hello everyone

[sparker]

Hello everyone,

I am in my final year at Coventry University studying Industrial Product Design. For my dissertation I am researching into all the aspects of self sufficiency. I then aim to come up with some design solutions that will make it easier for city/urban homeowners to adopt these aspects.

Obviously a lot of people cannot fully self sustain due to the commitment, time and space needed to live such a life but they can make a difference.

As many of you are a lot more knowledgeable than myself in this area it would be great to receive some feedback.

Which aspects of self sufficiency do you think could/could not be easily incorporated into the urban environment?
Which aspects do you think are the most important for people to adopt and which do you think are the most enjoyable?
What do you think are the main problems/reasons why certain aspects cannot be adopted in the urban environment?

If you have any tips or advise or further contacts then please don’t hesitate to let me know. Thank you very much

Stephen Parker, Industrial Product Design, Coventry University

[Andy Hamilton]

Hello stephen and welcome nice to see you here.

I wonder if any of the people who keep livestock will have any ideas?

I guess one thing that might be a bit of a hurdle will be the fact that many of us will try and make things ourselves instead of getting products, that is not to say that there is not a need for some new products. The omlet chicken house is one that springs to mind, mind you it is just an expensive bit of plastic

good luck with the project mate.

[sparker]

thanks for you reply and welcoming me to the forum.

The point about designing more products that may waste more energy and be difficult to dispose of is a very important point. As part of my project i am also researching into eco design and design for sustainability so that i dont fall into the trap of producing something that has completely the reverse effect of what i am trying to achieve.

out of curiosity, is there any one out there that has a bit of experience in eco product design? If so it would be great to pick your brains!!

sparker

[The Chili Monster]

[HILLDREAMER90]

HELLO

[PurpleDragon]

Well, the obvious thing that leaps to mind is growing things. Even if you have a window box, you can grow something.

The other thing, if you have a garden, is some hens. Fresh eggs! Nothing like them

[shiney]

Welcome!

I am sure if you trawl through some of the posts here, you'll get an idea of what can be done and I think you'll get some answers on this post too!

[pskipper]

How about a windowbox greenhouse where you can lock a transparent cover onto the windowbox. Make it out of recycled materials and you could be onto a winner.

Our windowbox strawberry plants died of windchill this year