lucvankcfm

[lucvankcfm]

Narrative/Conclusion

My aim was to see if it would be in our best interest to change our bins on Lambton Quay to recycling bins.

 During this process I learnt a lot, it came to my senses that I wasn’t the firstperson to think that this was important for Wellingtonians to address. As there have been bins in the CBD prior to my investigation that were phased out, and furthermore those that I surveyed that did not agree that having these public recycling was an important artefact to invest taxpayer money into.

Going into this project, I not realize that I was rather closed-minded in the sense that I did not take into consideration that other peoples morals and values would differ from mine, and perhaps this was the very reason the recycling bins had not been implimented. 

during my multiple investigations I focused my inquiries around these two main questions:

Question 1: Is it worth changing the waste bins to multipurpose recycling bins?

Question 2: would people use multipurpose bins? 

I conducted two human based research inquiries, and one text based. They both complimented each other in the sense that they both flowed and gave me particular insight on various aspects and angles of my assignent that the other would not. 

In my first observation I failed to focus upon an important variable, which led me to having to conduct further experiments. This being the frequecy at which Wellingtonians had readily avalible rubbish in their cars, apposed to mid lunch-break rush at work. This essentially made most of my research from this redundant.

With this in mind I did some psychological background reading when it comes to visual clues and the correlation between soft-power and that of recycling and waste disposal promotion in the form of signs and symbols.

I learnt that having the subconcious thought of you being a “Tidy Kiwi,” makes you want to become one. A cue for recycling, be it a recycling symbol, albeit a multi-purpose bin, it makes the mind render your disposal methods more important due to the ego taking control. Which I believe means it is in most peoples values and ethics to look after Taogna Treasures, in particular our environment with the movement of recycling. 

Following this information; I have concluded yes people would use multipurpose recycling bins.

Although ten people is a rather small demographic in terms of interview, I think that people in Wellington generally care about thier enviroment. So I would have to also conclude that yes, people we should change our rubbish bins to recycling bins. 

Reputible literary sources, and the help of observational investigations suggest that behavior in humans is influenced by the visual cues as previously mentioned. So changing the rubbish bins may initially cost, but to what extent is it a downfall. It creates jobs, and it conserves the environment.

I believe people would use multipurpose recylcing bins, and we should change our current bins to have the multi-bin options. 

Through this course I have learnt a lot about ethics and opinion. There were times that I doubted myself, and times that I struggled immensly with getting work in on time due to my accident that has caused reoccuring issue for me. I am happy to have take this course and have been guided by Georgiana, she has been a massive support.

I believe that I have become quite passionate about the recycling regime within the Wellington region, and will seek to further my investigation by reaching out to both GreenPeace and the Wellington Waste Management to see if there is any way of implimenting what I have discovered given the grounds of my investigation. 

~ Luc van Kradenburg

[lucvankcfm]

Dunedin Public Recycling

[lucvankcfm]

Dunedin vs. Wellington Recycling

“ Recycling stations and street litter bins are not for commercial use. They are there to provide the public and visitors to our city with a valuable service and to keep Dunedin’s public places clean and beautiful. “ Wellington should take after Dunedin in this sense. It has significantly lowered its carbon emission rate, even though it isn’t for commerical use. The harm that occurs due to Wellingtons waste in of a great magnitude. 

[lucvankcfm]

Z Station Waste Recordings & Wellington Council On Litter(Extra insight):

“We now have food waste pick-ups from over 70 of our stations, and have already diverted more than 40 tonnes of waste from landfill to composting this year!” 

It is slightly ironic that the largest petrol figure in the New Zealand fuelling industry is aiming to make an environmental impact. It isn’t often you see this behaviour, perhaps there is some guilt behind all the deep-sea fracking? 

https://z.co.nz/keeping-business-on-the-move/energy-drop/2013/october/z-s-first-forecourt-recycling-bins/

It is however providing jobs, and a ‘greener’ environment proven with these statistics. Perhaps if Wellington council reviewed the Green Peace campaign there would be a lift on Wellington’s carbon footprint. It seems Z has in a ways pioneered the usage of these recycling bins, and proven they pay off.

Wellingtons GPI for litter and graffiti is at its lowest rate in 2016/17 than its ever been. Which is a positive. However this doesn’t approach what happens to the rubbish post-disposal. 

[lucvankcfm]

Human Based Investigation 2

The Wellingtonian survey. In this investigation I kept it short and sweet where I asked 10 people on Lambton Quay that could spare a minute to answer three questions. People on Lambton Quay are always on a mission so this proved difficult. 

Q1: Do you think it would be a a good idea to replace the current street bins with multipurpose public recycling bins?

Yes: 9  

No: 1

- Man that said no: “Bins aren’t cheap. I think there are lots better things to spend taxpayer money. Maybe if the bins were free. *chuckles* ”

- One woman mentioned: “We used to have them, but they got phased out for some reason... Probably not enough workers to sort through the rubbish.”

I found this lady’s statement really interesting, as I hadn’t heard about this before. I looked into this idea more and discovered that GreenPeace started a failed campaign two years ago advocating recycling bins in the CBD. However no firm evidence of the bins that used to be in the CBD, just a comment suggesting they once existed:

 https://www.toko.org.nz/petitions/recycling-bins-in-public-areas-in-wellington

Q2: Would you be okay with the council using taxpayer money to fund these bins?

Yes: 7

No: 3 

- Man that said No #2 “I’m all for recycling and saving the planet. I’m sure there are more pressing issues in New Zealand though. Every Third World country has far more litter than here...”

This got me thinking, perhaps that first man had some idea about money implications. But does the bin change toll weigh up to the survival of our planet? 

Q3: Do you think about where your rubbish goes when you throw it away?

Yes: 10 

I opened each of my interview/surveys with a friendly open ended question that I thought wouldn’t be too intrusive. “Hi, would you like to answer three questions that could help Wellington?”

In hindsight I now think this may have been too forward even though it worked, there could have been an approach with more angle, perhaps to look as though I was selling chocolate bars or something similar.

The overall response I recieved from my survey wasn’t as much of a landslide in terms of Wellingtonians being for the implimentation of Wellingtons as I had anticipated. 

I decided to leave the subjects anonymous due to ethics in terms of privacy. It also meant they may have answered more honestly. 

Money was the biggest concern when it came to people being against the implimentation of the recycling bins in public spaces. Some Wellingtonians didn’t think it was the best use of their taxpayer money. 

I found this exersize enlightening and I really took on board other peoples opinions when it came to why they wouldn’t want something to occur, this is because of my particular set of morals/values I se public recycling as a nessecity, whereas they saw other issues as a priority. 

In conclusion though, majority of the people I did interview all had a correlating opinion.

[lucvankcfm]

                                  INVESTIGATION TWO ~ P1

                     - PSYCHOLOGY OF LITTERING SUMMARY -

      Is it worth changing to multipurpose recycling bins?

As I research what makes a person litter, I think the psychological ties from this google schol’ article and additionally in:‘ Litter in a University CafeteriaDemographic Data and the Use of Prompts as an Intervention StrategyCatherine A. Durdan, Glenn D. Reeder, Peter R. Hecht ‘ 

Make it clear that it is a psychological disregard in the sense that people do not care enough to consider actions such as littering to be an issue as it takes effort. I ponder the question wheter it is nature or if it is nurture that brings this about. In the study linked, it is stated that there is an influence on a subject specifically if there is a prompt to not litter, such as the classic “Tidy Kiwi” slogan in the imminent surrounding area. So I ask; why does a person litter? Is it really nessecary to remind adults not to litter, or to recycle appropriately without a ‘half-assed attempt’ at disposing of waste in the incorrect reycling bin? I disgress. In class we discussed the idea of soft power and It relates directly to the idea of recycling and my question that is “Is it worth changing the waste bins to multipurpose recylcing bins?” 

Given the concept of softpower in the correlation to symbolism I believe that having a recycling bin with various options of disposal, prompts civillians to think about where the waste they have goes. Displaying the idea of soft-power influence and this makes people subconciously want to recycle.

The reasoning behind my psychological approach to this issue, is the fact that there is a sense of value and pride behind keeping New Zealand, our home clean. Specifically when it comes to the idea of ‘Taonga Treasures,’ as having your environment clean should be of importance to everyone.

[lucvankcfm]

Observational investigation ~ P2

Part Two - Lambton Quay Waste Bins

12.00pm sharp. I arrived on Lambton Quay and I sat on a bench that was sheltered next to a bin. Much better circumstances than last week.

12.17pm A man put a cigarette butt in the bin. Guess you can do that at a gas station.

12:33pm A man threw away an apple core. 

12.45pm times up. Stayed for the full length. Significantly less use.

Due to the amount of effort I put in, in this particular part of the investigation I believe there could have been a better means of gathering information about recycling and rubbish in the area.

There happened to be a large difference between the two particular locations in terms of rubbish quantity and additionally the amount of people in the area for a specific purpose. It was as though I was comparing cricket fans to rugby fans.

What I mean by this is that people who frequent Z stations are more often than not using a vehicle, and have rubbish at a greater scale, rather than a buisness type individual who is on a mission down Lambton Quay.

It was a poor choice of me to use such contrasting locations despite the time of day and other variables taken into account.

There was double the amount of people in the original observation rather than the latter being the normal waste bins.

I was to see people using the bins, and I did not see people littering. But this got me thinking that perhaps they were using office bins? There was no way to conclude this so my investigation was incomplete and I will have to do a more thorough one next time.

[lucvankcfm]

Observational investigation~P1

Part One - Z Station Recylcing Bins

11.59am:  I arrived on Wednesday the 16th at the corner of the Z station on Taranaki street. I set my timer for 45 minutes. I sat down on a curb with an clear view of the recycling bins and my notepad/pencil at the ready. 

12:04:  I waited for around five minutes and a man with a blue jacket came past and put something too small to identify into the glass section of the multi-bin. This upset me, as I knew that unless it was an empty pocket sized Jack Daniels bottle, he likely used the wrong bin. 

12:14:  Another ten minutes passed before a car finally pulled into the gas station and the driver used the bin. This time putting a ‘Hell’s Pizza’ box in the compostable multi-bin. It was then that I realized how long 45 minutes of bin observation was. It started spitting with rain.

12:16ish:  two more cars pull into the parking lot and start to fill up gas seconds after the pizza box subject vacates the lot. I struggle to watch both of the pumps simultaneously, however only one person uses the general waste bin and throws away something shiny.

12:25:  Lots of people and cars for the next 10 minutes enter into the station, none of them use the bins, except for one woman that recycles a plastic juice bottle appropriately. 

12.32: Empty lot until I throw away a poorly drawn giraffe into the compostable bin. I’m starting to think the man at the service station desk is uncomfortable with me loitering for so long.

12:37: Foot traffic picks up as lunch goers from both uni and work begin to emerge and purchase pasteries and such from the station. Another juice bottle is disgarded by a lady in a longcoat. A girl who looks about 9 or 10 and should almost certainly be in school and not becoming a statistic throws away some napkins and a container of sorts all into the ‘landfill’ bin.

12:40: An older looking man passing by throws away a can into the correct bin before entering the Z station.

The rain at this point becomes heavy and I scuttle home as I dont want to damage the paper I wrote all this on, so I shorten the 45 minutes to 40ish due to uncontrolable circumstances.

As far as I am aware just the man in the blue jacket used the multi-purpose bin incorrectly. 

[lucvankcfm]

[lucvankcfm]

Proposal

The artefact I want to investigate is the rubbish bins on Lambton Quay. My aim is to reduce the carbon footprint we as Wellingtonians have, to minimize the amount of pollution and waste on the streets of Wellington that we use each day. Particularly in terms of recycling, and the means of waste management as a focus. I see that there is an important requirement for change to ensue, as I believe the rubbish situation is not adequate within Wellington at the moment.  

https://cleanriver.com/products/indoor/

My aim is to see if it would be in our best interest to change our bins on Lambton Quay to recycling bins (like in the picture presented

Question 1: Is it worth changing the waste bins to multipurpose bins?

Question 2: would people use multipurpose bins?

From my understanding, I see that most Wellingtonians disregard the issue when it comes to rubbish in the streets, and furthermore what happens to it after it is thrown away. So I am curious as to see if this is managed appropriately after it is thrown away, and If there is a means of utilizing the area where the bins are situated better. This being said, I plan to endeavour to see if people use recycling bins when on offer, or if they react ignorantly and just throw everything in the same bin.

Westpac, Z petrol stations, and Te Papa are a few companies that utilize the multibin approach to help face this environmental issue. But why are we not looking at approaching recycling in public rather than just at home?

For my first question I will prompt further insight I will conduct a sort of ‘stakeout,’ and compare two different locations activity between 12.45 and 1.30 o’clock a wednesday at 12.00PM at both locations, for an hour. one being a rubbish bin on Lambton Quay, the other a recycling bin on offer at the Z station on taranaki street next to my flat.

 From this inquiry I will see if people use the bins correctly if they are on offer, and how frequently they use the bins on lambton quay in contrast. This will give me a good indication to wheter it is worth changing the bins to mulitpurpose recycling bins.

For my second question I will read up on transition between recycling bins, and see whether or not it is worthwhile to make these changes by reading up on other cities that have made similar ones.

If I conduct a library search, It will be proven to be ethical. For other legitimate information caches, I will need to see if they are reputable and trustworthy. I plan on making sure all my sources are.

For my first question however I will have to take notes instead of recording the entire thing on film, as it would not be ethical to record people without their knowledge, nor the contents of what they are throwing away due to subject discretion.

My inquiry coincides with the taonga treasures section of the treaty, due to the active protection of the environment and land being of utmost interest. This being said, it is disregarded by the fact that the carbon footprint is still at large for wellingtonians. This in mind, the treasures can have protection if the issue at hand is addressed.

Perhaps the idea of soft power in the form of posters could subconciously influence those that choose not to recycle out of laziness. 

[lucvankcfm]

WEEK 8 TASK 2

TASK 1 Bringing it all your own investigation

 I am interested in investigating recycling in public spaces in Wellington, specifically on Lambton Quay.

Pose questions to my friends about recycling in public locations

Send an email to Wellington Waste Management

Interview and get a perspective from a worker at the waste management team

“Because plastics are lighter than many materials, by volume it is estimated they may use up to 20% of landfill space. Approximately 252,000 tonnes of plastic waste is disposed of to NZ landfills each year (based on 8% of 3.156 million tonnes of waste to landfill).” www.recycle.co.nz/problemsize.php

 “plastic items can take up to 1000 years to decompose in landfills.”

https://www.thebalance.com/how-long-does-it-take-garbage-to-decompose-2878033

https://cleanriver.com/products/indoor/

https://methodrecycling.com/nz/

Keep in mind both of these new age bins have the future in mind. They are intuitive and advanced in design. Would it pay off to invest tax payer money in designs such as these?  

 An image of your artefact/space/topic of choice (this can be drawn or photographed)

https://www.recycleaway.com/Keene-Topload-Triple-Recycling-Station--Custom_p_1543.html

https://www.recycleaway.com/Keene-Topload-Triple-Recycling-Station--Custom_p_1543.html

 2.    Your aims and questions

 To reduce the waste Wellingtonians’ dispose of, to further the recycling in the city through the quantity of bins available, and to maximize how the rubbish bins are utilized.

QUESTIONS

  Do people care about how much waste Wellington produces, and where it goes?

What would a good way to reduce litter be?

What drives a person to litter?

 How you propose gaining insight into in investigating recycling in public spaces in Wellington, specifically on Lambton Quay through the information leads you’ve gathered in task 1?

Brainstorm:

ask my peers, including my family and friends about recycling on Lambton Quay to see if the average Wellingtonian cares how much waste wellington produces, or where it goes. Which would allow us to know what the standard Wellingtonians of various age groups think about the waste management and the amount of recycling availability of public areas in Wellington, and whether it is an issue to address.

- send an email to the ministry for the environment posing a similar question addressing the necessity of recycling bins, and if they would make an impact on reducing Wellingtons waste and carbon footprint.

- Interview and get a perspective from a worker at the waste management team to answer the question of what drives a person to litter, from those who deal with the full force of the waste.

Observational study - bin watching?

How will you gain better understanding of the Wellington community’s’ perspective on public recycling and waste management to reduce our carbon footprint?

Through investigating the opinions of those around me, and people who have more insight on Wellingtons waste management I intend on finding out what the perspectives of those in the Wellington community is on public recycling and waste management, and if people think the waste and recycling regime is adequate, or below what is necessary.

[lucvankcfm]

Task 1 Week 8

Background Research

My topic I will be focusing on is the issue with the amount of public recycling within Wellington, and the frequency of recylcing bins in public spaces,  specifically on Lambton Quay.

 My main insentive the preservation of the environment and to reduce the carbon footprint us as new zealanders are pumping into the atmosphere. 

The main focus of my research is converting the rubbish bins into colour coded bins that include; paper recycling, plastic recycling and non-recyclable rubbish, and the quantity of said bins to increase. This will further clean up the stgreets of Wellington, create jobs, reduce rubbish, and create a more sustainable New Zealand. 

I could gain insight about the neccessity of the topic by creating an online survey for my peers on Vic Deals, and also communicating with Wellingtonians to look into bringing about change. Other methods I have considered include contacting the Wellington Waste Management, and also the Wellington District Council.

[lucvankcfm]

Week 6 Journal 3

 Pretend that you want to change a 'vacant' building in Wellington.  Brainstorm how you might investigate: 1) who currently uses it and how is it used?  2) What is the social history of the site (who used it and how in the past)?

One thing I have always been intrigued within Wellington is the old boat shed 6 on the Wellington waterfront behind the TSB bank arena. and how it is used for concerts and raves on occasion. Making use of a dead space is always beneficial, as this location isn’t nearly used enough.

I am struggling to find much information on the internet. However, I know historically these boatsheds were used for maintaining boats, and storage of boating equipment largely by seafarers that own, work, or occupy the boats in the harbor/dock. 

If I had the opportunity to maximize the use out of the now dead space within the boat shed, I would likely create a cultural hub on the harbor using glass to build transparent walls instead of corrugated iron walls to see inside. Displaying Maori/Pasifika art and artifacts in a modern walk around gallery style with the view of the waterfront. There is also the potential to have a gift shop and a cafe inside considering the large scale of the building. It is fitting to have island/nautical themed historical items and art within the site considering the location.

Using even half of this space wouldn’t even be asking too much considering the size of the shed. It can double as both a cultural informational hub, additional to a venue as the capacity is: 

  Performance - seated‎: ‎3972 people Performance - standing‎: ‎6000people Floor area (m2)‎: ‎2186 square meters Exhibition stands‎: ‎155

(Not to mention the TSB Arena which is next to it that serves the same purpose.)

 Therefore this being implemented would both bring in tourists on their way to Te Papa, and coincide with the koha donation scheme, similar to the New Zealand portrait gallery, and Te Papa. Tourism is at a peak in New Zealand, and I think it would be silly not to capitalize. 

[lucvankcfm]

Week 6 Journal 2

The word ‘rasquache’ was originally a word for  Mexican poverty ridden people who made the best of the given circumstance with the given materials in their environment. (Much like many third world countries, doing what they can with what they have in their possession reusing and recycling materials.) the gallery claimed it was for the community and the people who originally utilized the ‘rasquache’ aesthetic out of necessity, it was made stylish and essentially appropriated the desperation and made it fashionable. ‘Rasquache’ has a non-artistic usage as well, meaning “Ghetto” which is seemingly easy to interpret the origin of the art form following this.

Rasquache is much more involved social in terms of community and an example of poverty struck ingenuity, as using materials that would usually be considered unrealistic on their own, but when combined it is functional.  A similar practice in a New Zealand context could be that of artistic pieces such as; sculptures and paintings by Maori/Pacifica people, using Paua shells, flax weaving, and driftwood alike with traditional styles which relate to our imminent environment, and making do with what we have to create an aesthetically appealing final product. 

[lucvankcfm]

Week 6 Journal 1

From Lee's discussion, what are some of the factors that make this topic a difficult history to write in New Zealand? 

The reason that is explicitly stated that complicates the history and recording of homosexuality in New Zealand is that being homosexual was illegal and was only considered not a crime in 1986. So much of the queer history 

Due to this, gay ‘acts’ and other intimacies between same-sex individuals was considered ‘wrong’ so was kept secret and in the dark so to speak. 

The 80′s was a vastly different era, with extreme prejudice surrounding homosexuality as a whole, there were no LGBT communities as we know of today, and additionally no congregation points for the community to publically socialize such at the iconic Wellington “Ivy”. So secret connections such as the bathrooms in Wellington were utilized for this reason, for both sexual acts and as a form of socialization between the reclusive community. 

[lucvankcfm]

WEEK 3 TASK 4

The rubbish bins within our city are not what I would call optimal at all.

I appreciate the design of the bin as the shape is aesthetically pleasing, although not entirely as functional as a standard cyllindar bin as the amount of rubbish it can take in regards to square centimetre is significantly less. (With regards to the shape of the bin) However cylindar bins are also facing the same issue I have morally with what is a byproduct of our waste. The bins are impractical considerring the scale of our city, and the population growing at a rate unlike we have had before. Therefore this implies the increased nessecity of the bins needing to be emptied. This takes a toll on out environment, in terms of C02 emissions, and in landfill. I think it is absolutely ridiculous that the amount of waste that us Wellingtonians use, and it is not appropriately regulated through our rate and the amount of recycling we do annually.  

“ According to the Packaging Council of NZ, New Zealanders consume about 735 thousand tonnes of packaging every year and recycle only about 58% of it.”

Not good enough. Personally I value what we have around us, and the world is deteriorating at our fingertips. The main cause is not awareness, I believe it is the sheer convinience of throwing away recyclables. 

I believe it is our planet that we should nurture, as we only have been given one. Despite the fact that there are options to recycle throughout much of the city, more should be implimented with the propoesed design that I drew in task one of the new and improved, wider divided bin. I think the compartments for the cigarette butts has had to have made a large impact however considerring the amount of butts you see in Europe in contrast. Additionally it is a good concept in terms of seperating the embers from the flamable rubbish.

Furthermore, the amount of jobs that this would bring in to the city would be tremendous as we would be needing people to proccess the rubbish and landfill sites. Therefore providing for citizens of our community through respecting and protecting our environment.

The idea that there are recycling bins all over the city would likely push more people to recycle more frequently rather than to be stuck in lazy habits, such as littering and disregard for recycling. Especially if the option to recycle is readily avaliable. 

The design itself could even go as far as to reuse the bins already in use, melting down the steel used to create the bins would prove for a good marketing point, and additionally aid the environment. 

This design could be drastically improved with paper and plastic recycling.  compartments also added on to the bins as depicted. Three neighbouring compartments would be more effective in terms of leaving a smaller carbon footprint which is better for us as a community, and for the world holistically. 

[lucvankcfm]

WEEK 2 TASK 3

SIMILARITIES

Whanaungatanga refers to the trust and respect that you bring across in a relationship. Through being connected and engaged and what you can and cannot do. Similar to Special Relationships, which refers to relationships with people that things may be permissable and otherwise impermissable depending on the relationship you have with them.

He kanohi kitea means being a familiar face. You should seek to be involved with communities and familiar to them to build trust and communication. Which pairs with Special Relationships again, due to the nature of relationships you will build in terms of interactions at Massey.

Avoidance of Harm, which is essentially the all around concept of  having protection and security within physical psychological and reputational harm. This is similar to Mana because relates to dignity and respect, and idea of “Not trampling” someones Mana is having everyone have their Mana secure. 

DIFFERENCES 

Kia Tupato is being cautious. More particularily culturally safe, and reflective about your insider or outsider status. Now I thought that this sounds like Avoidance of Harm but I believe it differs as it doesn’t refer to culture specifically in any fashion.

Benefit Nowhere in the Kaupapa Maori do they discuss equity nor equal promotion, or anything similar. Equity so to speak.

Justice Justice typically mentions fair results as a principal, I don’t think that this concept was mentioned in Kaupapa Maori either.