Mardi Gras Made in China

In the United States, we usually think of New Orleans when the word Mardi Gras is brought up.  It is a giant party full of bright costumes, rich food, a lot of booze, and thousands and thousands of plastic beads.  Where did these beads come from?  In the documentary, Mardi Gras Made in China, we get to follow these beads from when they are made, to when they are used as decor.  The vast majority of these beads come from a large factory in China.  This factory is the home for all of the employees.  They work around 12-16 hours a day, doing the same monotonous tasks over and over again, all day long.  They are only given two weeks out of the year to visit home.  One girl that was interviewed said she only made around $62 dollars in a month.  The employees are teens or in their early twenties who give up their dreams and aspirations to help their family’s economic issues.  The employees begin and end their day with each other.  They grow extremely close, and essentially become family.  The conditions are fairly poor.  They work around toxic fumes and materials, sleep on extremely thin cots, and work very long hours. The head of the company believes in punishment.  If an employee doesn’t work the required hours, or has someone of the opposite sex in their room, he will sometimes take away a whole months pay.  Not being able to have someone of the opposite sex in your room, what an interesting restriction, due to the fact that some of the beads made at the factory are penises they have to paint and that these beads are sometimes given to women in exchange for a peek at their jugs.  It is physical labor in China in exchange for physical fun in the United States.  We use these beads for the Mardi Gras holiday, to wear around our necks.  Some women expose themselves in exchange for these beads.  What an odd tradition.  Do we REALLY need these beads?  How important are they?  The beads start in the hands of young workers in China, and usually end up in the streets of New Orleans the morning after Mardi Gras, later to be thrown away.  In Materials and Processes, we were given a small packet of questions that you can ask about any product or technology.  They range from ecological questions, to social and moral questions. What are its effects on the health of the planet and of the person? Does it serve the community? How does it affect our perception of our needs? What values does its use foster?  Mardi Gras beads: is it really worth it?

Film director David Redmon did an extremely good job in creating Mardi Gras Made in China.  I would definitely recommend checking this film out.  It not only exposes you to what Chinese workers go through to fabricate Mardi Gras beads, but will also get you to think about the reason, use, and origin of other products that we use.  Explore, wonder, and ask about these products.  

Homecontained

Materials and Processes went down to Kansas City last week for a field trip.  This was the first trip where I decided to drive myself, and what a horrible decision that was.  I really need to learn how to get around the city…and..learn to read maps.  Anyways! I arrived in a neighborhood, slightly confused since I didn’t see a big company like I usually do.  I was just surrounded by houses.  However, the further I looked, the clearer it came to me which house we were going to tour.  Debbie Glassberg, former toy designer, has switched from designing little gadgets for children to designing homes.  What makes her work so unique is that she makes these homes from containers.  She got the idea when she attended Canton Fair in China.  Although these containers aren’t exactly a “new” idea, Glassberg’s containers are unique in the way they combine different spaces to make a home.  These homes raise an unlimited amount of possibilities.  They are customizable spaces that can be used to live in, work in, learn in, etc.  They can be temporary or permanent.  Basically, these containers are very flexible to the user’s needs.  Glassberg gave us a tour of her house, which she designed herself.  It was both beautiful and fun, inside and out, and is basically completely recyclable.  The insulation is made from soy foam, insulating board, with no adhesives.  Much of their lighting comes in from the many windows found throughout the house.  There are no curtains or blinds on the windows.  Instead, they are either up high enough to cover the body of anyone walking through the house, or frosted up to that point.   When it is night, they use LED lights, which are cheaper, last long, and use a very small amount of electricity.  They also use geo-thermal heating and cooling.  Her entire yard is edible.  This kind of metal house is very sustainable and has fewer layers than traditional homes.   They hold great against weather.  All you need to do is keep it painted and don’t let it rust, and it will basically last forever.   Debbie Glassberg has introduced a way to live greener in a very modern and stylish way, while also being very customizable.  I would definitely recommend visiting her website and checking out this amazing home at www.homecontained.com

Cell Phone Dissection

1: Back Housing

            polycarbonate, silver coloring

            injection molding

2: Front Housing

            polycarbonate, glass, silver coloring

            injection molding

3: Keypad and Lens Housing

            polycarbonate, glass, silver coloring

            injection molding

4: LCD Display Screen

LCD back lights, flex ribbon cable, speakers, liquid crystal display, glass, mercury

5: Interior Protecting Bumpers

            dyed rubber

            injection Molding

6: Back Housing Cover

            polycarbonate

            injection molding

7: Front Keybad

            polycarbonate, printed coloring

            injection molding

8: Circuit Board

computer chip, printed circuit board, copper, adhesive, epoxy resin, gold plating, arsenic, antimony, beryllium, brominated flame retardants, calcium, lad, nickel, silver, tantalum, and zinc

9: SD card (Secure Digital card):

            polycarbonate, gold plating

10: Lithium Battery:

            aluminum, lithium ion cell

11: Buttons (Sound, Power, etc.)

            polycarbonate

            injection Molding

12: Hardware (screws):

            steel

13: Inside battery and circuit board cover:

            steel

            injection molding

            

For this project in Materials and Processes, we were to find a cell phone, or even a regular telephone, take it apart, and dissect it.  We were then assigned to research the materials and processes involved to fabricate the phone.  I chose my dad's old at&t Samsung Ruby II.  Taking the phone apart was a fairly enjoyable process.  It was like a hide and seek game finding the screws, which were all hidden under small pieces of plastic attached with adhesive.  Researching the raw materials and processes of the phone was a whole different, and frustrating process.  Each website only had a minimal amount of information about one certain part of the phone.  With what I could find, and with what I have learned, I matched the names to the materials and processes involved. On the above diagram, I have marked the different significant parts of the cell phone.  Below are matching numbers, and a list of the materials the part may have consisted of, and what processes might have taken place.  Learning about the life sequence of our electronic devices in the few videos we watched in class were great connectors in this project.  Some of these phones contain dangerous materials and chemicals that can't just be thrown away.  Designers today should focus on making products out of materials that can be easily reused or recycled.   

Waste=Food

Materials and Processes recently viewed a 60 Minutes special that discussed the serious problem of illegally shipping our old computers and other devices to developing countries, creating a harmful waste, called E-waste.  We then watched a video called Waste=Food.  This short video discussed the problems of E-waste, and a way to solve it.  The solution is making textiles that are biodegradable, making them food for growth.  We need to start designing things that can be thrown away safely in the future.  I think this is a technique all designers should consider when making a product.  

60 Minutes: The Electric Wasteland

Materials and Processes has been taking a break from touring companies, to exploring the world of technology.  We recently watched a 60 Minutes special called The Electric Wasteland.  What happens to our old computers, cell phones, or other electronics after we are done with them?  Some people stow them in their basement, or storage.  Others send them off to be recycled.  And some just throw them in the trash.  However, the technology from the last two examples I have mentioned sometimes end up at the same place.  E-waste is electric waste, and is one of the fastest growing components of waste.  This electric material can be full of dangerous metals.  Unfortunately, some of our old electronic devices are shipped illegally to China, even from some recycling plants.  This waste is harming their environment, and people.  Many of the children have lead in their blood from playing in the rivers that is full of dangerous chemicals.  However, many of the locals are protective of this waste, because some of the valuable metals it contains.  This is obviously a huge problem.  We continue to work harder for these old electronic devices to be recycled correctly and not shipped illegally to developing countries.