Reflection - An extremely inconvenient truth.

Watching this documentary was such an eye opener. I had no idea that they have been monitoring the earth’s carbon dioxide levels have been monitored since the late 1950s and the results show that the levels were constantly increasing but there has only been a strong initiative in the last 10 years to actually do something about it. It was alarming to see what the carbon dioxide project is for 50 years from now.

I had no idea that ocean temperature affected tropical storms but now thinking about it it really does make sense. In the past 6 or 7 years there have been so many and so much damage has been done. It’s really quite scary to think of how many and what the magnitude of them will be.

To think that people want to reposition global warming as a theory rather than fact is absolutely ridiculous. People really need to start taking responsibility for their actions and start doing something try and counteract it.

Of all the things I’ve watched and been exposed to in this course this has definitely made the biggest impression on me!! I really hope that I start to rethink my actions and try to decrease y carbon footprint.  Al Gore is such a switch on guy; I wonder how different things would be if he won the election instead of George Bush

The talk around town.

Peer Comments

Kiran Kashyap
Fiona Lee
Jennifer Widjaja
Stephen Mesa
Angela Lam

Pièce de résistance

1:2 Scale Model

Designing for Disasters

Rationale

n July to early September 2010 various wildfires raged throughout western Russia; this was due to an extremely hot summer and most of the country being in drought.  The fires destroyed thousands of buildings in some cases entire villages, also woodlands and farming land were also severely damaged.

The affected Russian community were extremely unprepared for the natural disaster they faced. Little land clearing or back burning was done or any other type of fire prevention activity that we practice in Australia.

A reasoning that I thought would increase preparedness was communication and education; I found there was no visual communication between locals apart from those who had television and the encroaching smoke. In Australia each state has their own type of silent visual communication the Fire Danger Rating Dial. These manual dials that are controlled by the local rural service are dotted along Australia roads; they consist of 7 levels from low to code red. When people drive past they then know if there is a high chance of fire and there is a total fire ban and change their activities accordingly if necessary. 

When a Russian student studying in Australia was asked if there is anything like this in place in Russia; he laughed.

Satellite fire detection is becoming more prevalent around the world and even in Russia. Weather authorities analyse many factors such as temperature, wind factor, precipitation etc and calculate the likelihood of a fire starting.

The FireEcho is essentially a solar powered road sign piggy backing an electricity pole. It communicates the fire danger level in the area.  It works on a four level system.

1.       Blue – Low

2.       Yellow – Medium

3.       Orange – High

4.       Red Extreme.

The FireEcho would be dormant for the winter months due to the extreme weather. Then in summertime the weather station send a signal to each sign to correspond with the current fire danger. When locals drive or walk past the FireEcho and see that the blue light is lit up they will realise that it is getting  closer to wildfire season and it’s time to start preparing themselves and their property before it’s too late

It consists of

·         four Polycarbonate LED lights

·         Galvanised steel sign frame, glare awnings, electrically housing unit.

·         Solar panel

·         Battery

·         Satellite communicator which controls the switch

·         Solar electricity inverter

TeProduct Poster

 Reflection

I must admit that this project would have to be the hardest project we have had to tackle in studio. There were so many more constraints we had to take into consideration compared to past. I really struggled to come up with suitable concepts. It was really hard to see the weeks slipping by and not having a solid concept to work with. I must admit my initial concepts from the first week looking back were pretty rubbish so I can’t blame them for being rejected. This project has really pushed me as a designer to think outside the box and not settle for my first idea as it’s not always the one. I have enjoyed designing for the less fortunate sector of society; it was quite refreshing compared to who we usually design for.

I am happy with my project and the way it turned out. Preparation is one of the greatest saviours in natural ignited wildfires. So I think the FireEcho would be a really useful in country like Russia that doesn’t have the bushfire control infrastructure like we do in Australia. Simple communication like the light system used in my project could really help save people’s homes or even their lives. If Russia keeps on having these intense wildfires they really need to improve their country’s readiness to cope with the disaster.

Message in a Bottle?

The environmental impact that bottled water creates is so unnecessary especially in countries like Australia where potable tap water is so readily available. I personally prefer not buy bottled water as I think it is a waste of money and quite enjoy the taste of tap water however looking around my room I can see at least five empty water bottles left over from times I forgot to pre-pack my own water.

Empty water bottles are able to be recycled and be reused to make more bottles but the process still uses a large amount of energy. A large amount of water bottles consumed in this country end up in landfills rather than recycling plants. There is not always a recycling receptacle available for people disposal of bottles so naturally people use the closest rubbish bin or if they are an inconsiderate litterbug they leave it anywhere. Out of sight out of mind I guess.

The NSW town Bundanoon is the first town in Australia to ban the sale of bottled water. Local businesses stopped selling bottled water and water fountains were installed in the town. This is proof that Australians are realising the impact of bottled water and that there are other solutions to the problem. I must admit though I think banning bottled water would be a bit intense if the whole country got behind it. Imagine if the police had to do bottled water raids on the local IGA due to bootlegging. It would be a bit silly billy. Bundanoon is not the only town taking initiative drinking fountains and recycling vending machines are becoming more and more common as time goes by.

All over the world discarded empty water bottles plague the streets but even more so in developing nations. The lack of clean drinking water and the cheap price of bottled water create a lot of discarded PET bottles. I once read in a travel guide for South-East Asia a suggestion to collapse your bottle before throwing it away to minimise the space it takes up in the tip which is a valid point but wouldn’t it be even better if the suggestion wasn’t necessary? With a little Iodine tablets could be used instead of bottled water. However I must admit I am the worst offender with bottled water when I travel, I just hate being parched! But if I actually took stock of the damage I was doing to somebody else’s country I wouldn’t be so lazy and I would treat the water. Hopefully if I travel again it will be something I put in practice.

In summation I think in Australia most of the time buying bottled water is needless as we have great source that is cheaper for the individual and the environment. However there are times when you’ve forgotten to bring your water bottle and buying one is a favourable option.