The Story of Cap and Trade

The Story of Cap and Trade is a short fast paced video looking at how the world deals with the use of fossil fuels and how we deal with carbon emissions, the video looks at the discussion about climate problems at Copenhagen where they try to find a solution. Carbon emission is part of everyday lifestyle, no matter what we are doing, we are emitting some sort of carbon emission of some form or another, hence the term, carbon foot print. This can be from commuting to and from using transport such as cars, bus and train, daily items that we use that are manufactured require an exhaustive amount of fossil fuels which would lead to all sorts of problems

The solution that they came up with is “Cap and Trade”, hence the title of the video. What cap and trade is, is where government would set a yearly cap on the amount of carbon emissions that a company can emit. All sounds great in theory, but this posed a lot of problems. One problem was that companies were cheating their way into getting these permits or abusing these permits in order to make money. One example would be companies saying that they have decreased their carbon emissions, but in fact, they havnt done anything at all, thus receiving payment for this.

“Companies can even earn offsets for not doing anything at all”

This really sums it up for me, Cap and Trade was about being more aware about the amount of carbon emissions and rewarding companies that do with benefit, but not in this case, the companies that do aren’t getting any real benefits at all, there is a lack of incentive for companies as they see others who don’t do anything reaping the same rewards.

“We don’t need to let these guys design the solution. We – us, our governments - can make laws and do it ourselves”

I personally love this quote, partly the fact that it is true in every sense, no one likes to be told, especially on a scale of this size, like I said before, sure everything sounds great and all, but in practice, Cap and Trade doesn’t work at all, and I cant believe no one saw it coming.

“These guys don’t seem to realize that the simplest way to keep carbon out of the atmosphere is to leave it safely in the ground”

Common sense really, the less we take out, the less gets put out. That is the most simplest solution I personally believe and one that would work the best, instead of limiting carbon emissions, why not limit the amount of materials being used?, just an idea…..

Overall, the video was short and fun to watch, very interesting and may put people into a debate. I think I may watch the video a second time just to get more ideas……

Design For Life

Design for Life is about Philippe Starck and his search for design talent in the UK. As unusual as it may seem, its not all that different from what we as students are experiencing in UNSW especially with out first studio lesson.

Philippe Starck is interesting to say the least and his querky European style is intriguing along with his flamboyant personality. From the start he said some things that are weird but awe inspiring.

“you don’t make good design if you speak about the design, you make good design if you speak about life, sex, flesh, sweat.”

This is true, design should be about personal experience, if you have no experience then you are not going to make something truly great.

 “only vehicle with the elegance of intelligence, because it isn’t driven by marketing, just driven by function”

I had never thought of a military truck being great, sure it helps soldiers move around, but I always thought of it as a tool or something that can be disposed of. This totally changed my perception of the things I now see. The military truck is by no means beautiful, but as designs go, it is magnificent. It was designed for a single purpose and has done so ever since.

 “symbol of ecological thinking by growing by yourself”.

Somethings could be said to be a trigger towards green living, who would thought something so simple as a pair of gardening gloves can do this? By growing your own vegetables you are saving on transport costs and helping the environment and even growing something for you family! GREAT!

By understanding the products we design will all simply go towards landfill is something we as designers should all think about. Design is not only just about designing a product that people will use then dipose of, it is much more than that, we need to encourage people to live differently, use things differently if we really want to make a difference and a change.

Objectified

Reflection

This video was very unusual in the way it presents itself into the insight of industrial design.
It really showed the relationship and the level of interaction between the designer, the product and the consumer through many people’s experience. Objects that we surround ourselves with are very personal, a personal choice. We tend to want to express ourselves with the objects that we have, generally speaking, people will tend to look at people and judge them based on their possessions.

“Every Object, intentional or not, speaks to who put it there”

Each object is designed with a specific purpose, therefore every little thing about the object is thought out and planned. Often today we don’t think or acknowledge these things, we merely use it. Every object that is created, big of small, there is always a story that could be told behind it, but these stories, will never be told.

“Ways to improve the way people do things, without have them really think about it”

Inspiring quote to say the least, this is what we as designers should aim for, helping people and making them learn without them knowing about it. People are getting more and more busy these days and don’t usually take the time to sit down to learn something new.

“We designers have been working to stimulate people’s souls and minds”

This is the quote that I am going to remember the most as I have grown accustomed to this. As a kid, I never really looked at a product as a product, but a value and how much it is worth but this quote changed all that, I just don’t look at a product as a product, I look at it as something that we as designers have created for people.

The video concludes with Sustainability and quoting that it is huge issue now and should really be taken seriously.

Studio 3a After Thoughts

So the first studio project was completed on Monday and i hate to say it, but I didnt do so well. As pointed out, the overall concept was fine but more refinement and research was needed in order to make the project even better. I thoroughly enjoyed the project as a whole, but was disappointed at the final outcome.

I will be posting up all my research and design boards in the next couple of days, any feedback will be greatly appreciated as everything is valuable and will provide me with a valuable learning curve into being a better designer.

The 11th Hour

The 11^th hour, a film by popular actor Leonardo Dicaprio. Straight away, after reading this, I immediately thought to myself that the film would be about how we can save the planet, after all, Leonardo Dicaprio is the ambassador for green living, he does advertisements for green car tyres, seen around driving a Toyota prius and lecturing the world on how to live greener. But I was wrong…….. but still, it didn’t provide the impact that I was looking for, sure, it made me realise more about what I do, but I don’t think I’ll be changing the way I live from this film alone. Change takes time, and time is not something people have a lot of in this day and age, that’s what I personally believe anyways, you may argue with me, but that’s where I’m standing.

"the real problem is that there are too many of us, using too many resources too fast." - Richard Heinberg

I whole hearted agree with this statement, just think of the recently global financial market crash, too many people living above their means, see any connections here? Thought so….

“Probably the greatest weapon of mass destruction is corporate economic globalisation” - Kenny Ausubel

This is true, the richer nations become richer, and the poorer nations become poorer. This has been happening since the beginning of time, and personally, I think it’ll continue to happen and no one will do anything about it. No one ever complains about being too rich, if you have, I would like to know…..

“Global warming is not only the number one environmental challenge we face today, but one of the most important issues facing all of humanity” – Leonardo Dicaprio

Many may argue this if this statement is true or not, as designers though, I believe that we must take this as true. Imagine a designer coming out and refuse to recognise this as a major problem and refusing to believe that global warming is false and should be ignored? As designers, we are free to design as we please, is this really true though? Can we as designers really design to our full potential if we are limited to so many restrictions? It’s only a thought, I could be wrong…….

Hey guys, really sorry about not posting things, as ive been having some difficulties, but hey! i will be updating my blog with everything ive taken down over the semester so stay tuned for a massive bombardment!

In the meantime, check out James May's lego house! every boys dream coming true

Beef noodle bowl, i want one please~

Alcohol and design, whats not to love aye?