Core77

This design competition is so problematic I don't know where to start. The metacycle idea is to take "obsolete" items and change them into "new and eco-responsible products."

Sounds good. but after spending a little time with Alex Steffen's article it only takes a second to realize that if the goal is to really create something ecologically responsible, we must, MUST demand an inquisition to the meaning of obsolescence- and we MUST have some sense, even a basic sense of energy input required to do any of this on a large scale.

Firstly lets talk about obsolescence.
Of the ten items chosen in this metacycle competition 7 of them have no reason to ever even be obsolescent. The goggles, the flashlight, the walkman, the cell phone, the thermos, and the hockey stick can be used forever until they break, at which point the ecologically responsible, lowest energy input only responsible thing to do with them is have the repaired. Period

There is no sense in breaking a flashlight by turning it into a pez dispensor or napkin ring or whatever. Likewise It is insane to consider that a working cell phone, something that only 50 years ago would be considered nothing less than a miracle of scientific achievement would end up being used as a plastic case for makeup. . If you really want a new flashlight or cell phone than the most ecological thing you can do is to give the old one to someone who needs it.

There may be some room for conversation about the markers, the VHS tapes, the toothbrush-and even the mouse- but really if this metacycle idea is going to mean anything more than a clever exercise it should try and challenge people to re-think our real problems. We are not besieged by piles of VHS tapes. I still watch VHS- you can too.

But we do have a problem with office paper and thrown out food at restaurants and hundred other serious parts of not so sexy actual waste stream. A short list of things that actually need to be re-purposed would contain things like, disposable diapers, plastic bags (hundreds of square miles of which are floating around the oceans)- old refrigerators, old cars, mattress, syringes and coke bottles. A little research would go along way here.

Then when an award is given it wont be given away to someone who comes up with a clever way to turn your computer mouse into a pencil sharpener, by adding, um- a pencil sharpener inside of it- but rather it will be something that tackles the real problems in our waste stream that the world faces by changing it to something that people actually need and can use, and reducing energy use in the process.

My metacycle proposal: metacycle the metacycle.
Repurpose this competition to be in line with actual green goals.

you should really send that comment to the competition's organization

First of all, thank you RL for your comment. I speak for the whole metacycle team when I thank you for raising some interesting points. Surely, others may have similar concerns, so this is a good opportunity to clarify our position on some of these complex issues.

The first issue addressed is obsolescence. When we say metacycling is to take "obsolete" items and change them into "new and eco-responsible products" we are using obsolete in the broad sense of the term meaning objects no longer in use or no longer useful (as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary). We use this broad term because it encompasses all reasons why an object may be at the end of its useful life-cycle - we are not discriminating between technologically obsolete objects, functionally obsolete objects or any other objects that may no longer be useful its user.

Contrary to what may have been understood, we strongly advocate the use of such websites as
freecycle.org and craigslist.com to help people find new homes for unused but functioning products. Donations to such organizations as the Salvation Army are also a great way to help those who otherwise may not be able to afford the necessities that many of us enjoy. To be perfectly clear, RL, we are NOT suggesting you break a flashlight.

In many cases, a product that is no longer functioning can be repaired. If this is the case, by all means, we suggest fixing it! Unfortunately, companies often refuse to repair a product - as in the case of a water damaged cell phone - and other times the repair costs are unreasonable. In other cases still, products are simply un-repairable. Although we might not seem to be besieged with videotape cassettes, more than 2 billion VHS videotapes were sold worldwide in 1996 alone. It is difficult to imagine the amounts of waste that kind of large scale production can create. The images of Chris Jordan (http://www.chrisjordan.com/) might better illustrate the incredible amounts of products that are thrown out, daily, hourly and by the second.

So despite the flourishing market for previously owned products and the ability to repair broken ones, objects do reach the end of their useful life-cycle. These are the objects that Metacycle is presently concerned with and this leads me to your second issue: energy input. Currently, products such as cell phones and computer mice are being collected in take-back programs for recycling, a highly energy intensive process.

The "downcycled" material could be mixed with virgin material and remolded into a makeup case or a pencil sharpener casing but what those concepts proposed is a much less energy intensive way of achieving the same result. Those concepts may be unconventional but we feel they are a first step in adopting the type of creative thinking that is necessary to lower the impacts of products.

Lastly, we most definitely agree that there are countless other products that need to be better taken care of at the end of their life cycle. Refrigerators, old cars, mattress, syringes and coke bottles are very pertinent examples of extremely problematic products in terms of their end-of-life treatment.We are currently working on a section of the website that will challenge the community to suggest products or systems they feel need to be addressed.

We aren't proposing that the Metacycle project is the solution to all sustainability problems, but generating a space for creative second life ideas is the contribution that we wish to bring to the table. We are begining with 10 objects that we believe offer a good starting point for encouraging creative ideas. Step by step, as the initiative grows, we expect to tackle many more problems. In the meantime however, these are the exact discussions we are trying encourage and thank you again for your feedback.

The Metacycle Team