1. Give three examples of how you can use nature as a model / mentor / measure for your own designs (and life).

Nature is the perfect example of balance.  If even a small part of an ecosystem is off balance the whole system can collapse. This concept can be applied to life. If one part of one’s life is unbalanced, this can cause chaos in other parts of their life. You can use natures balance of ecosystems as a guide to keeping balance of these aspects of life. Work must be balanced with leisure in life, or unnecessary stress will follow. Another way nature can be used as an example is the order of everything in the environment. All parts of an environment have a purpose and affect other aspects of the ecosystem. This pertains to your own designs in that, you want each part to have a purpose that positively affects another. Finally, nature is delicate. If not taken care of, the environment can easily be ruined. This can relate to life and designs because one must put careful attention into aspects of their life so that they are not put into disarray.

2. Pick one of Life’s Principles. Explain how you might apply it to your work and life (could be unrelated to your GSIF projects).

The principle of optimization rather than maximization can be applied to the plastic project. This applies to the plastic project by in that making our products better quality before trying to make a bigger quantity is beneficial in the long run. In the beginning stages of the project it will be very hard to mass produce the products we are making, but if the women’s co-op can gain the reputation of good quality products, it can gain further support and therefore the ability to grow.

3. How do you envision integrating the Cradle to Cradle Design concept into your project (and life)? Give one compelling example.

The Cradle to Cradle Design concept can be integrated into by modeling our project on organic life processes. The plastic project is similar to a life cycle. An organic model lives and once it dies, it returns to the earth and can be used as nutrients for something else. This is like the recycling we are doing with the project. We are taking something and reprocessing it to become something else that is beneficial. One example is the Ford Model U car design that was made from Cradle to Cradle materials.

4. Give three examples of something very interesting you learned from a friend that was a completely alien concept to you.

Something interesting I have learned from a friend that was an alien concept to me, was how our actions are propagated through the brain into different parts of the body. One example is when the signal is received by receptors in a certain part of the body and then travels to the brain. The brain then sends out a signal in order to illicit the correct response. Another example is how there are different signals based on the neurons and their receptors. This is how different responses are created. One last example are the different parts of the brain that occur while the brain is developing, such as the telencephalon and the mesencephalon.