Design Solution:Mumbai

Dharavi, Mumbai is one of Asia's largest slums. It is home to close to 1 million people who have moved there in search of better job opportunities and a better life. In Dharavi there is a huge lack of waste management and almost every street is littered with waste. All of this waste then causes various diseases, especially during the floods of the monsoon season. However, Dharavi does have a thriving recycling industry. The only problem with this is that all of the recycling centres are quite small and cannot process that much waste.

Main Problem: Lack of Waste Management

Solution ideas:

1. Recycling centre - This would be like a large factory space which would allow the existing recycling businesses to expand and maximise the amount of watse they can recycle. It would also minimize the amount of waste in the streets as more of it would be used in recycling. Also a second floor could be added as housing to make up for the housing lost.           
2. Alternative energy from waste - This would take the non-recyclable waste and convert it into energy that can then be used by the residents of the slum. The problem with this idea is that it would take up a lot of space and as it is like an energy plant so it might be a bit unsafe to the residents around that are and the housing lost cannot be incorporated.
3. Recycling/garbage bins - This is the simplest solution and would benefit more people as it takes up the least amount of space and can be spread accross the entire slum. All of the recyclables would be sent to the recycling centres so it would also help them maximize their outputs and increase their profits. It would also minimize the amount of garbage (which causes disease) in the streets as the residents would have somewhere to put all their waste. This solution would also be made from bamboo found around the slumso it is made entirely of recycled materials.

The solution that I have chosen is solution #3 as it will benefit almost the entire community and would give them a place to dispose of their waste without it causing disease or flooding. Also the recycling centres would directly benefit as they would recieve all the waste put in it.                                                                                                                             

Slums: Mumbai

Slum Narrative homework:
The beam of light peered through the cracked roof and settled on my eyelids, slowly prying them open. As my eyes opened my sweet slumber ended and I sat up and looked around. Around me, my father mother and siblings lay curled up on the cold concrete floor dreaming away their worries. In the far corner of the room stood the stove, watching over the sleepers while the lonely light bulb clung to the roof. Slowly, I got up and stumbled across the only room of our house towards the door. I grabbed our only remaining container and creaked open the door. I stepped outside, closed my eyes and listened to the sound of the waves brushing onto the garbage-filled shore and the shimmering of the few patches of sand still exposed. I opened my eyes and watched as each wave placed a new layer of trash upon the beach. I remember the first time I had stood and watched the waves pound against the shore. It was my first day in Dharavi, we had just moved there from a small village a few hours outside of Mumbai in hope of finding a better life. At first I hated the smell of the rotting sewage and decomposing fish, and the sight of all that garbage made my eyes burn, but now, for some strange reason I actually liked it. Of course a few other things I never got used to and would really like to change, like not having a water supply at home, living in such a cramped space with my family, the flooding during the monsoons, all the diseases and not being able to go to school. I turned around, picked up the container and started walking down the alleyway. The alley was barely a metre wide and stretched almost as far as the eye could see. The floor was littered with rags, plastic and other waste and a puddle stretched right along pathway, twisting and swinging around the trash like a river through mountains. After a few minutes of walking I reached a small clearing with the tap. I turned the rusting knob and filled the container to the brim with fresh, clean water, then I turned back around and began the excruciating journey back home. The container weighed about a tonne and I was forced to wrestle with it just to move it an inch. After what seemed like hours I finally reached the house and creaked open the door again I pulled in the container and left it to the right of the door. I looked around the room yet again, only now no one slept. My father and mother had left for work, leaving my sister at home to fold the torn blankets. I spent the rest of the day watching my sister and repairing whatever I could in the house. The night arrived sooner than expected and the light bulb yet again struggled to light the room. My parents soon arrived and I fell into my slumber only to repeat everything again tomorrow and every day until my sister is old enough to look after herself and then I will have to work.

Some images of Dharavi, a slum in Mumbai:

sources:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/world/06/dharavi_slum/html/dharavi_slum_intro.stm
http://artsytime.com/life-in-slums-of-mumbai/
http://www.worldvision.in/?1330
http://www.mumbai77.com/pages/mumbai-slums/

PSA's are finally done!

After a long term of endless planning, filming, technical difficulties and loss of all the footage, we have finally managed to complete our PSA's. Below you will see a link to my survey and my PSA, it would be really helpful if you could watch the PSA and then take the survey and fill out the answers as honestly as you can.
Survey:http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HNWNLCX

PSA:

MyCon

For the past term we've been looking at logos and we were given the task of designing our own personal logo. We started by looking for inspiration online from other logos, then we interviewed ourselves and people that we knew to get ideas about symbolism for ourselves. Then we began sketching and exploring as many ideas as possible. Finally we narrowed down our sketches and recreated our logos on inkscape.
Here are some of my sketches:

and my final logo:

PSA's

Hello everyone,
Ok, so in class we've been looking at PSA's (Public Service Announcements). A PSA is a short video usually from 30 seconds up to 2 minutes and is meant to raise awareness about a cause or an issue. Below i've put a few of the PSA's that i found and thought were good.
Dreams of Tomorrow


a)Message-The PSA is showing us that we're creating a terrible future for the children and that we are even darkening their outlooks on life.
b)Audience- I think that it was mainly intended for adults.
c)Story-telling Technique- I think that it was rather shocking because there are all these children which are probably 5-7 years old and they're already thinking about research cancer, droughts, pollution, selling oxygen masks and taking part in the water business to make money. It was also really shocking to hear the last little girl saying that she wanted to be an astronaught so that she could get out of this place (earth).

This was another one that i found about global warming and it was made by a 10 year old.
"Save It."


a)Message- We have to save our planet before it is too late
b)Audience- I think that this PSA could be for all audiences from all over the world.
c)Story-telling Technique- I thought that it was quite effective and eye-opening, showing the process that petrol goes throught to reach your car and the amount of pollution that is caused by cars and other methods of transportation. It also showed some of the effects of global warming and having the sound of heart beats and the heart monitor worked really well and showed that we do not have endless time to change our ways.

Other videos i found:

Global Warming


World Food Day PSA


Climate change affects health


Anti-drugs PSA


Anti-meth PSA

First blog entry

hello! i'm Jade,
welcome to my first blog for tech and design class.
I'll be posting information/images/videos and assignments
from my tech and design classes. I hope you enjoy!