EcoYouth
The Problem
The usage, accessibility, and scarcity of resources has long been a focal point determining societal growth, and continues in importance. Yet current responsibility of resource depletion requires effective communication to bridge the gap between people’s daily decisions and their resulting net impact on dwindling resources: with a focus on water consumption, our team aims (1)Identify common consumption behaviors attributed to residents in three dense urban areas in Portland; (2)(a)Determine common trends in these consumption behaviors (b)that lead to heightened use of basic resources (c)Identify highest direct/indirect/both consumption of water to determine what area is best to target feedback response systems; (3)Identify infrastructure that reinforces/reduces these excess consumption behaviors (4)Create a visual feedback system that reflects the net impact of previously identified direct, indirect or combined over-consumption behaviors; (5)Evaluate the potential success of the feedback system by quantifying participatory interaction with the program at select sites.
Our Proposal
The kwyiet Footprint project (pronounced ‘quiet footprint’ Know Where Your Impact Extends in Time- Footprint) is aimed at re-shaping and influencing the interaction between consumers and their direct/indirect consumption of water. Kwyiet Footprint is based on the premise that people are generally unaware of their impact on the environment and the reciprocal disadvantage they must face as a result of reduced resources. Hence providing knowledge about results of people’s choices through positive/negative feedback systems may help influence the daily decisions and ultimately the quality of life for the global population over time. The three E’s of Sustainability (Ecology, Equity and Economics) have greatly influenced the kwyiet Footprint project greatly, since staying true this tri-faceted ideal has challenged us to determine the value of human participation in making sustainability possible, as well to keep in mind that the best feedback system would be one that is simple, scalable, replicable and economical.
We Assume that...
I am assuming that within the duration of the project time, I will be able to mobilize the diverse community of students that I work with to provide essential feedback for eco-footprint monitoring.
Additionally, this is assuming that I will have the funding for building a live feedback monitoring system.
Constraints to Overcome
[KWYIET Footprint] Knowing Where Your Impact Extends in Time- Footprint, requires access to live satellite mapping tools and mutual agreement with water bureau agencies, commercial and non-commercial businesses for access to existing water usage meter data. This can be achieved to a limited extent, due to general usage information having been made public, however for people to feel empowered and motivated to share their water usage, and plastic waste information, this will take some persuasion. Hence, a visual feedback device providing public information to the residents, and providing relative calculations of their footprint in real-time, will be necessary in order to grow the movement.
Current Work
Designing and Building an adaptable prototype.