Sustainability
Our Outreach Team built a kid-friendly Sustainability course that we hoped to present to all local schools in our area.
These slides were created to foster a hands-on learning lab with our focus groups.
These slides were created to foster a hands-on learning lab with our focus groups.
Portable water filter
The problem our team worked to address is climate change, particularly water safety and accessibility. Over the years, there has been an increasing amount of plastic polluting wild habitats and cities. One of the main contributors to this problem are plastic water bottles. Due to the fact that plastic is non-biodegradable, plastic water bottles have posed a massive threat to the environment. In addition, many communities in underdeveloped countries lack clean water. In fact, about 783 million people lack clean water worldwide. As a result, these underprivileged communities have grown accustomed to consuming polluted water, which creates detrimental health concerns. However this injustice extended to even communities in developed countries such as the community of Flint, Michigan where the water crisis has continued ever since 2014. Our impact area is the Los Angeles area which faces high rise of pollution due to freeways and plastic waste. This presents a major concern for the residents of our community. Therefore, our goal is to propose a viable and simple solution that would help communities globally and locally: portable water filters. Using recycled materials, we can diminish the amount of pollution littering the streets by re-purposing old plastics and present a natural filtration system that is Eco-friendly and resourceful.
Sources:
Sources:
- Facts and Statistics about Water and Its Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://thewaterproject.org/water-scarcity/water_stats
Design Process
Defining our problem:
Our team used a decision matrix to present and vote on ideas we would like to work on.
- What problem did your team want to solve or address: The problem our team wanted to address was climate change and water security.
- How does it align to your impact area: Log Angeles has a large population, which means that there is a significant amount of waste littering the streets. These pollutants can potentially damage our water supply and increase the amount of toxins in the air. This problem extends to a global scale. Therefore, we will help other communities by saving our own.
- What research did you find: About 783 million people lack clean water worldwide. Communities like Flint haven't had access to clean, drinkable water in years and little has been done to alleviate the hardships caused by the lack of clean water.
Our team used a decision matrix to present and vote on ideas we would like to work on.
Construction:
Below are the images taken while building the first prototype.
Below are the images taken while building the first prototype.
Experiment Results:
Reflection
Athenaia’s outreach has provided 136 social media users on helpful tips to effectively reach sustainability and make social distancing easier. We engaged 23 high schoolers to take the time to challenge themselves in being mindful of their waste and what to do with that waste. We prepared lessons on climate change, sustainability, and the importance of water for elementary schoolers to learn and pass on to their families. We had members in our community change an aspect of their lifestyle and continue to live by the new standards to help with climate change!
