Project Update - Script - Reality and Creativity

I am now starting to look at how I will present the proposal and addressing specific parts of the presentation criteria. I'm choosing to depict the proposal as a story with a character:

Reality

The overwhelming allure of material positions has give us a false context of what possessions mean to us, and that they are the ultimate means to happiness and satisfaction in life. Not only this but a context in which one can judge another’s success in life. But what is the impact does this ever increasing needs to consume have on the health of the environment and the health of society.

To understand this we must look at the impact of producing the products we consume. 

Raw materials must to extracted from the earth but unlike organic material, manufactured materials such as ABS plastic, the same found in computers, do not biodegrade and therefore either end up in landfill or pollute the natural environment in fact, Last year, an estimated 150,000 tons of marine plastic debris ended up on the shores of Japan and 300 tons a day on India’s coasts. (http://coastalcare.org)

One of the major aspects of this consumerist system is the individual life cycle of a product. As products are outdated seemingly as soon as they are released, Quality and adaptability are disregarded and it becomes the norm to discard outdated products and purchase new ones. Transport, production and manufacturing of these products puts enormous strain on the environment.

Community

Faced with the serious threat of resource depletion, growing awareness that we are becoming more dependent on a lifestyle that cannot be sustained and the fact that many people cannot afford to keep up with these social trends and new community has emerged. The expert amateur or the DIY community.

This DIY community began to come to light in about 2009. The community comprises of a series of websites that create a free open source marketplace for instructions regarding fixing, upgrading and extending the life of everyday products. From phones, computers, cars and homes these websites allow everyday people to learn share and contribute to the sustainability of the planet. 

Creativity

This brings us to our character, a retiree living in a time of uncertain economic future, 2015. To add to this pressure, he constantly has to purchase new products and technology to replace the outdated and broke ones around the home, until one day his laptop dies. Tired of having to spend his retirement money on replacing old products that seem to be fine, he decides to fix it himself. After a search on the internet he quickly find some instruction and fixes it himself. He also decides to upload and share instructions for other items he knows how to fix and before long, is very involved with the online DIY community. However, he is limited by what he can work on as he does not have access to more serious workshop machinery.

Later that year he attends the Woodford folk festival and shares his ideas of extending product life and sustainable consuming. He finds that many other people are also involved with this online community and are also limited due to not having access to shop equipment.

He decides to speak with the Woodfordia organizers and in 2017, and request a meeting space with workshop facilities. The association and out character meet on site to choose a location.