Reflection of a basic reality

Actual media is full of trend contents which reach more people every time, because social media is widespread. Fake or not fake media, this postulates drive people’, industries’, economies’ behaviours.

Overconsumption, over population, global warming have been trend news in the last 15 years, which means so much people have interested in the subject, making them better businesses. Green products, green policies and green infraestructures have become more desirable for consumers who make them a revelant topic. However, this new profitable and green industry don’t attack the core fact that we consume so much more than we need, instead of that it promotes buying “green” shoes made from organic materials, which fabrication proccesses used water, fuels and implied other sort of waste. This green wave should be realigned in order to communicate how we shouldn’t consume ecofriend stuff, instead of that we have to consume less, just because we just dont need that much.

The main goal of this project is not to boost green products’ profits, hence companies’. The goal is make people realice of their basic needs and someonelse’s in order not to waste material, time, people and that way promotes a much more efficient resources cycle. There are tons of reusable material between our stuff, many of it remains in our garage and atics. More reusable material is in the ocean trapped in ocean currents, meanwhile some other is underground in garbage dumps.

For those capitalism lovers who are thinking how our economy is based in trading and this minimalism would attend with our entire status quo, I have to tell you are right. However, it is about consume less physical products and turn all that money flow in other untangible way of trading. Paying for experiences, travel, tourism, art, services and even high quality products will decrease trash considerably. The economy would consume less, earn less and produce less in order to mantain promote a healthier, sustainable system.

A big piece of garbage

A big piece of garbage is a Futurama’s chapter released in 1999. Its fictional premise is that earth’s garbage cannot longer remain in the planet. That’s why humanity decides to eject all the garbage toward the space. Unfortunately, the giant ball of gargabe returned to the earth, threating life in earth. This satire is based on Khian Sea waste disposal incident, in which more than 14.000 tons of ash from waste were travelling around 2 years because no country was interested in accept it. Sadly, the ship’s captain admitted that they had dumped the most of it into the Atlantic ocean, causing biological and political consequences.

Khian Sea waste disposal incident

This is another fictional example no far from reality, just in other scale and possible future. The reality I want to reflect is one where people are buying stuff they don’t need and more important are willing to buy more and more without even thinking about it. There are enough audiovisual and paper material to settle down this precedent and let people feel identified with their reality. Let’s fake the fact of a possible event with huge quantities of accumulated garbage. What are you able to do with someonelse garbage? A giant garbage monster terrifying towns near ocean, garbage paradise islands, ocean currents of second-hand stuff to use.

I’ve though about the opposite idea. What about create a mountain of articles we are interested in but we didn’t buy it because we realized we don’t need them. A Virtual mountain of no needed articles. How do I make people lose their desire of acquisition?

1. Analize the user preferences and behaviours
2. Suggest the user a special article which is on sale coincidentally
3. Allow the user to buy the article (simbollically)
4. Expose why the user don't need the object, indeed.
5. Invite the user to throw their no needed articles.
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6. Sent the no needed garbage to the space.

I consider very difficult to categorized my intention as a lie, hoax, satire, rumor or conspirancy at this point because the idea is making me think about multiples ways to accomplish it. My approach to the solution will be virtual off course, taking advantage of all the tools to customer tracking already available in the market. It is my interest to get people’ attention in a page full of sales where they can buy what they dont need. The skills I will require are web design and web development in order to fake and register all the no needed articles. However, the most important part is to reach people all around to make them partners in crime once the experience ended.

Let’s sale shit.

One Million Dollar Home Page One Million Dollar Home Page is one of the first examples of adverstisement spaces in the web. His creator, Alex Tew sell spaces of 10x10 pixels in a canvas of 1000x1000. Every pixel’s price was 1 dollar meaning a commercial in all the web page would cost 1 million dollar (Bigger the ad, bigger the price). About 2416 ads are showing their products and services in the page, giving to the site a particular style of chaos and lawlessness.

General sketches

Whole idea

1. Get the user in our page somehow
2. Seduce him with a important sale
3. Show the product
4. Bui the product(Simbolically)
5. Decide if it is needed o not. + If it is needed go to Amazon, best Buy o groupon + apologies because it is not gonna have the same price. + If it is not needed. Invitation to throw it in our “no needed articles dump”
6. Invite to be partners in crime to follow and share the page
7. Send 15 tons of garbage to the space eventually.

Technical requirements:

• Feed the web with actual products (Amazon, Best Buy, etc) - Back-end code
• Front-end showing all the Overconsumption (overwhelming) vs Minimalist economies (easy and comfortable for the eye)
• Register and save all the data about “no needed article dump” to make our virtual garbage mountain.
• Design rocket and launching interface (back and front end). Once we reach 15 tons we should launch it to the space.

Currently I am waiting for more feedback about the idea. However, it is clear the idea is big enough to divide it by parts. In order to advance, let’s define the MVP Minimun viable product.

First stage:

Web page with fake products. Just back end design - Static pages without any kind of base data

Second stage:

Web fed by Amazon, Best Buy’s new sales. - Monitoring of weight of bought products and weight

Third stage

Virtual garbage dump (mountain), visual launch and notifications.

Some references:

+Circular economies
+Middle colombian class and loans
+Sustainable consumption and behaviour change
+Preferred products in Colombia
+Minimalist economy
+Sustainable development
+New economies