1. Action name
- 1.13 Reusable Items for future IES students - Chris
- 1.1. What
- 1.2. Why this action makes things more sustainable?
- 1.3. How
- 1.3.1. "Cradle to Cradle" design
- 1.3.2. Questions for the unified survey
- 1.3.3. Analysis of the results in the survey
- 1.3.4. Incentives
- 1.3.5. Relationship with the "Sustainability Club" (SC)
- 1.3.6. How will this action be sustained when you are not here?
- 1.3.7. Document format
- 1.3.8. Copyright license of your report
- 1.4. Time-sheet / Chronogram
- 1.5. References & Links
- 1.6. Students involved in this action
Reuse/Resell Items to Future IES Students
1.1. What
What is your action about? Description of the action. This section is not about goals, but about what you have done indeed. So that if you initially wrote the goals of your action when you were planning to do something, you have to update that to reflect what you finally ended up doing.
For the continued action the Resell and Reuse School Supplies program will be extended to all items that students do not want to bring back to their respective countries. When students arrive in Barcelona there are many things they need to purchase (containers, hangars, drying racks, excess cleaning materials, etc) that they will not bring home but can be easily reused by other students. These items also include purses or bags that can be resold or donated to the Humana foundation. The idea of this program is that IES resells these goods to students at a discount price and the revenue goes towards the Sustainability club.
1.2. Why this action makes things more sustainable?
Justification: Answer this question as clear as possible: "Why your action is improving the Sustainability of IES Abroad Barcelona?. Use as many concepts as possible from the ones you learned in this course. Like:
- Resilience
- Change in Attitudes
- Reducing dependency on...
- Ecological/Water footprints
- Externalization of costs
- Long term effects
- Feedback loops (balancing / reinforcing, lagged or not)
- SLEN vs. TINA
- Copyleft (CC)...
- Free Software
- "Cradle to cradle" design (Waste = Food)
- Eco-effectiveness (vs. Eco-efficiency)
- ...
1.2.1. SWOT Analysis
Strengths
| |
The revenue goes towards the sustainability fund | |
Products are being reused/recycled | |
Future students can receive essential products at a discounted price | |
The goods will only need to be stored for a few weeks before the summer group arrives | |
If there is a lack of space the items can be recycled | |
Weaknesses
| |
Space- there must be a place to store these products | |
Time – a staff or student member must be in charge of selling the goods to the summer students because I will not be around at the time in May | |
Lack of marketing could make students unaware of this service | |
Opportunities
| |
Students can save money | |
IES can be known for sponsoring another green program | |
The sustainability club can fund more projects in future years | |
Threats
| |
Lack of knowledge about the program and future students do not utilize it | |
There could be a lack of availability of space at IES which would jeopardize the action |
(see free_SWOT_analysis_template.pdf)
1.2.2. Feedback loops
Identify potential loops produced by your action (reinforcing, balancing, lagged), and eventually, draw them in a systems analysis diagram if it makes the explanation clearer
Reinforcing Loop
Students recycle their items which are then re-bought by students in future IES programs. The new students have knowledge of the program and therefore sell back their items for future IES students. The loop continues as because students will both buy reused goods from IES and then sell their goods back at the end of the semester for cash.
Lagging Loop
Students who purchase items through the program will continue to down-cycle items for semesters to come and eventually the items will be in a condition where they cannot be used and they will be recycled and then used to create other items.
1.2.3. Potential Benefits
Benefits of any type, in short, mid or long term
College students are always strapped for cash, especially when they are abroad. This program would immediately benefit them by saving them money right when they arrive to Barcelona. I initially spent a lot of money setting up my apartment and I would have definitely utilized a program like this.
IES will also benefit because it will the Sustainability club an opportunity to make money which can be invested back into the club.
Students that are donating their goods to IES will also benefit because they do not feel like they wasted money by owning something for such a short time and they will receive money for their items they sell back.
1.2.4. Potential Costs
Costs of any type: money, time (from Students, from IES Abroad Staff, from external people), human resources, risks...
Time is one cost because the items will need to be sold back to IES students most likely by a staff member or volunteer. Students from the 2011 Spring semester will have already departed for their respective countries so additional help and time will be needed. Another cost is the actual price of the items that the future students are purchasing. However this price will be cheaper than the price of a new good at a local store so it will in fact be benefitting the students in the long run.
1.3. How
Implementation/Methodology. Including a description of the work done so far by IES Abroad Barcelona (listed maybe in the document from previous semester - See links in the Home page), Steps or phases to implement this action in a perfect world and in a real world of the few weeks remaining before YOUR departure back to USA, details for the common Time sheet of all actions, ... Links to the documents you created to support your action (stickers, survey forms, advertisements, notices to hand on IES walls, etc.) should be added here also.
This action will take place at the end of the semester when students are finishing finals and preparing to return home. “Drop off” will be during May 4th and 5th at IES. The drop-off location will be on the first floor study room. Students will drop off their goods during those days and then they will be resold to students during the welcome week of the IES Summer program. The items will then be evaluated and priced by the student in charge of the action and if the items are in a condition where they most likely won’t be sold they will be donated. After evaluation/pricing the items will be brought by the students involved in the action to a location coordinated with Ferran Teres and they will be stored in boxes for future IES students. Whatever goods are not resold can simply be recycled or donated if applicable, donated to Humana (locations listed on Humana page in references). If there is adequate space then items can be stored until the next group of IES students begin their semester.
In order to advertise for this program I will post flyers and update the Facebook page where most IES students are able to see it. Nearly all students utilize Facebook and this can be a great way to spread the word to current IES students but also future IES students.
To determine the cost of items electrical items/appliances will be sold for 10 Euro, drying racks for 5 Euro, five hangars for 1 Euro, small plastic storage containers 2 Euro, kitchenware (Tupperware, etc.) and other items will be at the discretion of the individual that is scheduled to collect that day. The items will be bought for half of the price they are sold for, and the profits go to the sustainability club.
1.3.1. "Cradle to Cradle" design
Is the design "Cradle to Cradle" ready? (= did you clearly state what waste will come out of this action, and who/how to handle such waste? paper from fliers wrapped with plastic, plastic containers to collect water from rainfall, ...). In which way the action is designed to have waste not only harmless but becoming food for other processes (technical nutrients)?
This proposed action is based on the principle of reusing or waste = food. Once one item is someone’s trash it becomes another person’s treasure. Instead of the item being immediately recycled, which is not as eco-friendly as reusing, the item is sold to future students. Once the items can no longer be used, no matter how far down the road, they can be recycled. After they are recycled they become “food” for the creation of other items.
1.3.2. Questions for the unified survey
Identify questions to be added to the survey for your action, so that you have objective data to support your expectations, hopes, ...
Are you willing to donate items to IES recycling program rather than pay for shipping to send them home or throw them out?
1.3.3. Analysis of the results in the survey
Analyse the results obtained from the answers to the survey questions, and summarize the main conclusions that you took from it
Are you willing to donate items to IES recycling program rather than pay for shipping to send them home or throw them out?
80% - Willing to Donate
5% - Depends on the Item
5% - I will throw them out
5% - No Response
Students are more than willing to donate their unwanted everyday items for students in the future. This is extremely crucial to the success of the action because it will allow for a diversity of items and increased revenue for the Sustainability Club.
1.3.4. Incentives
Which incentives do you plan to give in order to promote that people participate in your action? Why?
The main incentive for current students is to receive a small amount of money for their products that they would otherwise be throwing out or recycling. The main incentive for future students is the ability to get used goods at a cheap price. Current students also have the incentive to go green by allowing their goods to be reused by future students. IES’s incentive is to obtain money for the Sustainability Club so that they can sponsor more sustainable events.
1.3.5. Relationship with the "Sustainability Club" (SC)
What's the relationship of your action with the "Sustainability Club" (SC)? Why?
The money earned from the program will given to the “Sustainability Club” and can be used for future projects or programs. The money will most likely not be a significant amount but any funding is always appreciated.
1.3.6. How will this action be sustained when you are not here?
In order to have a sustainable action, you need to have designed some way or some person to keep doing whatever tasks are needed for the action to keep it working. Indicate here how is this going to work when you are not here...
The program will initially need to be sustained by a staff member at IES because as stated the students currently enrolled in IES will no longer be around. The program is not difficult to continue in the future because it relies mostly on students to drop off their items on the day of their last final. In the future about three students would need to take part in this action to advertise, collect, and sort out the goods that are collected. In order to store the items coordinate with Ferran Teres regarding boxes and the location of where items will be kept for future semesters.
1.3.7. Document format
If you produced some documents to support your action, did you choose some document format which can be edited with multiplatform FLOSS tools without loosing the layout? [Multiplatform = at least, the main three O.S.: GNU/Linux, Mac OSX & MS Windows]. For instance, for word documents, .odt or similar (odf) is better choice than MS Word .doc/.docx documents, since odt/odf are standards format for office documents recognized internationally by the ISO (ISO/IEC 26300:2006), and editable by OpenOffice, among others (or MS Office with a Plugin). Or for images: .svg for vectorial graphics (editable by Inkscape), or .xcf for bitmaps (editable by GIMP), etc.
The documents will be in the .odt format and .pdf format. That way the documents can be viewed and edited on a variety of operating systems.
1.3.8. Copyright license of your report
Which copyright license do you choose for your report and why? See Session 19
Attribution, Non-Commercial Share-Alike
1.4. Time-sheet / Chronogram
In rows, who does what; In columns, months of the year. In the cells, the codes for each subaction described in the report.
April 25th: Advertise for the program by posting flyers on recycled paper. This will require only one person to accomplish.
May 4th- 5th : Collect unwanted items at IES before/after classes. At least three students switch off class periods and days to collect items in first floor study room.
Welcome Week of future IES sessions: Sell back the items to students enrolled in IES.
1.5. References & Links
This is the equivalent to the "Bibliography" section of a paper, so you are expected to refer to your sources of information here, and not just to provide links for other sources of information that the reader might visit besides the information provided in your report. Books, Websites, Companies offering products, ... including action described by students in previous semesters in their Final paper documents. See links in the Home page
Creative Commons. Creative Commons. Web. 28 Apr. 2011. <http://creativecommons.org/>.
"Store Locations." Humana. Humana Foundation, 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2011. <http://www.humana-spain.org/TextPage.asp?MenuItemID=73&SubMenuItemID=148>.
Waingortin, Ryan. Resell and Reuse School Supplies and Barcelona Guide Books. Rep. May 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2011. <http://sustainability.seeds4c.org/Resell+and+Reuse+School+Supplies+and+Barcelona+Guide+Books&structure=2010a+Spring+Actions>.
1.6. Students involved in this action
Write your names, and if you did not participate equally on this action, state briefly what each one of you did for this action; i.e.: identify which is the "official" leader of this action, who the other participants, indicating the role of each student in the team. Remember that the leader the person in charge that the team work together and all things get done in time; if some member of the team for this action does not do his/her duties, the "leader" is expected to do instead to warranty the success of the action in time
As of right now I am the only person taking part in this action.
Assignment 4: Peer review form
You do not have permission to insert an item
Grades for this action report (From the PROFESSOR)