Climate
change is the result of breakdowns in the carbon cycle caused by us:
IT IS A DESIGN FAILURE.
*** ******
Anthropogenic greenhouse gases in the atmosphere make
airborne carbon a material in the wrong place, at the wrong dose and wrong
duration.
It is WE who have made carbon a toxin—like lead in our drinking
water. In the right place, carbon is a resource and tool.
The
world’s current carbon strategy aims to promote a goal of zero. Predominant
language currently includes words such as “low carbon,” “zero carbon,”
“negative carbon,” and even a “war on carbon.”
The
design world needs values-based language that reflects a safe, healthy and just
world. In this new paradigm, by building urban food systems and cultivating
closed-loop flows of carbon nutrients, carbon can be recognized as an asset
rather than a toxin, and the life-giving carbon cycle can become a model for
human designs.
*** ******
The
new language signals positive intentions, leading us to do more good rather
than simply less bad. It identifies three categories of carbon:
*** Living carbon:
organic, flowing in biological cycles, providing fresh food, healthy
forests and fertile soil; something we want to cultivate and grow
***Durable carbon:
locked in stable solids such as coal and limestone or recyclable polymers
that are used and reused; ranges from reusable fibers like paper and
cloth, to building and infrastructure elements that can last for
generations and then be reused
***Fugitive carbon: has
ended up somewhere unwanted and can be toxic; includes carbon dioxide
released into the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels, ‘waste to energy’
plants, methane leaks, deforestation, much industrial agriculture and
urban development
Working
carbon is a subset of all three categories and defined as a material being put
to human use. For example, working living carbon is cultivated in agricultural
systems. Working durable carbon is recycled, reused and reprocessed in circular
technical systems; and working fugitive carbon includes fossil fuels used for
power.
The
new language also identifies three strategies for carbon management and climate
change:
*** Carbon positive:
actions converting atmospheric carbon to forms that enhance soil nutrition
or to durable forms such as polymers and solid aggregates; also recycling
of carbon into nutrients from organic materials, food waste, compostable
polymers and sewers
*** Carbon neutral:
actions that transform or maintain carbon in durable Earth-bound forms and
cycles across generations; or renewable energy such as solar, wind and
hydropower that do not release carbon
*** Carbon negative:
actions that pollute the land, water and atmosphere with various forms of
carbon, for example, CO2 and methane into the atmosphere or plastics in
the ocean
Offering
an inspiring model for climate action begins with changing the way we talk
about carbon.
Our goal is for all to embrace this new language and work
toward a Carbon Positive design framework; and in doing so we may together
support a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy and just world—with clean air,
soil, water and energy—that is economical, equitable, ecological, and elegantly
enjoyed.
Eco-effective
architecture presents an alternative design and construction concept to the
strategies of zero emission, sustainability and eco-efficiency. Where these
seek to reduce the unintended negative consequences of processes of production
and consumption, eco-effectiveness is apositive agenda for the conception and
production of architecture that incorporate social, economic, and environmental
benefit, enabling triple top line growth.
WHEN
June-July 2016.
The workshop
will run for about 8 weeks.
Join at any time
and participate for a minimum of two weeks.
WHERE
Abetenim Art
Village - Ejisu-Juaben District [GHANA]
Abetenim is a
rural village surrounded by astonishing landscapes and gorgeous wildlife located
40 Km North-East from Kumasi, once the capital of the rich and powerful
Ashanti kingdom, Ghana's second city is still dripping with Ashanti
traditions. This region is a nature lover’s delight. It has sunny equatorial
climate and fertile well-watered soils sustain and enchanting selection of
wild life ranging from elephants to monkeys and marine turtles to crocodiles.
More of the 5% of the country’s surface area has been accorded official
protection across 16 national parks of which the most popular is the vast
Mole National Park.
Participants
will have short breaks from the construction works to visit the Boabeng-Fiema
Monkey Sanctuary or a cool off all day at the Kintampo waterfalls at Sunyani.
Along the way you will be further exposed to architecture in other parts of
the country. Over the weekend, participant can explore the nearby cultural
sites such as Bomwire Kente Village, Bobiri Forest Reserve, or the cultural
centres of the historic city of Kumasi that bring cultural tourism to the
region. Or, can spend the rest of the free time collaborating with indigenous
musicians, weavers, storytellers, or teach some of the life skills you have
to the local school children. After the workshop, it is your time to relax
and be a tourist. You may take your time to visit other places you really
would like to see of which the region is known, whether for your academic
interests or sightseeing like vacationers.
WHO
International students
[1 of 4]
We are inviting
all student or graduates in architecture, engineering, design or anyone
passionate with sustainable architecture, ecology and development, advocates
of sustainable practice, adventurers
and volunteers to participate in this life-changing experience..
Students can use the workshop opportunity to fulfil the academic requirements
for their stage/internship, thesis, or volunteer just for learning-by-doing.
To apply please contact ekuazion@gmail.com.
Local community
[2 of 4]
People from the
community will be involved with the prototyping during all the stages and
will be a key part of the workshop design & build team as this prototype
is for them, for the community to enjoy. One of the goals of this workshop is
to increase the interexchange of knowledge and to activate a multipolar
empowering flow between all stakeholders which is essential for a successful
and effective design for development. Working together with the community
enriches the whole process while creates the means to self-awareness,
heightens cross-cultural communication skills and boosts cross-cultural
understanding.
NKA Foundation
[3 of 4]
Nka Foundation
is a non-profit organization that exists to serve underserved communities in
Africa focusing on human capital development through the use of the arts
At Abetenim,
they are building an arts village designed as a learning hub to provide
stable places for creative people from the region and other countries to
live, work, learn and create.
Nka Foundation
invites emerging and established artists (individuals or groups) to apply for
residencies within the frame of Artist in Residence The rural arts village
provides the participants with time and space away from the everyday stresses
of city life to focus and investigate own practice, creating the possibility
for discovery, collaborations and growth. The arts village has an open-air
theatre, workspaces and guest houses for accommodation.
Throughout the
year, Nka Foundation organizes international projects such as earth
architecture workshops, international artist workshops, and
artist-in-residence at the site.
EKuazioN is the
name of my professional practice on design & management of eco-efficient architectural
solutions for development.
My name is Karla
Paz Sans and in collaboration with NKA Foundation I am the workshop organizer
and will be its leader on site. As well I will be the project manager on site
for the construction of the new Secondary School in Abetenim. This means you
can join me on this other project during your free time and make the most of your
experience by learning from and collaborating with other local ongoing projects
while staying in the village.
Please feel free
to contact me through my email if you have any questions related with the
workshop or the Secondary School project [I will be able to understand &
answer your emails if they are in English, Spanish, Portuguese or Galician]
Based on an
eco-effective architecture approach, we will be prototyping a house to be
used for international and local artists as a space to live and to create
while visiting Abetenim Art Village. The goal is to develop an engineered
solution which is the most effective in its context, has a positive incidence
in both the environment and the community and whom technology and knowledge
are replicable locally.
LEARN
A three steps
method is proposed. First the team will enjoy a deep engagement with the
community through respectful observation and cooperative processes. A second
stage for the analysis of the local needs, initiatives, traditions, landscape,
resources and climatology. And a third stage of theory lessons about
eco-effective architecture
DESIGN
Although the
design is based on a collaborative approach where the decisions are taken by
the team, there are some strategies that are predefined by the workshop motto
for the architectural prototype process like: Clean water, air, soil and
power, up-cycling of materials ["cycle of life" thinking], zero waste,
local empowering, bioclimatic design and low cost.
BUILD
This is a
hands-on full-on site-specific workshop experience and It promises
high-impact learning practice gaining global experience for both personal
development and professional growth. Most evenings will be used for reviewing
construction progress along with informal discussions and presentations by
the workshop leader, local community and international participants.
COST
Workshop cost
& project contribution [€400/$540]
-Included:
Cultural
orientation
Theory lessons
Hands-on lessons
Onsite staff
available 24/7.
Accommodation:
It will be of guest house at the village [€60/$80 per week].
Food: It is by
cooperative kitchen, shared planning, cost and shopping [about €60/$80 per
week]
In early January 2013, Kenya’s oldest English-language school, the Maseno School, opened new dormitories for 720 students, and it had a couple of problems. Pit latrines and a faulty sewage system inevitably left foul odors and polluted local freshwater sources, while the kitchen used firewood for cooking fuel—unhealthy for cooks and the environment alike. High school senior, Leroy Mwasaru, now 17, and four of his friends had an idea: to harvest poop and other waste and turn it into a safe, clean and eco-friendly source of cooking fuel. Check out this video courtesy of Makeshift, and read on past the jump to learn more about the project!
What Mwasaru and his friends proposed was to build a Human Waste Bioreactor (HWB) that would harvest not only the waste from all the students in the dorm, but also organic waste from the kitchen, cow dung and slashing grass to create biogas for cooking fuel. As Grist explains, the HWB is “an underground chamber holds the human, animal, and kitchen excrement, while microorganisms go to work breaking down the muck. This process releases biogas, a source of renewable energy comprised mostly of methane, the same as the fossil fuel natural gas that powers most non-electric stoves in the U.S. The gas is contained in the HWB, ready for use as fuel.”
The final version of the HWB will cost around 7 million Kenyan Shillings ($85,000) to build and install, but Mwasaru estimates that it will cut the school’s cooking fuel costs in half while providing numerous benefits for the health of the local community and environment. After that? Mwasaru hopes to turn the project into it’s own company, charging customers according to their ability to pay, so as to provide clean fuel and sanitation services to poor or off-the-grid communities.
Plastic bottles are used to package a wide variety of things, from juice to soft drinks, and they play a ubiquitous role in the lives of many consumers, along with other plastic products. With a growing awareness of the environmental issues which surround plastics, many people have become interested in the life cycles of plastic products, from manufacturing to eventual disposition in a landfill or recycling facility. Being aware of the process behind the production of plastics can encourage consumers to think more carefully about how they use and dispose of such plastics. Because plastic bottles are a very visible form of plastic use, plastic bottles make an easy target for activism and education.
The life cycle of a plastic bottle starts, obviously, with the creation of the plastic used to make it. The vast majority of plastic bottles are manufactured from petroleum, some of which comes from deposits as much as three billion years old. Some manufacturers use bioplastics made from plant materials to create their plastic bottles, out of concern for the environment.
In the case of a plastic bottle made from petroleum, the oil must be extracted before being shipped to a processing facility and then distilled to separate out the various hydrocarbons it contains. Oil extraction is performed all over the world in a variety of locations, and it has a number of environmental impacts. In areas where oil is drilled from the seafloor, for example, oil spills are common, and regions like the Middle East are famous for their heavily polluting oil fires, caused by intentional or accidental combustion of oil fields. In some nations, oil extraction is also bound up with a number of social issues. Nigeria, for instance, has an oil industry notoriously plagued with problems; oil workers are often poorly paid and exposed to very hazardous conditions, and periodic devastating fires along oil pipelines are not uncommon.
Once oil has been extracted, it is typically moved into container tankers for shipping to refinery facilities. At a refinery, the oil can be submitted to a variety of distillation processes, such as fractional distillation, where the crude oil is heated, causing its various components to separate so that the refinery can make gas, fuel oil, plastics, and a variety of other products. Crude oil can also be “cracked” with chemical catalysts to generate hydrocarbon chains of a desired length; this practice is common, because demand for various petroleum products constantly fluctuates, and cracking ensures that oil is used extremely efficiently and generates the maximum possible profit.
Most plastic bottles are made from polyethylene terephtalate (PET) plastic, and almost all water bottles come from virgin plastic; an estimated 30% of the world's PET goes into plastic bottles. The plastic used in plastic bottles is made by mixing hydrocarbons extracted from crude oil with chemical catalysts, triggering polymerization. Next, manufacturers produce plastic pellets, which are melted down into “preforms,” which look like small test tubes; the preforms, in turn, can be heated, causing them to expand and turn into conventional water bottles. Typically bottling companies order preforms, expanding the water bottles at their own facilities as needed.
Water bottles produced from bioplastics are made from plant materials which are processed to form polymers. Bioplastics are believed to be better for the environment, since they do not require the extraction and handling of crude oil, a non-renewable resource, and companies which manufacture them often try to use the best possible environmental practices. Furthermore, bioplastics decompose rapidly; the life cycle of a plastic bottle made from bioplastic is extremely short. In fact, some bottles made from bioplastics will even start to deform and leak if they are kept on the shelf too long.
However, bioplastics are not without environmental issues. The production of such plastics requires dedicating large areas of farmland to the production of crops for plastics, rather than food, and these crops eat up a great deal of water, fuel, and other resources. Bioplastics must also be manufactured with the assistance of a variety of chemicals, and, like regular plastics, they require shipping to an end destination, consuming more fuel along the way. Because they are designed to be disposable while still being relatively environmentally friendly, some activists fear that they may also distract consumers from more environmentally friendly choices, like reusable glass and metal containers.
Depending on the size of a bottling plant, a company will either order preforms and use them as needed, or it will order plastic bottles which are ready for use. The plastic bottles must be sterilized so that they are safe for beverages, and then they are filled, capped, labeled, packed into cases, and prepared for shipping.
At this stage in the life cycle of a plastic bottle, the bottle could end up in any number of places, from a relief camp for refugees to the shelf at a high-end supermarket.
One distinct advantage to plastic bottles, in the eyes of manufacturers, is that they are extremely sturdy, making it much easier to ship beverages in plastics than glass, cardboard, metal, and other containers. Plastic bottles are also extremely lightweight, with manufacturers constantly coming up with new ways to use less plastic in their containers to cut down on the cost of production and shipping. Shipping materials in lightweight materials is also good for the environment, as it cuts down on fuel costs.
Once a PET plastic bottle ends up in the hands of an end-consumer, it has three possible fates after its contents have been consumed: it may be reused, recycled, or thrown away.
PET bottles recycling process
recycling ofPETbottlesrequires large amounts ofwater and energy
Despite the fact that most plastic bottles are made from PET plastic and this plastic is very easy to recycle, recycling rates for plastic bottles are actually very low, globally. Anywhere between 15-35% of plastic bottles make their way into recycling facilities, depending on the region, with the rest ending up in landfills or as litter. Some countries have attempted to address the low recycling rate with incentives, but because plastic bottles are cheap and easily accessible, many of these programs have not worked.
Many people believe that re-use, followed by recycling, is the best use for a plastic bottle. PET plastic can be reused, although people should avoid using it to contain hot or corrosive materials, and they should take care to wash such bottles out carefully. Plastic bottles can be very hospitable for bacteria, thereby potentially causing a health risk for people who drink from them. Aftera plastic bottle has been reused as many times as possible, it should ideally be recycled.
In recycling, plastic bottles are shredded into chips which are then sterilized and sold to companies which produce products made from recycled plastic. This stage in the life cycle of a plastic bottle can get quite interesting, as these plastic chips can be used for everything from fleece blankets to artificial lumber. Many products which are made from recycled plastic clearly indicate this, for consumers who would prefer to promote the use of recycled, rather than virgin, plastics.
When a plastic bottle enters a landfill, it can take hundreds of years to decay, and it can have a profound environmental impact. The route to the landfill is often quite long, as plastic bottles are a very common form of litter around the world, requiring volunteers or government agencies to collect such bottles and bring them to a facility for recycling or other forms of disposal. As plastic bottles decay, they take up precious landfill space, and some leach harmful chemicals into the ground, potentially polluting the soil and water.
plastic codes
ekuazionrecommend avoidingthe use ofthese twotypes of plastics: PVCand PS (polystyrene)
Because landfills are so tightly packed, some scientists are concerned that the rate of decay in landfills could be even slower than previously surmised, as the conditions are not optimal for breakdown. Landfills in general pose a serious problem in many parts of the world, as they contain a broad mixture of items which could potentially be recycled, including precious metals, along with potentially dangerous and toxic products. Plastic bottles take up an alarming amount of landfill space, especially when one considers that they shouldn't be in landfills at all.
Not all discarded plastic bottles make their way into landfills, either. The world's oceans host a steadily growing collection of plastics, most notably in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. These plastics come from litter, poorly secured landfills, spilled shipping containers, and a variety of other sources, and they take centuries to break down, even assisted by corrosive saltwater and UV radiation. The proliferation of plastics in the world's oceans poses a serious threat to many marine organisms, and some scientists are concerned that, rather than breaking down entirely, plastics actually break down into very small segments which could potentially be consumed by microscopic organisms.
This could have serious environmental repercussions, as such organisms are not equipped to digest plastics. Therefore they could die in mass numbers, or be consumed by animals higher up the food chain. This could potentially cause such predator organisms to accumulate a variety of the hazardous substances used in plastic production, leading to a breakdown in the health of the world's oceans as well as impacting the health of animals (including humans) which use these organisms as a source of food.
In the case of plastic bottles manufactured from bioplastics, the life cycle of a plastic bottle is quite a bit different. Many such bottles are designed to be disposable, and they will quickly compost under the right conditions, typically those found in a municipal composting facility, rather than a home compost heap. When composted, bioplastics simply return to the Earth; when such plastics end up in landfills, they will also break down, although the decay process may take longer, due to the lack of aeration in landfills.
The stages in the life cycle of a plastic bottle are largely determined by the type of plastic it is made from and the people who interact with the bottle over its lifetime. Because consumers have a powerful role in the end fate of the plastics they use, many environmental organizations have focused heavily consumers, asking them to reduce their use of plastics,reuse them when possible, and ultimately recycle them, in the hopes of reducing the environmental impact of plastics.
The next time you see something in a plastic bottle at the store, you can think about the fact that it contains substances which are billions of years old, and that it may have traveled across great distances to reach the shelf.
