Temp Ex - Assignment 1: Desalination

Notes of interest from reading:

"Research results in new knowledge and the final test of new knowledge is what it contributes to the human condition... art produces new knowledge to culture, in which new art directly adds to the quality of cultural experiences" --Bernard Hoffert

 

Initial thoughts on Desalination before research

De- (removal of) Saline (salt) -ation (the process of)

  • The process of salt removal
  • Removal of salt from a substance
  • Reverse Osmosis
  • Components of salt: Sodium Chloride (NaCl) NA+ and Cl-

Cultural/Political

  • There are political discussions around this on how that affects publics (example, countries that surround the Dead Sea).

Food

  • salt brings out flavors in food (opens up taste buds)
  • Removal of taste from food--- not good

Human body

  • Na+ ions support cellular function by helping keep positive osmotic pressure (known as electrolytes)
  • Desalination of the Human body would lead to dehydration and death

Environment

  • Salt in the oceans support specific species and marine life
  • Removal of salt could change the species that are able to live in those saline environments.

 

Research

Formal Definition:

More generally, desalination refers to the removal of salts and minerals from a target substance, as in soil desalination, which is an issue for agriculture. Saltwater is desalinated to produce water suitable for human consumption or irrigation. One by-product of desalination is salt.

  • I thought I was simply the removal of salt, but it is also the removal of minerals
  • This can be done in soil for agriculture or in Saltwater

"Desalination" used in Art - Dead Sea Salt Crystal Gown

Response

Desalination is the concept where salt water is converted to fresh water that can be used for consumption.  There are multiple processes that are possible to retrieve this result: Thermal and membrane-based processes

Thermal can be a very expensive way of desalination.  Israel is the real expert as they are leading the way with some of the largest reverse-osmosis facilities where they use reverse osmosis to provide their country with clean drinkable water in a location were saline water is very high.

Humans have looked to nature to understand reverse osmosis because there are plants and animals that have ben desalinizing their water for centuries. The mangrove is a small tree or shrub that grows in coastal saline water and uses reverse osmosis in their root membranes to remove salt. "Red mangroves use this energy-free trick to make their drinking water: evaporation wicks moisture from their leaves, creating a vacuum that sucks saltwater through their root membranes up through the tree, leaving salt behind." (Inhabitat.com, 2017)

Why do we need to think about the concept of desalination?

As Global temperatures continue to rise, greater evaporation in the oceans will cause the increase in percentages of saline in the oceans as warmer air has the ability to hold and to redistribute more moisture (Science, 2012). Areas that already have a large amount of salt water, over the next century the concentration of salt will drastically go up.  Fresh water is needed for human and animal consumption, agriculture, habitat support, etc.  Desalination will be a process that will need to be incorporated into our communities and countries.

Make something! Play!

This topic inspired my to revisit an experiment that I used to do as a child.  Understanding the correct proportions of salt to water, one can form saline crystals overnight in your own home (Here's an example of this experiment).

I wanted to see if I could recreate a beautiful catalog of images of saline crystals.  As a former scientist, I wanted there to be a didactic component to this experience, but decided that I wanted to just create and not try to force a concept onto it.

Here are my formed salt crystals

Desalination: Salt crystals magnified with a lens

Desalination

Desalination: Salt crystals magnified with a lens

Desalination

Desalination: Salt crystals magnified with a lens

Desalination: Salt crystals inverted to observe the crystalline structure

Desalination: Salt crystals magnified with a lens

 

 

Nutrio - Final Project

In the last three classes before our final presentation at UNICEF HQ, we were really able to shape our idea and develop a potential product that we feel could be a useful asset for redistributors to help grocery stores, restaurants, homes deal with excess foods, and efficiently support charities and undernourished communities. Three weeks ago, we defined a

Problem statement:

The problem of inequality of food access affects people all over the world. How might we better redistribute wasted food from events, and local farms for low-income individuals in order to ensure access and education to healthy nutrition.

Created a systems map:

Developed a research plan:

Our plan is to have contact with individuals from the CSA groups, soup kitchens and food redistribution sectors. We have reached out to the following groups and are trying to either have an face-to-face interview or a conversation on the phone: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QqaiAaQ4fFr_-DNxNMvmM6vP_1rZbbh_JtMK-gsnZgQ/edit?ts=58e9da07#gid=0

Narrowed down our focus location:

We have decided to focus on tackling this problem in NYC and create a program that can be applied to other areas around the world

We wrote down a bunch of questions that we were to use in our interviews:

  1. Could you explain your current process - what you do, how you do it?
  2. How many people do you reach? How do you determine who to reach?
  3. What type of food do you typically distribute? Is it sealed / opened / fresh? What factors determine what resources you receive, where you receive from, and who to distribute to?  
  4. What’s working with your current food distribution plan? What are the a struggles?
  5. What’s your roadmap for the next year? Any challenges that are currently limiting expansion into other communities?
  6. How do you connect with the individuals in the community?
  7. How are the communities aware of your service?
  8. Do you collect feedback from the community about your service?
  9. What have we not brought up that we should have (only after explaining what we’re doing)
  10. Who else should we be talking to? Could you put us in touch with them.

We took all the information above and conducted many interviews to see if our idea would be helpful in the communities.  We also attended the following food strategy workshops:

    1. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/april-forum-sustainable-food-systems-registration-33230377955?utm_source=eb_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=order_confirmation_email&utm_term=eventname&ref=eemailordconf (Mith will attend)
    2. https://events.nyu.edu/#!event_id/156493/view/event/date/20170420 (Chris will attend)
    3. https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/news/2017/march/_modern-meat--the-science-and-culture-of-meat-substitutesapril-2.html

Data Points:

We were asked to find some poignant data points to support our research:

Global food waste is a major problem. In two minutes:

  • 15,210 tonnes of food will be produced
  • 10,267 tonnes of food will be consumed
  • 4,943 tonnes of food will be wasted (that’s close to ONE-THIRD)

The average meal weighs 0.5 kg. ~5000 tonnes of wasted food could feed 10 Million people.

... losses incurred by food producers from this waste will exceed of $2.8 million USD globally by the time you reach the last line in this post. (Source:World Food Clock - we should fine their source(s) as well)

Read more at http://www.eventmanagerblog.com/event-food-waste-tips#12LXRkCQEojP765i.99

Global Undernourishment ~842,000,000 (12% of world population) (Source:World Food Clock - we should find their source(s) as well)

We estimate that the per capita food waste by consumers in Europe and North-America is

95-115 kg/year, while this figure in sub-Saharan Africa and South/Southeast Asia is only 6-11 kg/year. (source: FAO - dated study (2010-11))

In medium- and high-income countries food is to a significant extent wasted at the consumption stage, meaning that it is discarded even if it is still suitable for human consumption.

In low-income countries food is lost mostly during the early and middle stages of the food supply chain; much less food is wasted at the consumer level. (source: FAO - dated study (2010-11))

Interviews:

After some great conversations with people in the food industry, narrowed our problem statement down to:

How might we streamline data access for food insecure communities between regions to reduce overall waste and improve nutrition?

And developed our proposal to be the following:

An open ledger, that is platform diagnostic, of excess food within a region which individuals and organizations can contribute to and charities have access to appropriately disseminate the food within their communities.

We pitched this idea in class to our fellow classmates, teachers and guest critics with this initial deck.

We received some great feedback from this initial pitch and ultimately finalized our idea.

In the end we decided to propose a product called Nutrio (http://nutrio.world/): Using emerging technology, blockchain, to track and properly redistribute excess food.

Here is the slide deck from our presentation at UNICEF HQ.

To sum it up, this project was a great exercise in design thinking, product development and execution.   I'm really happy to have been apart of this class and a team member on the Nutrio product.