Who Killed The Electric Car?

Video Reflection 2

I had seen Who Killed The Electric Car before a few years ago and at the time I was adamantly against electric vehicles, I was an avid car enthusiast at the time and saw Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) as expensive, inefficient vehicles that were not a practical answer to a problem. On my first viewing, despite the evidence portrayed, I saw the video as a hyped up conspiracy piece conjured by hippies and green advocates that wanted to pat themselves on the back and make sure everyone knew about it (Prius syndrome).

In my defense, I was young and ignorant.

Fast forward to 2012 and my second viewing of the film, with, thankfully, an open mind, I now see it for what it is. The fact that General Motors was one of the first producers and developers of electric cars probably astonished me the most, why I had not picked that up on the first viewing I don't know. General Motors, one of the largest producers of automobiles designed and developed an electric car only to turn their heels and stop all development when it was close to fruition. This is one of the most damning displays of corporate politics within the automobile industry (and its link to oil corporations). The use of underhanded corporate tactics to stop development is no surprise and similar lines can be seen within branches of the automotive industry, from transport, to racing, to even motorbikes.

The case study of California in the film is probably an accurate enough cross section to be used in any major city around the world. A metropolitan city plagued by grid-lock and congestion. Californian emissions laws have become a lot stricter since the film had been released, with some cars being restricted further than their EURO emission standards in order to comply with the CA standards, this is especially the case with motorcycles. During my recent PSS assignment I found Australian data that stated most car trips traveled by drivers is less than 5km, with even more less than 3km. In those instances, the electric cars limited range (often 100km) is more than enough and would not be contributing to C02 emissions while stuck in Sydney's horrible highway infrastructure!

I find it disappointing that despite how beneficial a change or new technology is, it must get past single minded legislation and often greedy politicians and corporations before it even has a slim chance at making a difference. That sounds awfully pessimistic, but unfortunately it's often the sad, sad truth.

The 11th Hour

Video Reflection 2

The 11th Hour is a striking documentary commenting on the dire state of the Earths natural environment and the impacts of global warming. The film style and narration with the use of quotes and striking imagery is thought provoking and rightfully so. The primary focus of the documentary is the increasing human impact and disconnection occurring between growing civilizations and that of the natural environment, 'separation from nature' and the social attitudes towards daily living.

David Suzuki's comments regarding the disrespect shown to the natural world and the increase toll that is undertaking, the 'balance' being overthrown describes, quite aptly, the current social views towards environmental safekeeping by the vast majority. There is a social shift, but unfortunately it is currently not great enough to displace the great amounts contributing to the damage.

Nathan Gardel's and Thom Harmann's explanation of human technological advancements and our increasing desire for expansion, in every step of civilization was very interesting, especially in regards to human population growth and it's systemic and exponential growth.

Much like the human population, the exponential growth and concern of global warming is shocking, what's more shocking is the interlinked association these two factors contribute to each other. The climate change is degrading at an increasing rate and scientists believe the Earth will reach a tipping point, a point of irreversible effect sooner, rather than later. The impacts of global warming are far greater than just the environment, but the way of life for everyone and impacts the 1st world just as much as the 3rd world.

The images of over-fishing were quite striking for me. The amount of fished, and more importantly, discarded fish reminded me of my time working at food production facilities where product would be disposed of if a single error occurs, not only that, but inefficient practices would produce an immense amount of waste.

"A convergence of crisis"

The solution to these problems will not be solved solely by technology like so many believe. I believe the change must be a social shift, we must realize we are responsible in everything we do and consume and that the effects of our actions are longer lasting and in most cases permanent. How will this be achieved? I don't have that answer, but I believe every single person must do their part to contribute as little to the problem as possible, maybe it's a start.

Cormack Packaging - Peer Comments

Nicholas Baroni
Lukas Cubirka
Elizabeth Grayburn
Andrea Krakovska
Melinda Kingsland

PSS - Peer Comments

Shenea Huang
Elizabeth Grayburn
Helen Holman
Chloe Uy
Andrew Jin Bae

PSS - Commuter Companion.

PSS - The Commuter Companion

The Commuter Companion (CC) is a bicycle product service system designed towards developing sustainable and healthy travelling practices, particularly short trips to and from work. CC is an integrated bicycle rear light, data acquisition device and social media hub. It is aimed at providing a feature rich product for the user, while at the same time not endowing the consumer with a large financial burden, meaning, you get a lot for your money!

The Commuter Companion's primary objective is answering the growing rate of traffic congestion which brings inner city arterial roads to a literal standstill. Anyone who has driven (or ridden) any of Sydney's main roads or highways during peak hour knows how frustrating and time consuming sitting in traffic becomes. Shocking statistics support these innate inconveniences in the form of both financial, but more importantly, environmental burdens.

Congestion costs the Australian government billions of dollars in expenses annually, from the cost of maintaining busy roads, to lost productivity time. The Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics estimates that congestion costs in our capital cities will rise to $20.4 billion dollars by 2020 (Cycling Promotion Fund, Economic Benefits of Cycling for Australia, June 2008). A sobering statistic considering the primary cause for congestion is due to single occupant vehicles (vehicles with only one person) clog the lanes of our roads. Stop and think, you could eliminate half of the vehicles on the road during peak hour by simply sharing your car with one other person, or better yet, not driving at all if not necessary. Current commuter cycling strategies (cycling lanes etc.) reduce the cost of congestion by an amazing estimated $63.9 million per annum (Bauman et al, 2008).

The amount of greenhouse emissions produced by this congestion and traffic is equally as sobering. According to RMIT, 51% of car trips are traveled over a journey of less than 5km, with 38% over less than 3km (RMIT, 1999, Austroads, 2005). Not only that, but passenger vehicles contribute to a higher percentage of fuel consumed by road vehicles than ALL other vehicle classes COMBINED (61%) (Apelbaum Consulting Group, Australian Transport Facts, 2007).

The purpose of the Commuter Companion is to introduce the social aspect of bicycle commuting, something entirely lacking while in the confines of a car by allowing users to share, compare and join rides with many other people within their immediate vicinity. It provides a fresh approach to travelling and one that benefits the user in more ways than just their wallet or health. Progress is tracked and the social nature of the project will encourage users to cycle more often. instead of driving.

The user will activate 'Ride Share' on their Commuter Companion and sync the CC with their bicycle sensors as well as their phone (for the purpose of alerts or messages). From then on the CC will inform the user whenever a group ride is in progress and display the information on to their smartphone via an app. The user will then locate and join the group ride. 

The Commuter Companion product itself is fundamentally simple, with good reason. In order to maintain a low unit price, techniques were employed to ensure tooling and material costs were minimized, in order to offset the increased cost due to the implemented technologies. Universal brackets used and compatible with many existing products, available from a variety of manufacturers, have been utilized in order to reduce the need for additional tooling. The CC aims for a price point of approximately $50, well under the price range of existing GPS enabled cycling computers, but not well above that of existing wireless (data display only, does not record data) cycling computers, with the benefit that the CC does not imbue a continuous battery burden on GPS enable smartphones.

Cormack Packaging - Pump Pals

Reposted due to unkown error.

Pump Pals - Toothpaste Dispenser for Children

Anyone with young children, or who have taken care of young children, that sometimes getting the kids to brush their teeth is sometimes more of a hassle than it should be. Firstly, there's the task of convincing them to brush their teeth, sometimes they cooperate and in some cases they are actually keen to brush their teeth! Secondly, and more importantly, there's the issue of mess and wastage.

Children are still in the developmental stages of their motor skills, and as such they do not posses the surprising amount of control in order to regulate just how much toothpaste should go onto a toothbrush. Not only that, but the technique you develop to actually extract the last remnants out of the toothpaste tube! Residue collects onto the toothpaste head, the toothpaste tube is not closed properly (my pet peeve), or the tube is thrown out with plenty of product still in the packaging!

Pump Pals aims to introduce correct toothpaste dosage to children and for them to enjoy the healthy experience of brushing their own teeth! Pump Pals gives children the empowerment and pride in being independant.

By storing and appropriating a pump pack into a fun styled dispenser, the product removes a lot of the motor skills required in squeezing an amount of toothpaste onto a brush. The dispenser extracts a predetermined dosage onto the child's toothbrush. All the child has to do is hold the back of the head and feed the toothbrush into mouth receptacle of the product! A simple and mess free process!

The tapered storage container held within the dispenser is replaceable, cleanable and refillable in order to minimize packaging. The tapered bottom ensures no product is wasted as the product collects at the lowest point of the container, where the pickup tube for the pump is located.

Pump Pals is available in a variety of quirky characters with the possibility of producing promotional runs that reflect current cartoons to further reinforce the 'fun' aspect of dental hygiene.

Giving Packaging A New Life / How It's Made

Video Reflection 1

"The Green Dot"

These series of videos inform viewers on various processes of material manufacture and subsequent recycling of waste product. 

The 'Giving Packaging a New Life' series was quite fascinating in that the complicated series of machinery and automation involved in the processes rivaled that of the manufacturing process itself. Considering the extensive requirement involved in ensuring and minimizing impurity levels in the final material, it is no wonder that sorting facilities in particular are quite technologically advanced becoming increasingly automated and efficient. The fraction of energy requirement expended in the recycling process makes it an obvious and highly attractive method of material manufacture for high consumption consumer goods. 

Although the videos showed examples of German recycling manufacture processes, such processes may or may not be utilized worldwide. From memory, after visiting an injection moulding factory here in Sydney and discussing with one of the operators there, I learned that, because most of the products they produce are for medical and highly sensitive products, they can only utilize high grade virgin materials, in fact, waste materials from the factory itself is subsequently sold to China for plastic production. In essence this proves that recycled material is only as good as its source and purpose. For all other general purpose consumer goods and products however, I believe recycled materials should be the first choice of material with virgin materials only used if absolutely necessary for the products purpose and use.

The trend for automation in material manufacture (and increasingly in all areas of manufacture) carries on in the 'How It's Made' series. The increasing use of machinery is one of the greatest achievements of the industrial revolution, but it has also attributed to one of the biggest threats of our generation, and that is of pollution. Factories and manufacturers are increasingly aiming to increase efficiency in the manufacturing process, and this is very evident in the video series with several processes occurring within seconds of one another, allowing decrease waste of both material and time. The compounding benefit of this process is that the factory invariably uses less energy to create the same product. The issue regarding our increasing consumption of these products, however, is a social problem and one not easily addressed through factory manufacturing.