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wind (senior thesis)

Senior Independent Project: Wind

From distributing seeds and moisture to powering the navigation of sailing ships, wind has been a necessity for the progression of life on Earth. This body of work is an exploration of the essence and importance of this invisible force. The book expresses the cultural, biological, and technological significance of wind, its emotional imprints on the human psyche, and ideas about utilizing wind power for functional use and renewable energy. I hope to make the audience more aware of their environment as well as technology we can implement to use wind as a renewable energy source.

Note: The paper used in this book was created with wind power (Beckett Concept Desert Haze, by Mohawk). The emissions produced in the manufacturing process have been offset with Verified Emissions Reduction credits, effectively making this paper carbon neutral. This paper contains 100% post-consumer waste fibers, is process-chlorine free, and is certified by Green Seal and the Forestry Stewardship Council.

View the entire book online on Issuu (actual size = 9″x 12″)

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Details

kites + wind power

Kite flying is a universal activity which keeps us in touch with the environment and our natural spirit. The materials, design, and flight of this kite spread awareness of sustainable resources we have around us, as well as the interconnectedness we have with our planet. The kite is made from bamboo, hemp, and 100% recycled paper manufactured with wind power. It is flown with one of our greatest renewable resources: the wind.

preliminary kite design sketches

two posters

prototypes

barn door

- bamboo

- hemp line / thread

- recycled organic cotton paper

- found wood (spool)

- found vine (tail)

cottonsled

- bamboo

- leftover oak

- hemp line / thread

- recycled organic cotton paper

- found wood (spool)

ghost

- bamboo

- hemp line / thread

- 100% recycled paper manufactured with wind power

- found wood (spool)

seed

- bamboo

- hemp line / thread

- 100% recycled paper manufactured with wind power

- found wood (spool)

- inkjet print

this last kite has yet to be flown!

AIGA Baltimore: Compost Modern

From baltimore.aiga.org:

COMPOST MODERN

“Sustainability is the defining issue of our time. It will eventually become the context within which all design is performed, the lens through which all design is considered. Join AIGA Baltimore, for a 4-night exploration of the role we will play in the future of green design.

Through Compostmodern’s recorded lectures and vibrant discussions in a relaxed environment, participants will investigate the current and future potential for ecologically sustainable growth and responsible design. We’ll focus on real world solutions and practical applications of design, using fresh infusions of design thinking.”-baltimore.aiga.org

Thursdays, April 9, 16, 23, 30 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Creative Alliance
$35 members, $50 nonmembers

Creative Alliance
3134 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21224

Designers and Sustainability

According to an article by Gordon Kaye (of Graphic Design USA) on thepapermillstore.com, about 94% of graphic designers create projects for print, 53% for packaging design, and 77% for the internet. Designers today have more influence than ever over the production of client’s projects from pre-production all the way through to the final product. 88% of designers said they had influence over what paper choices to use for the projects, and 83% said they had influence over where and how to get the project printed. Based on these figures and also on a few experiences working with clients, I think designers can have an enormous impact on our society’s collective carbon footprint.

Designers strive to find balance between what a client wants to communicate, their allotted budget, and a successful design that’s executed cleanly and creatively. Finding ways to minimize energy consumed in the process adds another variable to this puzzle. Negative environmental impacts can be reduced without compromising the aesthetics or functionality of a piece. Luckily, sustainable thinking and “being green” is becoming popular among people and companies who are keeping up with global events (or who want to look like they are). Companies are starting to realize that if they don’t jump on the green bandwagon, they may lose business from responsibly-minded customers. I hope that sustainable practices will soon be the norm instead of the occasional. Here are some ways that can get us started in a good direction:

CONSIDERATIONS

- A product (whether it be a design piece or an object of another kind) could be made from fewer materials so that it is smaller and lighter.

- It could be made with reclaimed materials or recycled materials.
- It could be designed to have a second function. For example, it could transform into another product, like the packaging for the biodegradable TWIST sponges. The paper labels wrapped around the sponges have instructions on the inside telling the customer how they can convert the label into a birdfeeder.

- The product could be manufactured with renewable resources. There are lots of choices for more eco-friendly papers (see post about paper choices), as well as finding a printing company who might use non-solvent based inks or runs their business with renewable energy.

- More to follow.

Paper Choices

Within ten years, demand for recycled paper will exceed supply by 1.5 million tons of recycled pulp per year (says thedailygreen.com). Yes, if there was less virgin paper in circulation, eventually we would run out of recycled pulp because there is a limit on the number of times it can be recycled. However, in 2008, only 48.3% of office paper was recycled! And along with that, about one quarter of landfill waste is paper. If we use less paper altogether, recycle more, switch our virgin paper to a higher PC content and combine this with non-wood paper solutions, perhaps we can lower the paper industry from being the 4th largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions among United States manufacturing industries. Canada’s paper and pulp industry says that by 2015 it will be carbon neutral, which is quite an impressive goal. Click here to read more about how they’re planning on achieving this.

RECYCLED PAPERS

There is no doubt that recycled paper has less of a carbon impact than paper made with virgin pulp.  The EPA requires paper to contain only 10% PC content in order for it to be called “recycled”. But the higher percentage of PC content, the better. Paper made with 100% recycled content uses 44% less energy and produces 38% less greenhouse gas emissions than using virgin wood (thedailygreen.com), and doesn’t require any trees to be cut! However, there are some things to consider when choosing a recycled paper. Depending on the distance of shipping, the carbon footprint of using local sustainably-harvested virgin paper may actually be less than using recycled paper from across the country.

I found on Green America’s website the statistic that 95% of all United States magazines use virgin paper. That’s 35 million trees cut down every year. And about 2.9 billion of these magazines are never bought and never read. The Better Paper Project is an organization which works with magazines to switch over to more sustainable methods of production. Many magazines and other printed projects have concerns about the quality, cost, and availability of recycled papers. However, these concerns are now obsolete as recycled papers are now becoming more sought after. betterpaper.com states that nearly 3/4 of magazine publishers said that they would switch over to paper with recycled content if these concerns were eliminated. Another issue with recycled paper can be that in order to make it back to a top quality paper, most recycled material will have to go through a process of straining to remove inks and glues. This can diminish the length and durability of the paper fibers. Some printing presses require the highest quality of paper to ensure that there are no problems while running the machines. A solution? National Geographic, for example, uses a 10-15% recycled content from envelope companies and the U.S. postal service for its cover because these products are cleaner and require less processing (globaljournalist.org).

SFI OR FSC CERTIFIED VIRGIN LUMBER PAPERS

—-Information coming soon!—-

(For now, check out the glossary for information about the Sustainable Forestry Initiative and the Forest Stewardship Council.)

NON-WOOD (TREE FREE) PAPERS

—-Information coming soon!—-

Other things to keep in mind when choosing paper is its chlorine content (see the Glossary for more information about ECF and PCF papers) and the manufacturing process. Was the paper manufactured with hydro or wind power? (note: even if a paper says it’s “manufactured with wind power”, it may be manufactured with 20% wind power, 80% fossil fuels) Was the paper made to be Carbon Neutral? AIGA Center for Sustainable Design has a comprehensive list of good paper choices.

Personal Projects Relating to Sustainability

Here is a selection of projects I have created in the past two years. The concept for each design in some way relates to sustainable thinking through design.

LED EXHIBIT

Currently, I am finishing promotional material for a hypothetical exhibit about LED lighting. Four sections—spaces, home, objects (functional), and creative (art objects)—allow visitors to experience the versatility of LED technology and encourage awareness of the energy efficient and money-saving qualities of this brilliant technology. I will post the full project when it’s completed. For now, here are images of the logo, a few spreads of the museum guide, and a poster graphic (in progress):

ECOFOLIO

I created the concept and visual design for this website to give green companies a way to avoid the expenses and negative environmental impacts of paper catalogs while promoting themselves in a directory of other like-minded businesses. The website features a digital publication tool which translates a catalog or magazine to a fully-searchable dynamic format with the capability for embedded links, sound, and video.

RE-RAVEL

RE-RAVEL is a hypothetical recycled sheep’s wool paper product by Living Tree Paper Company. This swatch book and dust jacket, which transforms into a poster illustrating the themes in the book, relates the textiles of traditional Navajo weavings to wool paper and the philosophy of the company. An interactive paper swatch pattern in the center of the book exemplifies the idea that using imagery from the process of weaving makes a strong visual story when combined with a contemporary approach to environmentally friendly design.

ENVIRONMENTALITY

I developed the concept and promotional campaign for ‘Environmentality’, an event in Baltimore hosting a lecture series, product vendors, and art exhibits designed to raise awareness about sustainability. To encourage community participation, the six postcards would be mailed to locals over a period of six weeks. Each postcard introduces a particular lecture, and the mosaic of images in the poster blends the various themes of the weekend-long event into one place. All materials would be printed on 100% PC recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.

CURRENT PROJECT

I am just beginning work on my senior independent project. I am creating a body of work which explores the essence and importance of the invisible force of wind. From distributing seeds and moisture to powering the navigation of sailing ships, wind has been a necessity for the progression of life on Earth. Visual experimentation in the form of a book will express the cultural, biological, and technological significance of wind, its emotional imprints on the human psyche, and ideas about utilizing wind power for functional use and renewable energy. In addition, I am constructing a kite and designing its surface graphics. The kite will serve as a medium for me to personally explore the effects of wind, and the design and flight will extend the kite’s purpose to promote public awareness of wind power.

I hope to make the audience more aware of their environment as well
as technology we can implement to use wind as a renewable energy source.
As a whole the work will integrate complexity and simplicity; past, present
and future wind power technology; and our interconnectedness with our
history, environment, and planet.

I just got a drying rack!

I purchased this wooden drying rack from Real Green Goods. It has 24′ of drying space and is fully collapsible, made in New England from SFI certified eastern white pine wood with birch dowels. This drying rack will reduce my use of a dryer. The average clothes dryer emits almost half a tonne of greenhouse gases a year, and I bet the community dryer emits more; it’s old and often in use.

I lived in an apartment in Florence last summer and we had a clothesline out our window  (as did everyone else!)

Glossary

This glossary is a work in progress. I’ll continuously update it with new terminology and information.

Carbon Neutral – above are two marks claiming carbon neutrality, or “net zero carbon footprint”. This is achieved by sequestering or offsetting the same amount of carbon that is released. “Carbon neutral” may also include greenhouse gases such as methane, which would be expressed as a CO2 equivalent. The less-commonly used term “climate neutral” can be used interchangeably with “carbon neutral”, but specifically includes carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. – carbonneutral.

ECF: Elemental Chlorine Free – www.aet.org
“Elemental Chlorine Free. These papers are made from virgin fiber that is bleached using alternative chlorine compounds as a substitute for elemental chlorine, which serves to reduce harmful byproducts.”

The alternative chlorine compound is chlorine dioxide, very different from elemental chlorine gas used to bleach recycled papers back to their purest blank state. Chlorine dioxide replaces elemental chlorine which is dioxin-producing, bio-accumulative, toxic for mill waste water. It combines with lingin (substance which binds wood fibers) and creates toxins. Chlorine dioxide breaks up the binding substance, leaving water-soluble organic compounds similar to those found in the natural environment. They degrade naturally and are not long-lasting. Dioxin pollution in mill waste water is “virutally eliminated” (ecfpaper.org), significantly improving aquatic ecosystems.

FSC: Forest Stewardship Council Certification – www.fsc.org
“FSC is the strictest of the forest harvesting certification processes. The FSC was created in the 1990s by environmental and social groups, foresters and landowners to provide consumers with a rigorous, independent system for identifying products from ecologically, socially, and economically well-managed forests.”-from www.fsc.org

SFI: Sustainable Forestry Initiative – www.sfiprogram.org
The SFI promotes sustainable forest management by protecting water quality, biodiversity, wildlife habitat, species at risk, plants, soil, and certain forests. They do this by overseeing logging practices and banning illegal logging. “Harvested areas must be reforested promptly” (sfiprogram.org), and if forested land is not reforested but converted to other uses, the lumber will not be SFI certified. If you see their logo, it means the product’s material was gathered from well-managed forests.

PCW: Post Consumer Waste, Pre-Consumer Waste, Mill Broke
Often in recycled papers you’ll see post-consumer waste described as a percentage. This means that a certain amount of this paper is material discarded after it’s already been used at least once (from magazines, phone books, etc). Pre-Consumer Waste is material that never made it to the “consumer use” stage, and was discarded beforehand. Mill Broke is paper scrap from the manufacturing of paper.

PCF: Process Chlorine Free – www.chlorinefreeproducts.org

“Process Chlorine Free. These papers contain postconsumer recycled fiber that was processed without the use of any additional chlorine or chlorine compounds. If these papers also contain virgin fiber, the virgin fiber must have been processed without the use of any chlorine or chlorine compounds.”

TCF: Totally Chlorine Free
This pulp and paper is processed without any chlorine compounds of any kind. Sometimes paper will be whitened with Hydrogen Peroxide.

Moxie Sozo: First Zero-Waste 100% Renewable Energy Powered Design Firm

www.moxiesozo.com