Convenience Vs Conservation

Convenience vs Conservation

Introduction

The first day at Babson was pretty delightful. The aesthetics of the place felt plush and the upcoming experiences surely came into sight as extravagant. Until now, we would never had so much availability of resources at one’s disposal. It soon came to reality that abundance comes hand in hand with successful but inefficient developments. If only we could be productive enough to create value that is greater than the resources we waste in the process, I felt, the effort would be justified.

Coming to realize that Massachusetts recently declared an end to a 2 year drought , WATER CONSERVATION became an obvious and the most legit starting point for having an environmental impact in our surroundings. Going around campus we kept students as our primary focus, owing to the fact that most of them have come with an international experience and the environment and lifestyle in the US is much deviated from any other nation around the globe. This not only helped us in getting a diverse set of views on the issue but also anecdotes of very consciously perceived changes in lifestyle when the interviewees moved here. Selecting one US citizen and others from developing nations provided us with a good field for comparing the views and making an all pervasive hypothesis. Gauging the need for a field expert around the issue and an academic research expert, we interviewed Mr Kent from Bayberryhill apartment Services(Plumber) and Professor Goulding respectively. Interviewing the two experts provided us insights into roots of the water waste issue.

The conversations went back right to 1930s when the entire Boston was facing a water crisis and the then government pledged to solve water shortage problems in the whole of Massachusetts in the coming 40 years. It brought forward data about the ‘Quabbin reservoir’ due mainly to which the price of water in the state went down. Further taking tours of the campus we discovered a swimming pool and brainstormed ways to use this water a second time before ultimately draining it into sewage lines.

Finally, making observations of the water resources in the campus we looked at the water fountains, wash basins, toilet flushes to get an approximate idea of the water used in these utilities and wasted in the process.

Report Findings

Through interviewing with the 5 different people, we found out that most of the interviewees are concerned about the water wastage problems in the U.S. We could see that both in these people and from the statistics online, flushing toilet, showering and doing laundry are the activities that use the most water in people’s daily life. We believe that we can reuse our drinking fountain water, washing hands water, showering water and laundry water by briefly filtering it and use it to flush toilet. It will significantly reduce our water wastage. We can also build a big tank to store filter water and use it for outdoor use such as washing cars and watering grass. Due to the facts that our interviewees are worried about the quality of used water and the price of water is too low in the United States. People are not willing to invest too much in a facility which conserves water. Therefore, we will investigate the cost and performance of the filtering system for the next phase of our project.

We also found out that the international students are especially aware of wasting water behaviors conducted by American. The U.S. uses the most water per capita annually than any other country in the world. According to the statistics companies Statista, the annual water consumption per capita in the United States in 2013 is 418,184 gallon. Comparing to China’s 16,827 gallon, each American uses almost 25 times more water than a Chinese. The developing countries such as China and India are suffering from water shortage due to the large population. As a result, people are often taught to save water. We conclude that one of the reasons American not pay attention to saving water is that people are not warned about water pollution and scarcity frequently and people are easy to forget. Therefore, we should use a counter on the toilet to show how many gallons of water were saved cumulatively by using our product. It would give people a sense of achievement which encourages them to save water in their daily life.

Interview questions

In what way do you think we can save water in our everyday life?

What you think about the importance of preserving water vs sacrificing water conservation for convenience ?

How do you feel about using the same water twice for purposes other than personal consumption ?

Do you mind investing a little in a facility which conserves water while without compromising convenience?

How do you usually make use of water ? Out of a still source( container/bucket/bottle) or use free flowing sources ?

Do you consciously make an effort to save water or share the belief that it’s an unlimited resource ?

Do you have any concerns about use of water in the facilities of the restroom?

How long do you usually wash your hand?

In your everyday life, in what activity do you think you use the most water and how ?

Do you observe wastage of water in your surroundings ?

How do you see the water pollution and water scarcity in the world?

Interview Summaries

Interview Summary 1

Interviewee Background

Person interviewed: Professor Goulding

Reason person selected: Academic Research Expert

Location of interview: Olin Hall

Date and Time of interview: 9/19/17 2:30 pm Duration of interview (min): 25

Person(s) conducting interview: Qian and Aman

Summary of interview main points:

I make conscious efforts to save water. I don’t think it priced correctly at par with it’s value to us.

On individual level, we can save