This week, our focus was on sustainable development and cultural issues that may affect design. Most people have a very limited understanding of the world we live in, sometimes without even realizing it. We subconsciously form friendships with people who look like us and have similar backgrounds. No matter how “adventurous” we consider ourselves, I think many of us feel anxious when we have to leave our comfort zone. This limited sphere of existence can leave us ignorant to the most important aspects of the problems we are trying to solve. In my capstone lecture, Professor Jedlicka shared the story of a failed engineering project: A researcher was working to design a compound that would improve water retention in soil in dryer parts of the nation so crops could still be grown. The intention was to decrease irrigation and improve crop yield. The researcher spent twenty years developing this compound and finally released it to farmers for use; within one week, the researcher received complaints from the farmers that rabbits had destroyed their lettuce crops because the compound was sugar-based. The researcher had spent twenty years working in a lab, but had failed to connect with the farmers to truly understand their situation and find an effective solution. The lesson to be learned here is that you can’t truly solve a problem that you do not understand.

The PlasTech Ventures project aims to constructively combat the plastic waste crisis in the Philippines in a manner that provides steady income opportunities to Filipinos in poverty. Below is an exercise that attempts to create a preliminary understanding of the cultural issues that will be important to consider when moving forward with our project.

“Give three compelling examples of how cultural issues affect your project.”

1. In speaking with members of my group that traveled to the Philippines last summer, I learned that due to the high rates of poverty, it is typical for toiletries and food to be sold in individual packets called sachets because they are more affordable for someone living on day-to-day income. This practice has become so ingrained in their culture that even those that can afford to buy full-size items still purchase sachets. This creates a lot of plastic waste and because of the typical foil lining found in these packets, they are hard to recycle.
2. From what I understand, the Filipino perception of time seems to be more relaxed. The American cliche “time is money” is not a shared mindset in many other countries. Understanding this ahead of time will be important for ensuring that we are still able to make productive use of our time in the field.
3. Additionally, the concept of “Pakikisama” is important to the Filipino culture. My understanding is that this is a tendency to avoid confrontation and overlook differences in opinion for the sake of keeping the peace. In American culture, disagreement is viewed as valuable, especially when working on projects such as this. An important part of innovation is critiques from knowledgeable peers, so we may run into some difficulty in the trial-and-error stage once we are in the Philippines.

“Have you experienced or observed any of these social situations at home? Describe at least three such situations.”

1. While slightly different, American purchasing habits have also been influenced by poverty in a way that has altered culture. The example that comes to mind right away is food. Processed “junk” food is less expensive than produce and whole foods, so many impoverished Americans eat a diet consisting mostly of inexpensive pre-packaged food.
2. My bestfriend and my dad share a similar relaxed mindset when it comes to time. If my bestfriend tell me to meet her at 5:30, I typically plan to be there no earlier than 5:35. This difference can be frustrating, but understanding and accepting that my dad will never be on time allows me to plan accordingly and avoid negative feelings.
3. I have experienced this to an extent in American culture. Personally, I have a tendency to avoid confrontation, but I know many others who are the opposite. Sometimes I do find myself biting my tongue just to avoid an argument, but when I do have an opinion to share, I typically don’t feel afraid to disagree.

“Give three examples of cultural practices that can be leveraged to addressed community / market problems.”

1. In the Philippines, nipa huts are a common structure. Our group hopes to manufacture components typically used to build these huts from recycled plastic.
2. Another very important practice in the Philippines that our team hopes to leverage is the government mandate that requires villages to implement a waste management system that separates out recyclable materials. The fact that this system is already in place will simplify the process for sourcing raw material for manufacturing, which is recycled plastic.
3. Family also seems to be a very important part of the Filipino culture. This may mean that children would be willing to help their families by bringing plastic to be recycled to one of the facilities we hope to design in exchange for building materials or something else their family may need. This would streamline our supply chain.