Let’s go Ecopping!

Your name: Heejo Kim

Your homeroom: 10L

Your supervisor’s name: Mr. Anderson

Your school: BISS

Year: 10

Word count: 2,506

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Table of Contents

My Goal (Page3)

Selection of Sources (Page4~5)

Application of Information (Page5)

Achieving my Goal (Page6)

Reflection on Learning (Page7)

Bibliography (Page8)

Appendix (Page9~13)

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My Goal

To introduce my project’s topic, it is the designing of an eco-shopping bag specifically that can replace

plastic bags, which are widely used all over the world and the AOI links with my project is ‘Environment’.

Nowadays, technology and production has highly developed and there are various different kinds of

materials that are used for industrial productive. Plastic is part of those sources, they can be transformed

into every shape. Because of this property of plastics, are involved in nearly almost all. However, even

though plastic has a number of advantages, these also have disadvantages and also harmful effects, a

plastic bag can be one example of this. As the use of plastic bags is becoming popular, almost all shopping

stores provide plastic bags for all consumers. One problem is most people recognize a plastic bag as a

disposable product but actually it can be recycled and used many times over and over again.

Unfortunately, because of this, people generally just throw plastic bags away without thinking how long

time they take to be decomposed and harm the environment, and usually decomposition causes soil

pollution. To prevent harmful consequences, I suggest using an eco-shopping bag, which is environmental

friendly shopping bag. It is for save the environment and reduce the need of plastic bags.

My goal is, to design and create eco-shopping bags and show people how I use them in reality, so this

will attempt to influence people to participate in using eco-shopping bags. It seems quite impossible to

make a change with my products but at least, people can have a new idea of plastic bags and it might

remind of the environment when they are using plastic bags. I want to constantly remind them of their

effect, even though they don’t actually put their principle into practice. To achieve my goal, I have

researched a lot about plastic bags facts but also how the environment gets damaged from them. This

affected my final product a lot, the color of my products and pictures that are going to be placed on moth

my bags. The reason why I made two eco-shopping bags is, to show different problems on the land and in

the marine ecology. So I put whale shape on the blue bag, which represents harmed marine animals such

as sea turtles and dolphins, I put a rhino shape on the orange bag, orange stands for soil, land and it shows

soil pollution. I believe this can give an idea of my project to people and they will easily recognize the

message of what I want to say to people, take responsibility for your actions

To measure if my product was successful, I think there are not many ways to measure it in a short time.

I think survey is the best way for me. I’m thinking to prepare questionnaires and ask people to do my

survey during the exhibition. It will be the best way to collect mass of information at once and easily. Also

through the survey, it is possible to know their intention of put this into action. Depending on the result of

the survey, my product’s success or failure will be decided.

Selection of Sources

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To get more information about facts of plastic and eco-shopping bag design, I used the internet

sources. The reason why I decided to use the internet is, it contains huge amount of information and it is

easy to find appropriate information that what I want if I have a good researching skill. I cannot clearly say

there is no risk to find inaccurate and incorrect information but there is a lot of information to look up, so I

can reduce the risk by double check the information that I got. The first information that I’ve researched

from the internet is about the procedure of manufacturing plastics and also advantages and disadvantages

of plastics. This information helped me to understand about plastics more profoundly and I could have an

idea for designing an eco-shopping bag. To design an eco-shopping bag, the information from the internet

helped me a lot. Before the research, I didn’t know the exact definition of eco-shopping but through this

research work, I could design my own eco-shopping bag without any difficulties.

During designing and making eco-shopping bags, researched information has used a lot much than

other stages. In designing stage, endangered animals and general shape of bags are what I researched from

the internet. As I already mentioned above, the purpose of designing an eco-shopping bag is for giving the

message of saving the environment to people with showing what kind of animals are suffering by plastic

bags. It is the most important thing to make sure people get the point of my project well and I think the

design of my product takes important part of it. So, I researched the shape and characteristics of

endangered animals and I could apply those information into my design. The information of different

design of eco-shopping bags helped me to decide the shape of my final products. I believe designing work

is the most important part because depends on general aesthetic of my product, I can make every parts of

my project link with the product’s aesthetic. It will give a strong commonness between the product and the

goal. Not only this, I also researched about material that I’m going to use for constructing. Before I

research material, I had a few troubles with it and I could solve those problems through the research. The

first trouble I had is the material that I’ve planned to use was too costly. My original plan was produce

mass eco-shopping bags that made of recycled paper and hand out those to shoppers around markets or

shopping malls, so they can use it instead of plastic bags. To find the other alternative material that can

solve the problem, I started to research about environmental friendly materials on the internet, I found

that pelt is an environmental friendly which is generally made of a sheep’s fur but actually it is hard to get

real sheep’s fur-made pelt but also costs much, so I bought chemical treated pelt, which is made of wool.

Wool is well known as an environmental friendly material and I believe this is a quite good solution for the

problem I had.

To repeat my goal, it is design an eco-shopping bag and attempt to influence people to use an eco-

shopping bag instead of plastic bags. Information from the internet helped me to produce a high quality

product and also solve the problem. Those plastic facts and material information form the internet were

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used to make final products that strongly link with my topic but also the goal by giving clear idea of plastic

bag problems and how the environment gets damaged by plastic bags. These affected on my final products

well, so people probably enable to get the idea of seriousness of pollution and harmful effects caused by

plastic bags. I think this is how information from the internet helped me to achieve the goal.

Application of Information

After I researched necessary information for the project, I applied researched information into my

project in some ways. The background information and facts about plastic bags are used for understand

the goal and visual information such as photos of animals that suffering by plastic bags are used in the

design of final product. On the other hand, skillful information such as the way of making bags with pelt or

sewing is applied to making final product.

During the project, I didn’t have big problems but some troubles that made my project harder. When I

chose the material for products and I had a problem that the chosen material is too costly, I had a question

come up, which is ‘What else can be used for making products?’ and I found the solution for this through a

meeting with the supervisor and having a conversation with my mom, also information from the internet.

There was a recommendation for using pelt in the internet, which is an environmental friendly material

and the first problem has solved. The next question was ‘How to build up all pelt parts together to make a

bag?’ The first method I came out with was sewing, however there was no enough time to sew them and I

was compelled to use a glue gun to glue them all. A glue gun is not a tool to be used for products like bag,

which is the product that has to endure the weight of subjects in it. I found this error and another question

came up, ‘How to fix this error?’ and I reminded sewing and then I started to search the way of sewing.

To summarize, information from the internet used to understand my goal and idea more deeply

and also used to solve problems such as wrong material selection, inappropriate way to making the

product. Through research environmental friendly material and the way of sewing, I could solve those two

big problems.

Achieving my Goal

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To know how successful is my product, I’m going to use my products in reality, or film the video of

using my own shopping bags in reality. Also this video will contain advertising information about my bags

and I’m planning to show it during the exhibition. I think my product is quite successful and I achieved the

goal because after the last meeting with my supervisor, I fixed all errors I’ve found and now it is qualified

enough to be used in reality. My product was originally too weak to endure the weight of subjects and also

the shoulder strap is too thin, which can be break easily. To solve these problems, I sewed all the pieces

that actually I used a glue gun to glue pieces of pelt all together and it becomes more durable. I think now

the product’s durability has extended enough to be used.

Also the shape, or design of final products is success. When people see my products, they all like them.

Actually they are all female and young but the actual target market of my products was a woman and

because I wanted to show plastic bag problems satirically, the aesthetic is bright and cute unlike problems

in reality, which is dark and serious. Because of this reason, the target market will be quite young. For this,

I think also my products are successful in target market, shape and design, according to schoolmates’

responses toward my products. Also another important thing to check whether my products are successful

or not is, are the people get the message what I really try to say from those two final products, in other

words, shape and design. Even though their durability has extended and planned responses from people

are happened, if people don’t understand the message from my products, it is fail. Actually some people

confused with the shape of plastic bag, which is in both animals’ (a whale and a rhino) stomachs. They

asked my what is this little dot and I had to explain that it is a simplified form of a plastic bag. Most of

people guessed or understood the message by sentences that written on products. It is quite hard to

understand the message directly when people see my products but there are some elements that can

support and help people to get the idea of my personal project, so I want to say my products are

successful.

Lastly, one other thing that supports why my products are successful is people can use them safely and

easily in reality. As I already tested by myself, it is strong enough to endure the weight to subjects and also

according to properties of pelt, pelt is a light-weigh material and its texture is soft and mild, there are no

possibilities to be harmed from them. Because of those reasons, usually parents make their kids’ own

goods by pelts, according to this, I can say pelt is a quite reliable source to use.

Reflection on Learning

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The personal project is a good opportunity to try something new for me, so I have learned a lot of

things from it. Firstly, my interest in environment has increased. Before I started the Personal Project, I

didn't pay much attention on saving the environment like what hurts environment and how it affects our

life. The facts about plastic bags have extreme negative effects on the environment and they influenced me

to change. For example, animals, especially marine animals’ lives taken by plastic bags and land animals

which hunts marine species as their food source are also killed by plastic bags in indirect way.

Plastic bags also have harmful effects on our society such as disposal plastic bags is costly and currently

societies need more landfills to bury plastic bags but the problem is, community people disagree with build

a landfill near by their houses. Also the area of land that can be used will be polluted much by decomposed

plastics and no longer to be used. This means, wasting plastic bags affects wild animals in negative way and

also human beings who is a ‘trash provider’. We have to consider about this problem more deeply. These

facts gave me the idea of take a responsibility of saving the environment.

This is also links with my AOI, environment, which requires considering the environment. Besides my

AOI, I also learned something about ATL, which stands for approaches to learning. For the environment

section, I can say the biggest thing I’ve learned is the way of saving the environment. By study about

environmental problems we have now and providing the solution by myself, I can participate in saving the

environment and also able consider other ways to reduce problems. For the ATL, actually I’ve learned a lot

of things about it. Research, multiple intelligence and problem solving are what ATL requires and actually

I’ve learned about all three of them. For research and problem solving, I researched about background

information of plastic bags and eco-shopping bags and for problem solving, I provided the solution by

designing an eco-shopping bag, which can reduce the need of plastic bags. Also, I think learning sewing is

part of ATL. To extend the durability of my products, I decided to sew them and I learned how to sewing.

This skill applied to improve my products, so also links with problem solving in ATL.

As a learner, I advanced in solving the problem and observe the consequence of all process, then

acquired it as a part of my knowledge. Through the personal project, I have tried many different things

such as sewing and making a bag with pelt. I required the way of treating pelt and sewing, now I’m enable

to utilize those knowledge that from the project. Utilizing knowledge and information is much important

than getting them. To solve the problem, I’ve tried to apply skills that I required in many different ways and

found the best way. Sewing is one of them. To glue all pelt parts together, I used a glue gun at the first time

but I found some errors and applied other skill to build them up together. I thing it was a good chance to

upgrade myself.

Bibliography

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"Birding Madeira - Sea animals."Birding Madeira. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://madeira.seawatching.net/seanimals.html>.

"Critically Endangered Hawksbill Sea Turtle." Sea Turtle Facts and Information. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.seaturtle-world.com/critically_endangered_hawks

" Dangers of plastic bags ." Envirosax reusable shopping bags . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.envirosax.com/plastic_ba

"Eco shopping bag | Pixel 77." Vector and photoshop design tutorials & resources for advanced or beginner designers. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.pixel77.com/eco-shopping-bag/>.

" Envirosax reusable shopping bags ."Envirosax reusable shopping bags . N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.envirosax.com/>.

"Facts About Plastics Bags and Film Packaging - Earth911.com."Earth911.com - Find Recycling Centers and Learn How To Recycle. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://earth911.com/recycling/plastic/plastic-bags/facts-about-plastics-bags-and-film-packaging/>.

" How To Pack A Reusable Grocery Bag." Custom Reusable Shopping Bags | Eco Friendly Reusable Bags. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.customgrocerybags.com/blog/how-to-pack-a-reusable-grocery-bag/>.

"Plastic Bag Facts | Greener Footprints." Greener Footprints | Creative solutions to environmental problems. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.greenerfootprints.com/plastic-bag-facts/>.

" plasticbagfacts.org."plasticbagfacts.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.plasticbagfacts.org/>.

"PLASTICS." SAN DIEGO PLASTICS, INC. - Plastic Sheet, Plastic Rod, Plastic Tubing, Fabrication & Tools. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://www.sdplastics.com/plastics.ht

"Plastic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic>.

"Rhino poaching approaches 15-year high | Extinction Countdown, Scientific American Blog Network." Scientific American Blog Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/2009/07/13/rhino-poaching-approaches-15-year-high/>.

"Starfish (Sea Stars), Starfish (Sea Star) Pictures, Starfish (Sea Star) Facts - National Geographic." Animals - Animal Pictures - Wild Animal Facts - Nat Geo Wild - National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2012. <http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/an

Appendix

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This photo is showing the first step of making the bag. In this photo, I was drawing the piece of bag

on a pelt. The paper that I’m using in the photo is, what I made for draw more accurate shape on a pelt.

After I cut every pieces, I started to draw a whale feature that I’m going to glue on the bag. As same

as the photo above, I used a paper to draw a kind of like a planar figure.

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This photo is the moment after I built all the pieces up together. I glued the whale feature and also

drew patterns on the bag. The next thing I did is, as you can see in the photo, I drew a plastic bag that

places in the whale’s stomach. I used an acrylic paint and a brush to do this.

After I finished with a plastic bag, I started to write the message what I want to say to people on the

bag. It was quite time consuming work because letters are so small and it was hard to write on the bag

even though my brush was the most smallest one among brushes I have.

Actually my project was finished in the previous step but I found the problem that it is too weak

and probably easily break if I really use this in reality. To solve this problem, I decided to sew it.

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When the whale shopping finished, I started to make the rhino shopping bag. I just repeated same

processes over again. In the photo, I was cutting a pelt in different pieces that I need.

One different thing about the rhino bag is the way of drawing patterns. I designed circle shape of

patterns for the rhino shopping bag, so I used a compass to draw circles on the bag.

After I finished drawing the patterns, I also made a pelt feature of a rhino and glued it. My shopping

bags have two different handles to hold. One is a shoulder strap and another is just a little rectangular

shape of hole to hold. The photo above is the moment when I was making the second handle.

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As like the whale shopping bag, I drew a plastic bag that bothering the rhino is its stomach. For this,

I also used an acrylic paint and a brush. I also wrote the message with a white acrylic paint later.

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The problem that I found was also what the rhino shopping bag has. To fix this problem, I also

sewed the rhino shopping bag. Sewing the rhino bag was more important because the size is much bigger

than the whale shopping bag and this means it has more possibilities to be break.

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