Seventh Graders Take On Sustainability

by Jocelyn M. Goode

Green, organic, sustainable—these words are common in conversations about environmental consciousness and natural health. However, they have also become gimmicky catch-phrases tossed into mainstream advertisements to make commercial products appear more socially responsible. This week, FAIM Internet Magazine looks at some defining principles of sustainability and a group of middle school boys who took on a challenge to create sustainable, useful objects from scratch.

Beyond the rhetorical debates, there are some fundamental aspects to sustainability. Here are seven basic principles to look for in objects and products:
1. Made from low-impact materials that are non-toxic and created with recycled material
2. Energy efficient, requiring little energy to function or drawing energy from natural sources like the sun or the wind.
3. High quality and durability as opposed to cheap and disposable. This ensures a longer usage life and less manufacturing/production.
4. Designed for reuse and recycling, also called a “commercial afterlife”, with properties that enable the waste to function in a productive way.
5. Leaves small carbon footprint, using less energy and releasing small amounts of carbon monoxide into the atmosphere.
6. Substitutes services over consumption, meaning a move from personal ownership to utilizing a service that encourages sharing resources to produce less waste and use less energy. Carpooling and cab-sharing are some versus vehicle purchases and multiple-car households are examples.
7. Renewable so that the resource can be replenished faster than it is consumed.

The above list is just the tip of the iceberg on the subject and the implications ultimately affect us all. Still, being informed about the basics of sustainability is always a good way to begin to analyze our own habits and the products we consume regularly.

A group of seventh grade students at George Jackson Academy, a middle school for academically promising but low-income boys, recently studied sustainability in their visual arts class. They then had the task of interpreting the principles into purposeful creations using only found materials and trash. An assorted array of objects resulted from the exercise. Here are a few.

Lateef Fall made a "green" bird feeder from a cardboard and popsicle sticks.

Michael Liu made a checkers board from old Tropicana boxes and buttons which he painted red and black.

Bruce Ramphal took the material from a broken umbrella and designed this waterproof poncho, which he says will fit a toddler perfectly.

Damien Troncoso used this empty tissue box to make a floral-decorated picture frame.

Johnny Cuevas' "umbrella-hat", still in its prototype stage is a tyvek umbrella which attaches and detaches to a cap so the wearer can use it hands-free. He still has some kinks to work out with the design...

Other prototypes included a “metro glove”, which Isaiah Horton made from a lost glove and a strip of fabric. He sized the material and attached it to the front of the glove to form a pocket perfect for a Metrocard. The “metro glove” gives the user quick and easy access to the transit card. Nahjee O’Donoghue made a wind chime using a wire hanger and empty soda cans. Even the sound was far from charming, the sound of the metal wire rustling against the aluminum cans was loud enough to silence a classroom full of routy seventh graders.

I encourage others to try the sustainability challenge and design your own reusable objects based on the seven principles. Please send your photos in to faimnetwork@gmail.com and I will post them. You just might surprise yourself with your ingenuity!