My applied research problem is how design within Art and Design materials can contribute within carbon neutrality as a priority to reduce climate change.
Abstract
"The epidemic psychosis of our time is the lie of believing we have no ethical obligation to our planetary home" Theodore Roesak"
Heritage and artisan beliefs are a continuous part of my practice inspired through critical campaigns regarding saving our planet i.e. Greenpeace Campaigns Strategies discouraging destructive pollution via development of sustainable materials. Linked to ethical philosophy and life style living choices for each and every one of use to draw down climate change.
Marketing Green Issues
My project creative direction is about marketing ideas and current debates to encourage consumers and viewers to seek a deeper understanding of ecology.
These debates, actions and new emerging strategies can be packaged into various product ideas including screen printing inks, drawing inks and the packaging required i.e. bio plastic development and recycled waxed paper for marketing sustainable art materials for art and design purposes.
While testing inks and new developments within packaging I will be developing visual art incorporating campaign strategies to encourage society to draw down climate change through appropriate lifestyle choices.
Aims and objectives
What are the current benefits and drawbacks to developing greener and more sustainable materials for art and design and how can designers currently promote ecology issues to a broader audience to discourage the use of non-biodegradable materials which are having a devasting effect on our planet. It is my intention to research where the current problems are with climate change and which non-biodegradable products are causing the most harm.
Combating climate change is a key inspiration for developing inks for screen printing I recognised a need to look at some of the ingredients to find new bio degradable sustainable alternatives. Through analysing my sustainable inks through my previous practice linked to my master’s degree, I developed inks using natural dye methodsfor screen printing. I recognised the need to look at some of the ingredients to find biodegradable sustainable alternatives. Once I started developing the inks I recognised the need for sustainable packaging removing plastic waste via developing a natural based resin /bioplastic or waterproof cardboard made from recycled paper. These ideas are a natural research development available to me to develop further. While continuing to develop and excel in making natural inks. A development in order to create a sustainable future for art and design products making creative practices even more sustainable to keep our planets biodiversity for ourselves and our planets plants and animals. Looking deeply into how my research can impact and draw down carbon emissions to reduce climate change. Sharing this knowledge and also creating art that promotes and encourages change within societies current effects on global warming is how I intend to extend my art and design practice further.
The need for carbon neutrality within creative industries is a key direction for all aspects of the design industry. Sustainability has and will always be a key direction for my own creative practice and lifestyle choices. (both being integral within my own carbon footprint)
I am researching a number of key strategies to become neutral within me
design practice.
“Carbon Neutral status can be achieved in two ways. Balancing carbon dioxide emissions with carbon neutral processes, often through carbon off setting, or the process of removing or sequencing carbon dioxide from atmosphere to make up for emissions elsewhere” (Wikipedia)
Keeping our natural surroundings is important, rewilding brown land currently polluted is also a requirement to put back our natural world in order to drawdown climate change.
While studying my MA, I recognised the need to promote visually within my design practice the need to link to global campaigns reflecting the need to protect our natural world by reducing our single use plastic waste.
Finding ways to reduce waste is an important strategy, looking at ways to reduce this made me think about how to make my designs more sustainable.
Researching my own inks for drawing and printing has become part of my research. I have more research to develop including researching developing biodegradable resins/plastics/waterproof cardboard for packaging eco conscious inks using local sustainable resources.
Finding ways to reduce waste is an important strategy, looking closely and in more detail is part of current research. I have realised there is so much more research I can achieve within this area; my MA was purely the test run for a bigger more important research development. My preferred method of research analysis and documentation is through a detailed journal through my online blog and traditional sketch books. I find this a useful storage system which I can also receive feedback from. My iPhone app makes it simple and easy to develop. This way of processing information gives me access to producing hardback journals which gives a tactile and easy way to see a lot of research easily through page flicking.
I find this a valued way to personally reflect and evaluate my research in a clear and organised way.
Keeping our biodiversity landscape is important for our plant’s survival.
Continuing my research into using local natural resources to create art resources for myself and also to create research that can be utilised by others to reduce waste is part of my current philosophy-based design practice, working and collaborating inside community projects is a direction I am developing forward.
Due to current lockdown processes I am also proposing online podcasts, workshops and collaborative discussions on creative practice and carbon neutrality.
Research Question/Hypothesis
The values and ethics of sustainable materials development for art and design practice is an ever-developing question. My research questions encompass the potential benefits of sustainable materials for art and design including printing inks/resins/bioplastics. Developing printing inks for my practical design practice to encourage consumers by promoting a greener more sustainable lifestyle “promoting the natural world researching what the key points are for environmental conservation. Creating packaging to co-inside with ink and ingredients needed to produce a current carbon neutrality-based product for art and design use.
Considering the current and previous schools of thought in regard to land ecology and usage the following statement applies to be analysed.
“The measure of economic success must include the health of our air, water, soils, climate and wildlife.
In comparison the 20thcentury strategy which is still being processed in the majority of land management across the globe is “ The only important measure of economic success is GDP, growth rates , profits, share prices.” Social and economic pressures on the environment are multi-faceted ,however plastic waste is having a devasting effects on global marine life (oceans covering 70% of the earth) makes it a very important research area. Currently 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our oceans every year. Due to current global warming icecaps are melting and more specifically Antarctica and Artic landscapes are melting at a dramatic level, effecting oxygen levels in turn reduces ice algae which is fundamental important for our oceans and food chain for all living creatures in our oceans. Pollution is impacting on millions of people who depend on the marine environments.
“Hence, scientists, governments ,international organizations, such as the United Nations(UN) , European Union(EU) and the world at large continue to invest money ,time, energy, and resources to find a permanent solution to the issue.” (09.02.21/res.mdpi.com sustainability 2020,12,8677;doi:10.3390/su12208677)
Introduction /Background/Rational
Researching current attitudes in regard to protecting wildlife is an essential research in order to find new ways of protecting are wildlife and encouraging health and prosperity for both humans and nature. Natures wildlife areas are decreasing, and humans are encroaching on wildlife areas opening up potential problems including Covid 19 viruses currently taking over the world predicted to be due to wild animal meat being sold in live markets in china, social and economic analysis being a fundamental reason for why the world health is currently underpinned with global crisis.
· In these challenging times it’s important to find out why we are currently inside of a global pandemic, our natural world is depleting, and humans and wildlife are becoming entwined in desperate environments. Wildlife environments have a multi-etude of viruses still unknown to science when a wild virus mutates. We need to find answers to reduce pollution, increase wildlife areas, create more wildlife sanctuaries across the globe and life sustainable life styles. If we do not strive for these goals the world will continue to create more mutated viruses creating global chaos including
dangerous weather situations due to climate change.
· Researching current data on carbon neutral product development and also current attitudes towards climate change and lifestyle behaviour via research questions and data will help in order to strategies key information in regard to reducing waste for future art and design material developments.
Plastic waste in our oceans and rivers has hit an all-time high and is set to double in the next 10 years, combating this problem has been exasperated via our current global pandemic with the use of disposable PPE.
Researching climate change, our oceans and our ever-reducing Antarctic icecaps are my main areas of research. Finding information out on current data and strategizing ways in which lifestyle choices within purchasing and behaviour can help reduce climate warming and draw down climate temperature changes to reduce and remove the current climate emergency is where I want my research to take.
Looking closely at the impact’s plastic waste has on the health of ecosystems and humans and how design developments can help in the pursuit of carbon neutrality.
Consumption of sustainable materials is a key factor in reducing waste using materials that are organic that will decompose within a natural environment which does not pollute is fundamentally important , the complexities of pollution, climate change and species extinctions. Reducing chemical use is a key factor in reducing green house gases, 30 percent of green house comes from food production, chemical use means more water is used which also effects climate change.
Antarctica is depleting at a fast level, 70% of Antarctica ice has already melted in the last 30 years.600 tons of ice is being lost at sea. Methane is being expelled in mass quantities which was previously frozen. Methane is far more potent than carbon monoxide. Recent research has predicted a reduction in current carbon dioxide global absorption rates C02 via plants, oceans, soils at 50% may be coming to an end the new Anthropocene era where by humans are effecting the eco system in away that is changing and modifying our plant in a considerable way which has meant we have reached a tipping point which could spell a complete change in every single component of our global cycle i.e. deforestation, urbanization, food production changes in our chemical and ecological composition of our oceans, ocean eradication and de-oxygenation all of which will mean humans and animals will have less and less food oxygen and habitats to live in. All of which of which are essential in a growing populated world. The choices of today that we make will affect the choices of our future generations and the biodiversity of our natural world.
Researching bio-plastics, no chemical inks and using local natural materials for art and design materials will add to the ever-growing demand for low carbon emission products for the future.
What are the potential benefits of sustainable printing inks on drawing down global warming and the benefits of sustainable packaging on our plant’s future.
Theoretical Perspectives
“Marine plastic pollution as an emerging Anthropocene risk.
Human activities are capable of changing the normal functioning of Earth-system processes in ways that amplify risks to societies worldwide. One of the most conspicuous anthropogenic activities is the manufacturer, use and disposal of plastic. This synthetic material is so widespread throughout the environment that plastic is now considered as a geographical maker of the Anthropocene, the emerging epoch in which humans activities have a decisive influence on the state, dynamics and future of the earths system. Most plastics took of rapidly since the 1950’s, shaping the development of modern society. Global production of plastic resin increased from 1.5 billion tons in 1950’s, to 322 million tons in 2015. Estimates are during 2010, between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of mis-managed land based plastic waste entered the oceans. The absolute amount is difficult to calculate, due to the many different sources and environmental transport pathways, but marine plastic pollution(MPP) is now ubiquitous in marine environment”(journal: marine policy www.elsvier.com/locate/marpol)
“From a stratigraphic perspective, there is a clear Anthropocene threshold between pre-plastic and post plastic systems, but for a chemical pollutant to pose a planetary boundary threat, it’s environmental exposure and/or its disruptive effects must be poorly reversed. Marine plastic pollution will always fulfil this condition, as the ultimate end-fate of most mis-managed plastics is in the ocean..
The ubiquity of plastic debris and the feasibility of its substantial removal from the marine environment, especially in the case of micro- sized particles , mean that exposure is essentially irreversible. Recent estimates suggest the presence of a least 5 trillion plastic pieces floating in the oceans. Plastic material has been observed in most domains of the physical environment, including biosphere, cryosphere's, ocean sediments and even the atmosphere, to the extent that lately been considered a stratigraphic marker of Anthropocene. MPP is accumulating around the convergence zones in the five subtropical ocean gyres and the Arctic Ocean. These large-scale accumulation zones are a consequence of the effects of winds, ocean’s surface currents and the thermohaline circulation. Furthermore, concentrations comparable to those in the subtropical gyres have been recorded close to highly populated areas such as the Mediterranean Sea, Bay of Bengal, South China Sea and Gulf of Mexico. Organisms ingesting and later egesting MPP also play a role in the global distribution of plastic particles. The biological pathway cannot be halted or reversed. The weathering of microplastics is a major source of the micronized plastic particles currently present in the marine environment. The main mechanisms for this are degradation by mechanical wave action,UV photodegradation, and changing genetic diversity. These properties cannot be inactivated.
Recent studies also highlight the importance of land-based breakdown of textile fibres as a source of microplastic. Thus , even if inputs of microplastic debris in the marine environment will inevitably continue to increase with an associated outlook of shifting exposure and complex effects on different ecosystems. A major uncertainty relates to the disruption of systemic connections between the physical and the living components of the Earths system. Here carbon sequestration illustrates the issues because the global carbon cycle is one of the biophysical foundations of the earth system. It links ocean processes with the atmosphere, biosphere, and terrestrial environment and plays a vital role in balancing the climate system. Mechanisms can be envisaged where MPP affects the ability of the oceans to sequester carbon into the major global reservoirs of deep-water bodies and ocean sediments, biological and physicochemical means.
The consequences on the carbon cycle would only be detectable on a global scale, and after a considerable time lag. A biologically-mediated disruption to the long-term storage of carbon could occur if biological processes at the base of the ecosystem functions are altered because of the presence of plastic. MPP could alter marine populations through booms or collapses, including the extinction of keystone species. MPP may also have the capacity to cause a biophysically-mediated disruption. The flux faecal pellets are an important component of the biological pump of carbon(including anthropogenic atmospheric carbon) to ocean sediments. Microparticles of polystyrene alter the properties and sinking rates of faecal pellets egested by marine zooplankton. Particulate material could thus interfere with the flow of carbon nutrients in the water column, affecting the regulation of global biogeochemical flows in turn affecting the future trophic chains. The physical burial of plastic materials may also represent a shift in long term carbon storage, since it does not share the element ratio of living material. Recent estimates for the marine plastic debris range from between 86 and 150 million tons of plastic. A large fraction of the plastic known to of entered the surface ocean is not currently accounted for. It is ultimate fate is to be deposited(directly or through the biota) onshore or on the sea floor."
"MPP is a globally sustainability challenge, a clear example of the tragedy of commons, difficult to manage and govern globally. Plastic waste is being addressed by multinational frameworks." (journal home-page : www.elsever.com).
The Anthropecene;Making sense of the climate change
“A good short definition of the Anthropocene is the epoch where human component of the earth system is large enough to affect how it functions. When the scale of human impact is that large, the corresponding solutions to major human problems will often end up being large and so may have unintended consequences for the Earth system and for us. This is a key draw back of using geoengineering techniques such as reflecting some of the Sun’s energy back to space as a way of solving our emission problem. But even under the hopeful scenario of meeting the Paris Agreement goals, the planet would be further transformed to the detriment of some of the world’s most diverse habitats. The main stream positive and progressive storyline of solving climate change substitutes one disaster for another. The delay-climate-action-and-make-nature-pay-later story is not a wise one to tell ourselves. In essence it is still the old religious idea of human dominating nature rendered in mathematical equations. Much less destructive pathways are possible to limit global warming, but within the norms of the current consumer capitalist mode of living they are too easily discarded as “unrealistic”, so the public and the policy makers never even ever hear them. These difficulties suggest that for a global network of interconnected cultures to thrive in the Anthropocene a suite of much more radical interventions may be required.(P399, The human Planet.How we created the Anthropocene. Lewis.S.L,Maslim.MA.Penguin.2018)
