Hey everyone! This is the last post, meaning our project is coming to an end. We are very excited to tell you about our project results, but also sad to say goodbye. In this post, we will l share our project infographic with you, summarizing our main findings and purpose behind our project. We will also describe a specific moment of significance that our group experienced this term. Finally, we will reveal whether the decals played a role in increasing the accuracy of waste diversion at Killarney Community Centre, and our thoughts moving forward.
What?
The aim of our project is to study the effectiveness of the new decals designed by the previous Zero Waste Station Challenge group on the accuracy of waste diversion in Vancouver. We have collected 3 sets of data during the visits in Killarney Community Centre and conducted informal interviews with the community centre users. Throughout the whole project, we have gone through some ups and downs towards the action. Yet, at the end, we have realized that implementing the new decals is indeed a good idea to help directing people to sort their waste as the accuracy of waste diversion has increased.
After the time when our group received the new decals, we were first skeptical about the effectiveness of the new decals. The reason behind this is because we thought the new decals were somewhat redundant. We also felt discouraged as some of the interviewees had told us that they did not notice or did not like the new decals on the zero waste station on the first day we put the new decals on. However, it turned out that the percentage of accuracy actually increased after two weeks of implementation, supported by the data we collected. The feedback from the public was relatively positive compared to the previous visit. This was the moment of significant where we realized how a seemingly small and insignificant action can actually change public behaviour and address an important issue.
So What?
After successfully analyzing our data collected from our three site visits, we found that the decals added at Killarney Community Centre indeed made an increase in waste diversion accuracy rates. This was a pleasant surprise for our group; we were ecstatic that we were observing a quantifiable difference due to our actions. From our visual observations and interviews, it did not seem like many people were noticing the additional decals, yet after analyzing our data, the results showed that there was a positive change in waste diversion rates. This shows that we may not always be able to trust what we see, and that it is important to have further evidence in order to confirm and clarify our assumptions. As per many other times throughout this course, we felt a feeling of uncertainty after we initially collected our data. We felt a bit discouraged and thought that the additional decals were mostly overseen by people. Although any research is useful research, it was still a bit disappointing to think that the project that we have been working on did not cause any change in waste diversion rate. However, after analyzing our data we were shocked and our spirits were uplifted, to find that we did make a difference. Being prepared for uncertainty is an important skill to have. Throughout the time we were working on this project, we never really had a feeling of certainty, which generally makes people feel uncomfortable (Bradac, 2001). We attempted to predict what would happen, but we could never be completely sure. We were left to keep guessing on what would happen next, and it was exciting and a bit irritating at the same time. This is because humans have the tendency to reduce uncertainty, and to make things predictable (Bradac, 2001). Nevertheless, after completing the project, we are happy that everything generally went smoothly and there were no problems within our group.
Now What?
No matter how small the change was, or the potential lack of a change there was, we were still happy that we were able to contribute to this project, and it was a pleasure to be given the opportunity to collaborate with the City of Vancouver and CityStudio.
Moving forward, we want to embrace the uncertainties that we are left with at the end of the project. As Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman quoted, “doubt is not to be feared… If you know that you are not sure, you have a chance to improve the situation”. Reflecting on our uncertainties, we realized that there are ways our community partners can improve their idea. First of all, we noticed that our evaluation in Killarney Community Center may not reflect the situation in other parts of Vancouver, and repetition of our research method implemented in other waste stations may be useful to prove the significance of the new decals. Then, to bring the idea of the new decals into another level, we believe that our community partners should participate in further inquiry processes. For instance, we suggest that our community partners conduct more research to determine which images presented on the decals are most likely to improve waste sorting accuracy. Besides that, the research can be expanded to different issues. Perhaps, to address the economic aspect of the project, our community partners may evaluate whether the cost of printing the decal is worth it or not compared to the positive impact it makes.
To wrap up, we want to share a valuable lesson to all doubters. When we realized that our skepticism are proven wrong by our observational data, we realized that whatever we do, failure is not the problem, not trying is. To improve our learning, we want to look for more uncertainties and skepticism, and to try to dig for answers even if there are worries and concerns because “without a certain amount of anxiety and risk, there’s a limit to how much learning occurs” (Shulman, 2005).
Now, it is time to say goodbye. We thank you for all of your attention on reading the posts we have blogged so far. We have currently finished our projected, though it is not the end of our academic career. We will continue to study hard in seeking better ways to contribute to a beautiful sustainable community in Vancouver and wherever else life takes us. We greatly appreciate our chance to collaborate with such kind and innovative community partners, City of Vancouver and CityStudio. We have truly cherished the experience and the friendship we have gained from the “Put Waste in its Place” project.
References
Bradac, J. (2001). Theory comparison: Uncertainty reduction, problematic integration, uncertainty management, and other curious constructs. Journal of Communication, 51(3), 456-476. doi:10.1093/joc/51.3.456
Shulman, L. S. (2005). Pedagogies of uncertainty. Liberal Education, 91(2), 18.