Month: January 2017

Reimagining Waste is a topic that is becoming a more frequent area of discussion with the increase in conscious consumers. Everything we own is in someway waste, from our forks to our beds to our clothes; everything will some day be disposed of. Like the often discussed Patagonia brand vision, we need to immediately stop buying products just for the sake of buying them, and find lifelong quality and value within our consumerist purchases.

Melt Collective, is a group of UBC students who came together with a common pursuit: to reimagine waste and redirect its value. They melt down plastics, specifically Polypropylene (number 5 plastics such as hummus cartons) and use injection moulding to reshape and redesign what was once worthless to some. The main idea is to eventually launch into recycling and recreating products like plant pots, skateboards and hammocks from marine waste that washes up on the shores of Vancouver.

As of right now, what the Melt Collective is striving to achieve, is the non-disposal of Polypropylene in the rubbish bin, but rather have multiple collection points around campus for Students and Faculty to throw their number 5 plastics into, to recreate these materials into the aforementioned products. By doing this there would essentially be a closed loop effect of these plastics once they are purchased from stores. Melt takes the plastics, creates products and redistributes these, meaning that people can stop buying the same products from stores that are made from fresh materials, and start buying Melt’s 100% recycled goods.

On a whole, this project has an immensely large amount of potential, IF awareness can be raised. UBC, a school that prides itself on being Sustainable and having zero waste policies is an excellent starting ground for this project to take off it’s feet and hopefully expand further.

 

Jan Gehl is a Danish architect who researched the way in which people interact with cities. His exploration was encompassed by the discovery that cities are built to accommodate cars, but should in fact be built to accommodate more sustainable modes of transportation as well as accommodate the people who inhabit them. He looks into the changes that need to be made in architecture and infrastructure to evoke behavioural changes in the residents.

The way I see Gehl’s prophecy tie into sustainability marketing is that one can imagine cities to be a giant shop, in which there are many little shops, similar to one giant Nordstrom. Shops, apartments, transportation, recreation and resources are all the premise of consumerist culture. If we could change the layouts and intentions of our cities to accommodate sustainable practices such as bikes, walking, trains, outdoor seating and activities we could combine comfort with sustainability. What I mean by this, is that if we only have walking or biking as our means of transportation, every single person would adopt this change. If there is no alternative, people will be content with the norm of transportation. This is similar to Amsterdam, where the roads are narrow and bike paths are large causing people to completely change their behaviour and never even contemplate the idea of using a car in their cities, but rather see their bikes as an extension of themselves.

What this is essentially doing, is creating sustainable people, rather than people who sometimes engage in sustainable practices. Looking back at my analogy in which cities are essentially big shops, is if we have this lifestyle change that Gehl is promoting, people’s consumption patterns and living patterns will also become more sustainable for lack of other alternatives.

If sustainable people are the standard in a city, businesses, shops, restaurants will all be forced to adapt to this change and engage in a healthier and more environmentally friendly lifestyle. I see this as a way to redefine living space which will ultimately redefine lifestyles. While ‘forcing people to change’ seems like a harsh and strong way to phrase the idea that Gehl is exploring, the biggest part to people’s behavioural change is to influence them with no other alternative.

We need to market a more sustainable lifestyle, and what better way to start than within the inherent existence of people, their homes and their families.

http://gehlpeople.com/story/

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