Below is an interview with 2010 graduate of the Industrial Design program, Liz To on her sustainable degree project, thab.
To read through her process book, see the document here:
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Q: How informed where you about sustainable practices prior to coming to Emily Carr University?
Prior coming to Emily Carr University I did have a brief understanding on sustainability, such as what can I do to prevent global warming. I learned more about sustainable design in third year courses. Emily Carr University’s programs emphasize sustainability and allow students to understand what we can do.
Q: Can you describe your project for us?
The problem is 1.6 million people die from indoor pollution every year and 3 billion people in the world are still at risk from indoor pollution due to their cooking methods. In North America, 3.5 billion wire hangers end up in the landfill every year in the US, and it takes 100 years to decompose these wire hangers.
thab. is a portable dung stove designed for Tibetan Nomads. It is made from unwanted wire hangers from North America. After assembling the stove it will be filled with stones that could be found in Tibet. The combustion chamber will be filled with clay that could be found locally. thab. follows the rocket stove’s principles therefore thab. works effectively, it reduces smoke level as well as cooking time.
Wire hangers will be collected from dry cleaners, retail stores and designated bins in North America and will be shipped to Tibet by a 40 ft container. A 40 ft container can carry around 195040 wire hangers. Each stove will only need 62 wire hangers. Therefore, 5.6 million stoves can be made from 3.5 billion wire hangers. It is estimated to cost about 3500 US dollar for shipping a 40ft container.
Local Tibetan will be building thab. with these unwanted wire hangers with no technology required. This will provide local employment for Tibetans.
It will be sold to Tibetan nomads or distributed by organizations like Global Alliance.
Q: How did research play into your projects final outcome?
Research is definitely a big part of my graduation project. There are four main parts which is relevant to my project.
Market (target user) research: (It allows me to understand their need)
- Why are Tibetan nomads not using improved stoves.
- Local employment (Will there be skillful workers who can produce thab.)
- Acceptance and suitability
Product research: (It allows me to understand why indoor pollution is caused and how it can be prevented)
- What are they using right now.
- What are the most successful stoves.
Pollution research: (It allows me to understand the problem and why it is important to solve it.)
- How is indoor pollution affecting them.
Material research (It allows me to know what materials I can use and how I can use these materials)
- What materials are available in Tibet.
- The properties and ability of wire hanger
- Properties of stone
- Properties of clay
Q: Are there any resources you consulted to support this research that you could share with us?
For inspiration, I read two books: Design for the Other 90% by Cynthia E. Smith, and Design for the Real World by Victor Papanek, and most importantly my instructor helped me a lot.
Due to my target users I was unable to find a co-creator, however for my market (target user) research I was able to talk to some Tibetan nomads through a friend who lives in Tibet. He provided me information such as local material, local products, lifestyle and etc. For product research, I was able to consult Mike Hatfield from Aprovecho Research Centre and I attended the ethos conference. He gave me information about the Tibetan metal stoves. For other research, they are mostly secondary research. (for more references please review my brief). For Material research it was both secondary research and testing on my own.
Q: What criteria did your project have to meet to be sustainable?
Reusing unwanted materials- less materials to the land fill
Solving the indoor pollution problem (helping individuals as well as globally)- thab. reduces cooking time and smoke level.
Providing jobs for the locals
Keeping it inexpensive- No technology required for building the stove
Educating locals- allow them to understand how an improved stove can make them healthier.
End product life cycle- Stones and clay can be returned to the nature and the stove can last for at least a few years until it needs to be repaired or the metal can be recycled.
Q: As outlined in the Okala Ecological Learning Guide, there are different strategies for Ecodesign (Innovation, Low impact materials, Efficient Distribution, etc), What was your strategy when developing this model?
Low- impact material- Reusing materials (Wire hangers) and using materials that can be found locally (stone and clay)
Long lasting materials- Using stones and clay that can be found locally. Wire hangers are carbon steel which is long lasting materials and it melts at 1425- 1540 degree Celsius.
Optimized manufacture- No technology, template can be made for mass manufacturing. Wire hangers do need a template for bending and making precise dimensions.
Low impact use- Using animal waste as fuel and it can be found nearby as they are nomadic herders.
End product can be repaired or recycled, stones and clay can be returned to the nature.
Q: Can you describe for us how the Life Cycle Impact Assessment (“a comprehensive method to account for all ecological and human health impacts of a product or process over its entire lifecycle”), was used in your project?
System- life cycle
1. Unwanted wire hangers collected from North America’s retail stores, dry cleaners (there are at least 30000 in US) and designated recycling bins for wire hangers.
2. After collecting it will be shipped to Tibet with 40’ container. It can carry around 195040 wire hangers and thab. only require 62 wire hangers. It is estimated to cost about 3500 US dollar for shipping a 40ft container.
3. Local Tibetan will be building thab. with these unwanted wire hangers with no technology required. This will provide local employment for Tibetans.
4. It will be sold to Tibetan nomads or distributed by organizations like Global Alliance.
5. Nomadic herders will carry thab. with them as they move from one place to another. They will then apply clay to the combustion chamber and fire it. Then they fill the stove with stones. thab. is used inside the tent and they cook very often.
6. When they leave one place they can disassemble thab. and leave the stones and clay behind or they can always bring the clay with them.
7. For the end product, the stone and clay can be returned to the nature and wire hangers should be durable and last for at least a few years until it has to be repaired or the metal can be recycled.
Q: What are your plans for the future? Do you feel that sustainability will play a role in your work?
Definitely, I believe sustainable design makes a project more meaningful.
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