Question

Is it an issue with our habits or is it an issue with the wasteful nature of products? Which is the bigger problem?

Does it mater? They both contribute to it. They both need to be dealt with.

Why Redesign Objects

New Thesis Direction: Instead of getting people to change, to change the objects them selves. Looking at altering the objects related to the habits to be less wasteful. For it seems out of everything, the main issue in the identified habits is our tendency to be wasteful.

Trash into Treasure

Found this article from national geographic about a campaign to get people to become more avid recyclers. It is based on a rewards system where the more you recycle the more green store credits you get. Each recycle bin would have a code that the pickup truck can scan. It then weighs how much recyclables you have and that translates into credits you can print from the web. A number of cities have tried this new system, and they've increased their recycling 10 times the original percentage. My questions here are: How much of what the homeowners deem recyclable were really recyclable? Are they also faking it to get the vouchers? Does the recycling system really work that well anyways? Recycling has it's own downfalls too, it can be seen as route to alleviating the guilt of consumption resulting in more consuming.

It's a good idea though in the sense that it becomes a cycle of rewards.

Shutting Down Computers

- Automatic shutdown after 20 min no use ("Of the $250 billion spent every year on powering computers worldwide, only about 15 percent is spent computing; the rest is wasted idling."- World Changing)
- Makes beeping noise like cell phone in 10 min cycles of no use

Water and Faucets (sinks)

- 7 to 10 second automatic turn off
- low flow faucet heads
- water drains to living machine like tank - gray water then used to arrogate lawn and back yard
- motion detector - turns on only when there is a object under faucet
- toilet sink lid - attach water intake hose of toilet to sink lid - can wash your hands after going and that water can help flush your excrement
- reuse gray water from all sinks into tanks for toilet flushing
- use your foot to turn on water instead of hands - gets rid of unhygienic hands on faucets

Lighting a Space (Light Switch)

- it would beep every ten minutes like a miscall on a cell phone when it is on
- continuous humming or ticking when on
- motion detectors that automatically turn off and turn on lights in the room when you leave/ enter
- cycles of blinking lights every couple of minutes
- automatic turn off every ten minutes
- windows with self adjusting opacity - light and temperature sensitive
- open and close door detecting devices that control on and off switch - when ever door is closed lights turn off

Am I doing the right thing?

My thesis is about taking action over just pointing at the problem - to change unenvironmental behavior. Thing is that who am I to say that unenvironmental behavior is bad, that's just my opinion. I came into the process with a pre-supposition of a negative. Is that smart? Is habit change really the problem?

Look if I were asked is environmentalism really worth pursuing if the world is not in a gigantic crisis, I would say yes. The way we're living may or may not impact future generations as severely as it is popularly advertising today, but we should live with respect for our fellow species. That means a change of ways, and a paradigm shift of thinking of our selves in relation to other Earth creatures. A change in our everyday behaviors can aid in living more symbiotically with one an other but it's most likely only with relatively minimal effects. What it does do is train people to consider and question their actions so that they may make better decisions with bigger choices. Like allowing the dumping of wastewater into lakes and rivers by factories.

Stopping people from doing the things they like doing is different from altering habits. One is open to desire, people act that way because they like to. Habits on the other hand