yuxizhang's blog

Started in 2010 Bakey’s Food, established in India was created to use as an alternative to disposable plastic/wood cutlery and bamboo chopsticks.

Worldcentric.org estimates 40 billion plastic utensils are used every year in just the United States. The majority of these are thrown out after just one use. Although plastic can be recycled, only 6% of all plastic waste is recycled in the US. Furthermore, most plastic cutlery is made from Styrofoam and is very difficult to recycle. The problem is that these plastic spoons that are rarely used and then easily disposed but hard to recycle and impossible to compost.

In the past there has been interesting alternatives like wooden or even bamboo utensils however this is the first time that I have heard of an edible spoon!

This spoon is made of flour and baked in the oven; with customizable flavours it’s an interesting way to eat food. However, there are limitations, because of the edible nature of the spoon, it gets soggy after 10 minutes dipped in liquids, which is not ideal. But other than that, I think the spoon has huge potential, what are your thoughts on this innovation? Do you think it will work? It seems like there is a trend towards compostable material whether in packaging or in utensils that is replacing the traditional plastic.

Last but not least some interesting infographics about plastics!

Ever think about where all the data on the phone is store in? Where does the cloud really mean? And where do they exist?

I never gave a second thought about where all the information our phone is stored on and what a data center looks like or how it operates. So when I came across this article it was really interesting to find out more about data centers and its environmental impact.

Essentially a data center is a facility used to store computer systems, that’s where all our backed up data is stored. In order to ensure the safety of our data, these centers often are in controlled environments with air conditioning in case something catches on fire or the computers overheat. This air conditioning would be blasted 24/7 for as long as the existence of these centers.

Microsoft has been testing a project called Natick, it’s aimed to decrease the cost of these data centers by moving them into the ocean! Yes, UNDER WATER! By moving them under water, it will not only save a lot of space in terms of warehousing, but also act as a natural cooler system, this would mean huge saving in electricity bills. Find out more! 

Although I do not believe this project is driven with saving the planet in mind, the savings in costs is definitely a factor that drives for innovations in ideas like this. The positive side effect is a bonus, which really proves that innovations driven by cost savings can have positive environmental implications as well. What are some other innovations in the industry that you can think of? Do you think this could be applied to other applications apart from data centers?

I can across this article while I was browsing the Environment column on Global News’ website. Interestingly, it outlines some of the problems that China is facing with it’s economy and the environmental impact that it has brought. However, it also provided some of the changes that China is starting to make. Including restructuring its economy away from heavily polluting companies to create more room for “good companies” to develop and focus on technological innovation.

Thinking back to some of the articles in the past about China’s environmental situation, all I could remember was “A Chinese artist vacuumed up Beijing’s smog for 100 days and made a brick from what he collected” or “Breathing in Beijing’s air is the equivalent to smoking FORTY cigarettes a day”. This comes across as a major concern, and actions are needed to turn this around.

Although China has been an industry heavy focused economy and has traded the environmental impact of these activities for profit, it is realizing that there needs to be change. This is reflected through the signing of the Paris agreement late last year, China claims victory — and a major leadership role — in the global agreement on climate change. In case you wanted to find out more details about the UN Climate Change Conference that was held in Paris here’s an interesting little recap!

 

On another note, more and more companies are taping into the encironmental issues in China and turning it into profits. My friend is currently on her second CO-OP term with Origins Technology a company that creates “products to monitor and improve the environment around us”. Needless to say there is a huge market in China right now for products that can improve environment, we hear about companies selling bottled Canadian air to China, and Chinese citizens buying imported products for their kids.

Despite the changes that are taking place, the article outlined some problems that needs to resolved within the government. Some local governments are “still leery of enforcing environmental laws in favour of boosting economic growth in their areas.”

What do you see in China’s environmental future?

After class on Wednesday I went on Netflix and finished watching The True Cost and cried. We get so caught up in consumption and buying the next new thing, we rarely pause to think of the impact on the environment. Our mind has been wired to accept that a shirt should just cost $5 and that’s what we are only willing to pay for.

Something that the organic cotton farmer, who lost her husband to brain cancer, said really resonated with me. We care so much about the health food industry and what the chemicals we consume can do to our body, but we don’t think twice about what the chemicals are doing to our largest organs – our skin! I have always seen myself as a more conscious shopper, looking at the martial of the clothes I buy, however, this just gives me a whole new perspective on things.

Last summer I was interning at an American factory in one of the more industry heavy cities in China. For about 2-3 weeks I did not see the sun at all. The sky was clouded and smoggy, you can almost feel the pressure of the particles on your body.

On one of my rotations in the warehouse, I met a co-worker who used to work in a factory that produced IPhones. Underage workers were common, he said, in fact, there was a girl who died on the shift because she was too sick and the manager didn’t give her a break.

 

I look down at my new IPhone and all the clothes I don’t need in my closest and I am ashamed.

A cute little take on the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for Clothes 🙂

 

Feeling inspired after the first client challenge for the Zero waste market I stumbled across an interesting article on the Internet about a small town in Japan – Kamikatsu. With a population of just over 1,500, the town is on a mission to become the country’s first ‘zero-waste’ community by 2020. Before 2003, the town was dumping trash and burning it in an open land fill, but it’s citizens were worried about the negative environmental and human impact that it was having. Now the town recycles about 80% of its trash, with the other 20% going towards a landfill.

 

What amazes me the most is that it is each resident’s responsibility to wash, sort, and bring their trash to the recycling center, the small town doesn’t even have a garbage truck or a collection system. This just goes to show the commitment and willingness of these citizens to make a change and some times it’s all it takes.

Fascinated by the system, I looked into the Japanese garbage collecting system and it is much more complicated than what we do here in Canada. Instead of the 3 categories (Recyclables, Compost and, waste) we have in Canada, in Japan there are at lease 6 categories.

Confused yet?

I guess the take away and conclusion is that there needs to be a combination of government policies, along with the avid support from citizens in order to make changes happen. What is truly motivating about this example is that we can see that zero waste can be achieved, we just need to have faith and take action.

This is ridiculous! 1 in 4 Americans are solidly skeptical of Global Warming, are you kidding me! As John Oliver said “You don’t need an opinion on a fact!” This just goes to show how ignorant and oblivious people are!

Time magazine said: “Despite the fact that more people now acknowledge that climate change represents a significant threat to human well-being, this has yet to translate into any meaningful action” The psychology behind this kind of thinking or not doing is mainly that it’s too big or abstract, or since others are already doing it, I don’t need to contribute. It seems like now we are so consumed with enjoying the now, without thinking about the future.

Last term in my consumer behavior class my professor showed us a video called “The Story Of Stuff” The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It talks about the cycle of the product we use from production, usage and disposal – the materials of economy.

For those who want to know more about a REAL ISSUE that is happening and HURTING the ONLY planet we live on. Please watch this fun and informative video where Bill Nye explains what GLOBAL WARMING is!

 

Last year Google launched Project Sunroof in 3 states, since it’s launch it currently covers 9 states in America.

So how does it work? Project Sunroof allows homeowners to find their rooftops on the map and determine if they’re suitable for solar panels. Essentially, it is using the same high-resolution aerial imagery by Google Earth to help calculate a roof’s solar energy potential.

Once the potential customer finds their home, the program can figures out how much sunlight hits that rooftop throughout the year, taking into account factors like shade, roof orientation and local weather patterns. Potential customers can also enter the amount of their typical electric bill for more customized results.

All of this information is combined to create an estimate for how much a given household could potentially save by going solar. The site also helps customers connect with local solar providers.

This is not only a smart way to capitalize on the untapped solar market in America, but it’s also a fun and visual way to attract more consumers and drive purchases of solar panels. Although it has only been launched for roughly 6 months, it would be interesting to see if there are any changes in purchase behaviour of solar powered panels in those states.

A couple days ago I came across a video of a girl who recycled, reused or composted almost everything she used for the past two years. In disbelief I clicked open the video and I watched with amazement as she pulled out the content of her jar.

The average person generates 4.3 pounds of waste per day, which adds up to 1,569 pounds per year. So how did she do it? In the video she summarized three things:

1. Know your trash
2. Use reusable products
3. Make your own product

Most of consumers can be educated to understand and follow the first two points however, it’s the third point of making your own product that may hinder and cause the average consumer to generate trash.

However, as we live in a more digitalized world, we are more open and exposed to information and can easily find the recipe and ideas online. In fact, consumers are exposed to more and more people with ideas for sustainability and healthy living, and from that they are motivated to make a change.

From today’s lecture we can see that she is a person with an internal locus of control with an economic orientation making her choices a value parity and green differentiation. This is the ideal consumer and will likely be able to search out and buy economic products. With the help of the internet and examples like this, consumers can act upon what they see and gradually change from an external to internal locus of control, and this will drive companies to compete to be more sustainable in the long run while also lowering their prices.

It could be a possibility that in the future, the majority of consumers will have internal locus of control and they will not need to choose between economic and altruism because industries will be competing with each other driving the prices down.

 

Read more about Reuse and Recycle at her blog.

See the video here and here!

Let me know what you think!

 

 

As I look over the video one more time, I can finally conclude that the project is over. After a term of work, we have successfully analyzed the marketing strategy, brand positioning  and target market of MEC- Mountain equipment co-op.

First of all I am really proud of my group for sticking together and finishing the project. This was a project that required a lot of team work and a lot of collaboration and ideas. With team work there will always be leaders who step up and there will always be disagreements amongst team members. However, even though there were some tension created throughout the project, it was never too personal and was resolved through effective communication.

My role for the first part of the project was more of a team player. I completed parts that I was assigned and contributed according to what the group needed I was more active in the video portion of the project. Since I have experience editing videos, after discussing with our group, we came up with a concept and started to film. Although the process was redundant and sometimes tiring, I am really glad that we were able to produce a clip that was well made and interesting. We really hope that our fellow classmates will like it.

If we had to do the project one more time, things that I would improve on is that I would have had more of a voice in my group, opposed to being scared that my ideas will be looked down upon. I would also liked our team to meet up more often and be more alert in the video, but it is understandable because everyone has commitments and are busy.

Overall, I enjoyed the project, making a video instead of a in class presentation is a creative and fun way to present our ideas.

 

 

 

 

We are faced with making decisions everyday, some of them life changing, while some that are not so grand. However, regardless of the scale of these decisions, we believe that we are consciously making them by ourselves. Is this really true?

In Econ class we were talking about decision-making, while our professor showed us a ted talk about an interesting topic regarding decisions and whether we actually make our own, it made me think about the influence of marketing in our decision to buy products.

 

Recently I went on some online shopping sites to look at clothes and found some particular items that I really liked, but never gotten around to purchase. Of course I didn’t think about it any more. But what surprised me later was that when I was browsing on other websites, the same products that I was intending to buy showed up as an Ad.  Although it didn’t bother me that the Ads where there, it definitely is encouraging me to go and buy the products that I wanted. In fact it worked, I clicked on the sites and caved in.

 

 

I think this ties back to the decision making that I was talking about, although we are the ones who decide whether or not we should purchase these items, we are bombarded with influences and constant thoughts of these products that we are made into thinking that we absolutely need them. So on the outside, we are paying money for products we love and need, but the question is do we really like them? Do we really need them?

Has anyone else had experience like that?