Sustainability
- The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
- Avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance
Or, as I frequently find myself thinking, is the thing I am using something I need, or something I can do without?
As Kristy mentioned in class last week, sustainability can refer to many different aspects. It could be cultural sustainability, environment sustainability or consumer sustainability. I feel that as of now, environment and consumer sustainability are more likely to go hand-in-hand. As only when we, the consumers, understand that we are making and using things in excess, then can we work towards reducing the by-product of everyday life and hence, cut down on the harmful materials needed to manufacture them. That is why for this iLight proposal, I am most interested in not only getting people to think about sustainability, but also how we can make the process of creating the installation sustainable as well.
That’s why I particularly liked Moon Flower from this year’s iLight Festival.
Each individual flower is modular and wireless, and is powered by its own solar powered LED. The wireless and modular aspect of it also allows it to take on a second life after the festival has ended.
I’m not very sure if the flowers are made of recycled materials, but I feel that this idea is really awesome. How many installations are left to be torn down and discarded after everything ends? By allowing people to adopt these flowers, I feel that Yun, the designer, has really thought long and hard about how to make her installation sustainable. And this is something I wish my group can incorporate into our installation as well.
