions. I am new to blogs (so please forgive me) but any critique and feedback is very much appreciated. happy reading.

 

© Creeative Design 2012