way too much packaging being thrown away

(right photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/proimos/7008797137/”>Alex E. Proimos</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a> <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/”>cc</a> )

Seeing all the packaged goods on grocery shelves made me think that companies really need to rethink how they package goods - many products are offered in small foil/soft plastic packs and cardboard boxes with a transparent plastic sheet attached with adhesive - a pain to dismantle, much less recycle! Packaging designers, pls stick to one preferably recyclable or biodegradable material (and a biodegradable ink to boot)! 

We don’t really see where our garbage goes (that proverbial “away” place, we think we are throwing things “away” but there are only landfills) and so are left uncaring and untouched by the impact of our consumption. But it has come back to haunt us during past typhoon tragedies. 

On this note, my vision really is to eliminate small packaging altogether, and introduce a bring-your-own container system - where you waive the company’s responsibility to provide a 100% sanitized product of course, since they cannot control the total cleanliness condition of your container - and just go to groceries for refills at a company-provided refilling station… I would love to have this particularly for vitamins/supplements, rice, other rsolid … of course sanitation would be the main issue. But, I am allowed to dream, and this is about finding ways to eliminate unnecessary waste from the source.

Otherwise, all companies should be required to reclaim all waste packaging that is generated from their products’ use… A drop-box system in the groceries where they sell their products, arranged by brand. 

Otherwise, just grow and make your own food… not everyone is a chemist, but it’s possible to make your own soap… most groceries now have a “bring-your-own-bag” program with paper bags as an alternative (I keep my canvas totes in the car)… just small steps in cutting down on the things we buy and throw away. 

Granted, it is not glamorous to reuse things and make your own stuff - packaging is designed to sell, and there is no dearth of attractive-looking products that are formulated to elicit an impulse buy…! - but just think: living with landfills is even less glamorous.

PET/recycling on my mind

So after seeing the Human Nature call for PET bottles for recycling and learning that PET is one of the best types of plastics to recycle, I got inspired and went online to find PET recyclers in Metro Manila (not that Human Nature is that inaccessible; have already brought them 2 bagsful of old bottles earlier this year), finding these lists:

- POLYETHYLENE TEREPHTHALATE (PET) PLASTICS: WASTE RECOVERY AND RECYCLING IN THE PHILIPPINES by Blessie A. Basilia and Leonides C. Valencia

- GMDU Listings 

- List of Recyclable Materials and Recycling Centers (2008)

Not sure how updated these lists are, but they are there for those interested. 

Among the multinationals, Coca Cola apparently had a program called Mission PET launched in 2000, but their environmental involvement has since  move into Plantbottles, which allow them to reduce their dependence on nonrenewable resources.

Last year, Globe Telecom had a PET bottle recycling drive in schools in Albay, and awarded grants from BridgeCom for the top collectors. Not a bad idea….  

I got inspired by Revolve, the country’s first and only manufacturer of sports apparel made from recycled PET bottles. Now that’s a green business! 

I am wondering how to get some kind of collection system going on in supermarkets - a reminder to people that empty packaging gets discarded, and with just that extra effort in habit-changing, we can help keep plastics (among other things) from landfills. 

* * * 

I personally have a moratorium of old electronics (mobile phones, old camera, batteries, etc) that have been in forgotten storage for some time… It’s a good time to sort through them and hand them over to the specialists for recycling. 

Anthology Shoes

Dieter Rams on Good Design

“As good design cannot be measured in a finite way he set about expressing the ten most important principles for what he considered was good design. (Sometimes they are referred as the ‘Ten commandments’.)”

Dieter Rams’ Ten Principles for Good Design

recycle fail

So after some months of attempting to think of doing something with the remainder of the construction waste from the house renovations, I was forced to succumb to having it all hauled to a dumpsite. (shame!)

There were so many damaged/rotted odds and ends, putting them together into something both useful and beautiful was quite the challenge (which I failed, sad to say)!

The lessons gleaned from this exercise, in retrospect:

1. Waste management needs space. While the intentions to recycle were there, if one doesn’t have a large-enough clearly dedicated space for materials segregation, nor any competencies in segregating and recycling construction waste, it will really have a hard time happening. 

2. Before anything, start with a plan. It is really best to have an idea of what is to be done with the discarded materials before they get stored (i.e. thrown together in heaps or bags). I couldn’t think of something nice to do with the broken tile pieces (I personally am not the biggest fan of cracked mosaic artwork, monochromatic or otherwise, it was such a stretch to design something pretty that I liked myself that was made of cracked tiles…) so I allowed them to be thrown. I ended up just using the bigger pieces as filler material for the spaces at the bottom of the wall board framing to help prop it up. 

3. Recycle for art’s sake. It may be a good idea to develop a taste for creating art made from construction waste… and know some curators willing to show your junk.

4. Planning is key! A plan to manage everything should be in place even before any demolition is done. That way time and the waste isn’t wasted. Everything can and should be quantified.

On a positive note, someone at least was able to make use of the unusable old wood framing home as firewood. And, at least the patio is finally cleared up. 

Some resources on construction waste recycling:

Integrated Recycling Industries. A local company that specializes in general solid waste recycling and reclamation. They have a metal recovery system that may be applied to certain types of construction waste.

Sustainable Sources. CSI Specifications for construction waste recycling.

Massachussetts Government Guide for Recycling Construction and Demolition Waste. A pretty comprehensive guide with a section on waste management planning and case studies.

King County Guide to Waste Management Planning. This site has downloads for waste management plans.

a prefab + assembly + teamwork masterpiece!

The Fablab house by the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia (IAAC): the 2010 Solar Decathlon’s People’s Choice Awardee generates 3x more energy than it consumes. 

Watch the diligent making:

exciting times for filipino designers

Huh. Our government (via Senator Guingona) this year is finally publicly recognizing the design talent and potential of the Filipinos, and their potential as being an economic driver. (wonder what kind of figures they are looking at, and if the projections are significant?)

The Design Council of the Philippines is formulated to “provide clear and positive direction towards harnessing and advancing the country’s design-driven economy” through a National Design Policy - the strategy to launch and sustain an innovation-driven and design-savvy nation. 

Its goals:

1) to expand the design culture nationwide

2) to propagate design as problem solving

3) to boost competitiveness in the Filipino design industry

4) to build a strong national identity, and

5) other goals analogous to the following.

The complete document may be viewed here. 

Architects, interior designers, lighting designers and landscape architects (i.e. the professionals of the built environment who make decisions on the aesthetic, functional and emotional impact of their spaces) I believe, would fall under the category “environmental design.” 

Interesting things to look forward to for our industry, should this get moving…! 

My only concern: the Design Council members will be selected, not based on any objective criteria or design-related bodies, but by the President… so, again, there is a danger of this being about palakasan rather than real merit or qualification. In the right hands, this will spur what it intends; if the appointees don’t know what they are doing, then it will just be another channel for corruption, useless paperwork or selfish gain.

Commentary from other designers & media:

“I stand here awed by the possibilities. Imagine if our country could multiply these returns a thousandfold by going beyond just lauding the success of one Kenneth Cobonpue, but empowering and leading more young Filipinos to achieve the same…

It is time we recognize the tremendous value they bring to our economic and social goals.” Sen. Guingona, Press Release

“This is the Philippines aiming high right here.” Atalyer

“These [creative] sectors all need to be sustained, developed in a more strategic and focused manner for the global market and audience so we can harness these not only to make us look good out there, but to create jobs, industries, brands and presence  furthering trade, tourism, diplomacy and dialogue, strengthening national identity. The question to ask is “what is unique in our Creative Industries that makes it the Philippine creative industry and not Thailand’s, Korea’s or Singapore’s? This is the question we need to answer for each sector. What makes Filipino furniture Filipino  is it the design, the material? What makes the visual arts Filipino?” Jeanie Javelosa of The Philippine Star

“With design, we can make use of the funds, the talents that we have, in creating a better system that empowers society,” shared Tenorio. Aranaz echoed the same sentiments, especially when it came to the modista mindset that she has observed in her students at the School of Fashion and the Arts. “Where do our graduates go? There is more to the fashion industry than the modista  kind of thing where you join as many fashion shows as you can, in hopes of dressing up some famous women,” said the renowned bag designer.” Adobo Magazine

“…the Design Council will seek to develop homegrown Filipino talent and elevate these talents so that design becomes a key engine for driving economic growth and social innovation… through these efforts, Philippine design — whether it be architecture, infrastructure, or fashion — can finally become something much bigger and maybe much more meaningful than it is today. “ Jose Castillo for MegaStyle

The future of supermarkets?

A new green way to rethink the supermarket format. I can totally see this go vertical for more urban/dense settings.

 Via Inhabitat

rotterdam firm van bergen kolpa architects have developed ‘park supermarket’, a spatial development model for a landscape supermarket situated in the metropolitan parks of the randstad. the dutch polder landscapes, which were once the icons of the country’s food production, are now situated in inner city locations and are under pressure of rising  water tables and climate changes. the architects posed the question - ‘can these areas play a new role in food and recreation needs for the randstad population, which today knows  170 different nationalities, food and culinary traditions?’ Source: Designboom

Restrained but playful optimism of NY Fashion Week SS2012

Thoroughly enjoying the color stories emerging from the NY Fashion Week runways. ♥♥♥

Tracy Reese via Style.com

Complete color reports available upon request.