Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Project 1 - Katie, Kaitlynd, Andrea, Christian

Recycling at Home
Torontos Waste Diversion Program




Recycling in Toronto
Living in a society where mass production and convenience are essential, the recycling of all possible waste products is necessary. In 2006 alone, Toronto shipped over 690,000 tonnes of waste to a landfill in Michigan. Concerns for the environment began to surface, and the city of Toronto introduced a remodeled blue bin program to promote more recycling throughout the area. Recyclable materials waiting to be collected by the city are stored in easily recognizable blue bins. Our study is focused on the public’s interaction with these bins.

Interaction-Action

The Interaction
The interaction starts in your home where a variety of recyclable materials can be collected and separated from materials that are non-recyclable. Most people store their recyclable materials in a designated bin or container, until they have enough to transport outside to the blue bin, or to the recycling room in an apartment building. The apartment building setup creates a quicker and easier interaction with the use of the recycling room. Inside this room, tenants open a chute where the building’s recycling is collected and their interaction with the process is complete. Other residential areas, like homes, have blue bins situated outdoors. The individual needs to carry their recycling from their home, outside to where their blue bin is located. Recycling does not have to be seperated by the different types, and can be placed together in the bin. The next step is to wait until the designated recycling day to place your bin on the curb for collection. Finally, when the collection is over your bin goes back onto your property until next recycling day.

Items Used
Items used in this interaction are: blue-recycling bins of various sizes
recyclable materials ex: paper and plastic





Space
Space is the environment of a subject, system of controlled and uncontrolled variables. The alterable elements are the variable in which an agent has control in the improvement of a spaces function and the agents spatial interaction therein. This agency of control is the fundamental factor in the interaction of recycling in the home.

A system in space
The design of the recycling system in a large apartment building is simple and convenient. The individual walks down a hallway with their recycling to the designated recycling room. Inside the room, they open the chute and empty their recyclable into it, and are done with the interaction. For areas without recycling chutes, the blue bins are present. The large recycling bins are blue, have handles, a lid, and a set of wheels for easy movement. These bins are designed to be moveable between the curb and residence and usually stored outside. This design directs the interaction from interior of the home, to the exterior. Depending on where outside your blue bin is located, influence how much or often a person will interact with the bin and recycle.




Observations
•Most subjects divided their recycling even though the blue bin program does not require it.
•Subjects often had garbage and recycling in distinct locations in the home.
•The farther ones recycling pick up is from their home a positive corrolation affects the inclination to recycle on time and regularly, if at all.
•The blue bin program may have the effect of decreasing inclination to recycle with less need to distinguish recyclable goods.

Constraints
Tasks performed in this interaction are collecting recyclable materials from your home and storing them, and making sure those stored items are collected by the city to continue the recycling process. The goal is to recycle, and the accessibility to these bins is crucial for the goal to be met by society. The easier recycling is, the more the population will recycle.

Improvements
The system of Interaction, that of recycling, is dependent on the agents relation to their space. As one develops a spatial relation in the framework of the recycling interaction the system begins to drive itself. If it is conducive to the act of recycling then the system continues unharmed. To improve the spatial relation of the interaction dependents on the individual environments of each participant.



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