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“SocialDesignSite.com is a non-profit organisation that aims to foster a discourse on social design through our international online platform and the organization of and participation in projects, exhibitions, conferences, lectures, etc.”
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via National Design Triennial
Why Design Now?
“Kareline’s PLMS is a natural, fiber-reinforced PLA (polylactic acid) that is biodegradable and has applications for consumer electronics, packaging, toys, and other goods. The matrix plastic is PLA, a compostable thermoplastic that is derived from renewable resources such as corn starch and sugar cane. PLA is a sustainable alternative to traditional plastics made from polyethylene, for example, and can be injection-molded and used in the same kind of products as its relative. The fibers that reinforce the PLA are wood-based pulp fibers from a certified forest-stewardship program in Finland, and are manufactured in an environmentally friendly manner. They also improve the technical performance in the injection-molding of the PLA, including the temperature range under which the end products can be used.”
Location: finland
Wow. Check this out. We know that there’s a huge pile of garbage in the pacific. A famous quote I’ve heard many times says “life constantly presents us with opportunities disguised as unsolvable problems.”
With that attitude I think this article I read about building an island and processing center in the middle is pretty cool:
http://green.blorge.com/2010/07/recycled-island-will-be-created-from-plastic-waste-in-the-pacific-ocean/
And why not? It’s a goot way to get rid of junk, and maybe even make some usable space in a world that’s running low on it.
-Tom
http://ravingsoftom.blogspot.com/
GOOD Blog > Nikhil Swaminathan on January 14, 2010 at 4:30 pm PST
Education Week released, “Quality Counts 2010,” its annual report card on the state of public education in the U.S. today, praising some states and taking others to task on their stewardship of molding the next generation.
What I find most interesting about the report is that states that score high marks on the metrics bundled under the heading “The Teaching Profession” (pdf) aren’t the states that are topping the list titled “Chance for Success” (pdf).
For the group of measures that include teacher quality and compensation, the top five states are: South Carolina (which earned the survey’s only A grade), Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida, and Maryland. However, that translates into success grades of C, C-, C-, C, and B+. respectively. (The U.S. average for “Chance of Success” was a C+.)
Maryland is the only one of those five states whose teachers are apparently responsible for its students’ success; the others just seem to have “qualified,” but ineffective instructors. (In case you were wondering, the five states that offer students the best chances for future success are: Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Minnesota.)
This disconnect adds further fuel to the fiery conundrum of what makes for a good teacher. It’s a question we’ve discussed on this blog and that is covered in the latest issue of The Atlantic. Clearly, the debate rages on.
Post By Elmer Atienza I recently discovered this website and webpage (http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9221.aspx) that describes the “Grand Challenges of Engineering” as pronounced by the National Academy of Engineering (of the National Academies). The Grand Challenges of Engineering are, in the order of their poll results: Should we, as designers, have a similar list of “grand challenges” of our own, as pronounced by one of our representative organizations such as the IDSA, DMI, AIA or AIGA? Or could we, as designers along with our representative organizations, partner with engineers and the National Academy of Engineering to surmount these challenges since they can all be viewed as design problems that will require design thinking as much as scientific thinking to formulate hypotheses, research, conceive, test and evaluate, and reiterate possible solutions? Most of these grand challenges will require the design and development of objects and interactions that will manipulated by people for their effects, and will thus require the unique skill-sets and mind-sets of architects, product designers, industrial designers, interaction designers and graphic designers. For designers, here lies a fantastic opportunity to lose or gain ownership of the kinds of problems for which viable solutions will not only help the lot of humanity but will establish respect for design’s role in the improvement of our lives.
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