Coming Along

It has been a while since I have posted. and my project has been completely reworked. I abandoned my water recycling shower idea, and took on a more broad approach to utilizing water and shying away from city water reliance. I am about 82% done so far with my powerpoint presentation, and it is coming along quite nicely. I will hopefully be done by tomorrow; I just need to finish putting pictures up and finalize my "ideal water house" design in Illustrator. Then I will start practicing presenting. Should be good. Heyo!

Progression.

so its been an eventful week.

my original idea was to create a super-glued arch of empty plastic bottles around the drinking fountain in first floor lawrence. the idea is to promote awareness for how many plastic bottles we go through every day. i currently have two 30 gallon trash bags full of bottles, all collected in one day around campus.

so i have all my bottles for the sculpture, but was told i have to wait two weeks to get a building art installation approved. so in the meantime i came up with a backup proposal that can be easily moved.

i am calling this 'the refill project', and this idea would be something like the word 'refill' spelled out of all my bottles, laid out on the ground in front of the water fountain. there would also be a space so that people can still get through.

i have also made up a few posters to inform at and around the sculpture location.

feedback is appreciated. i ams till going through with the art install process, but assuming that takes the full two weeks, i will have this plan to fall back on.

voting time

here are a few fliers Ive put together for my project. If theres one you like better than another let me know. Or if there is something you like about one and something different about another please let me know. They are about 90 percent done. thanks

copper

I spent yesterday afternoon in the copper pipe isle at Home Depot. I would like to say that despite its size, Home Depot has very limited help so I was left to fend for myself. I did get some copper tubing which i cut to length and I have begun to bend it in an attractive manner. It is proving to be kind of a pain because after you bend it past a certain point it kinks but i think if I apply some heat to it, it will agree with me. As far as actually connecting the copper to the sink faucets that's an entirely different beast and a bridge I will cross once I get to it.

Google Wave | Usefull tool for class... well at least when it becomes public

This is a long demo video but the potential for this application is going to be insane! It would be a very useful tool for this class. You could use it to collaboratively take notes for study groups, create mind-maps in a group, sharing pictures with each other, and MORE.
"What is a wave?
A wave is equal parts conversation and document.People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.
A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.
A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time."

Check it out here for more information

Drew Travis 10/20 work session

I spent my time collecting info based on recycling shower technology. Most of the snazzy websites/products were based out of Australia; apparently the country has a serious water shortage. The Quenchshower is a tiled shower that hooks up to your current water supply for both regular hygiene showers as well as extended luxury showers. The drain is plugged, a reservoir at the base fills up, and then the shower engages into "auto mode" continually recycling the water previously plugged up. After exiting the shower, hit a button and the shower engages a one-minute cleanse cycle to remove any excess water still in the system. What is great is that the water still goes down the drain afterwards, so no serious water pipe diversion/conversion is required. Another shower relied on "phytopurification" to clean shower water. Microorganisms eat soap and shampoo molecules, and render the water ready for reuse. Two very clever ways to clean water. By Thursday I would like to have researched enough about filtration systems, so that I can redisign the schematic during next work period.

Cool Design Foundation: Fun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSiHjMU-MUo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbEKAwCoCKw

check these out!

Accordian Book How-To

For those who are interested in making an accoridan book...

http://www.sdmart.org/pix/accordionbook.pdf

and/or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztqc-JChteg
(warning:  video is laden with cheese and cuteness!)

SolarGutter Distiller

Problem: Wasting mass amounts of water while taking showers

Solution: Redesigning showers that recycle water for reuse.

How: Before using the shower the lower piece must be filled with water. Much like filling a super-soaker, the base acts as a storage unit for the water to be used and reused. Push the primer pump button on shower floor completely down, and then fill up the shower up to the full capacity. “When the light turns green, the tub is clean”, or in this case, the shower is ready for action. Step inside, select hot, warm, or cold, and press the floor pump the designated amount in order to achieve water pressure and temperature. After you have primed the shower, seal the door and start to relax. The pumps that line the innards of the shower act as a heating source for the water. On its way to the ceiling faucets, the water passes through the pumps, absorbs the heat, is enjoyed by the user, and then collects in the floor drains for further use. The floor drains are lined with special iodine grates, which strip the water molecules of any filth, while collecting human debris (hair, dirt, etc). The grates are replaceable, should be rinsed after every 100 washes, and replaced after every 1000 uses. The cost to replace the grates is miniscule in comparison to constantly having to pay to for water and heating it. Finally when the showerer is finished, hit the drain button, and watch as the recycled water is collected back into the bottom section for later use.

Where: The shower would be great for campsites where water may be hard to supply. Once filled, many campers could use the public shower, while the park rangers would supply routine cleaning and drain maintenance. The shower would be great for desert dwellers striving for water, who are tired of outrageous prices to supply it. Ultimately I would like to see the shower incorporated into the homes of everyday citizens

Man Spaces

I'm aware there's a show all about this kind of thing on some cable channel, but I thought this was worth a watch. For anyone like myself whose problem is at all related to their living space, check it out.

It's a short one, only about 5 minutes or so.

Good Website for HOME DIY / crafting, cooking, making things for your home

http://tipnut.com

(example project on tipnut.com, taken from www.curbly.com)