Radio re-made

INTRODUCTION

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Anisha Sharma

RADIO REMADE

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“The earth’s richest deposits of valuable materials are sitting in landfill sites or people’s homes. More needs to be made of these resources.”

A New Circular Vision for Electronics Report, World Economic Forum

INTRODUCTION

THESIS 2020

INTRODUCTION

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Have you ever wondered what happens to our electronics once they can’t be used anymore? Where do they go? Is there a way to reuse them, or are they designed to end up in the landfill? Electronic products have become an essential part of our lives. They have changed the way we work, spend our leisure time and even how we related to each other daily. These products are precious commodity till the time a “newer” and “better” version of it comes along. These products are smooth and perfect from the outside but have you wonder what has actually gone into making these flawless black boxes? And what is the right way to handle the endof-life of such products?

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RADIO REMADE

Radio Remade is not a DIY radio kit but rather an exploration of possibilities of decentralised fabrication through the process of making to spark a global transition to a circular system. There is a lack of vocabulary to safely dispose of electronics, we only have the language of making more stuff and create more new things. Can we give these electronics a better end-of-life or create a circular system where they can be repaired and reused? To answers this question accurately, first, I had to figure out a specific area within this massive waste stream which has been wholly neglected by the current end-of-life system (recycling).

Electronic components.

INTRODUCTION

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In our current recycling systems, electronic components are entirely shredded even though most of these components are correctly working. These components are made with different rare earth elements which are harder to extract and are highly polluting to produce. So why are these perfectly working components being shredded?

The following pages define the problems and my journey of finding value in the products that have reached the end of their life, according to the our present linear system.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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I would like to thank everyone who was involved, and showed an interest in the project. To my collaborator, Peter Marks, thank you for offering up your time, enthusiasm and expertise- it has made the project what it has become. To my tutors, Kieren Jones and Marta Giralt, and academic coordinator, Chloe Griffith, thank you for your endless support and encouragement throughout the two years, and especially during the end when Covid-19 disrupted everything. To my family, friends, and course mates - thank you for your patience, never-ending support, and feedback.

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

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ALL ABOUT E-WASTE

1.1 What is E-waste?

1.2 Problems with E-waste 1.3 Environmental and Social Impacts of E-waste 1.4 Composition of E-waste

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GLITCHES WITH THE SYSTEM

2.1 Design 2.2 Consumer relationship with electronics 2.3 Lack of Recycling 2.4 Transboundary movement of E-waste 2.5 Intellectual property laws and DMCA

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WHY COMPONENTS?

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WHY A RADIO?

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REMAKING THE RADIO

5.1 Dismantling and Sorting

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5.2 Reconstruction

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CONCLUSION

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FURTHER READING

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RADIO REMADE

CHAPTER 1

All About E-waste

ALL ABOUT E-WASTE

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1.1 What is E-Waste ?

An electrical and electronic product can be classified as a product that contains a printed circuit board (PCB) and uses electricity. Much has been written about the e-waste problem, yet the definition of the term “electronic waste” is quite complex to define.

There is, as yet, no standard definition, as every country has its own definition of e-waste.

The questions that arise, therefore is: What is to be called e-waste? Any electronic or electrical appliances, which are obsolete in terms of functionality? Products that are operationally discarded? Or is it both? ¹ The table below gives a list of the different definitions of e-waste.

Different definitions of e-waste

To date, the widely accepted definition by the EU WEEE Directive for e-waste is defined as “Electrical or electronic equipment (EEE) which is waste, including all components, sub-assemblies, and consumables, which are part of the product at the time of discarding.” There are varying rules on the definition of waste concerning EEE between the nation Agencies with the consequence that significant amounts of used EEE never enter the treatment sector in England in particular. This then leads to confusion over exports with widespread concerns as to the contribution to illegal waste exports that comes from the UK. There’s more to e-waste than the discarded monitors, cell phones and other electronics. (Shutterstock) 1. The Generation, Composition, Collection, Treatment and Disposal System and Impact of E-waste. https://www.intechopen.com/books/ewaste-in-transition-from-pollution-to-resource/the-generation-composition-collection-treament-and-disposal-system-and-impact-of-e-waste

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What is E-waste, Global E-waste Monitor, 2017

ALL ABOUT E-WASTE

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1.2 Problems with E-waste Rapid innovation and lowering costs have dramatically increased access to electronic products and digital technology, with many benefits. This has led to an increase in the use of electronic devices and equipment. The unintended consequence of this is a ballooning of electronic and electrical waste: e-waste. It is difficult to gauge how many electrical goods are produced annually, but just taking account of devices connected to the internet, they now number many more than humans. By 2020, this is projected to be between 25-50 billion, reflecting plummeting costs and rising demand. E-waste is now the fastest-growing waste stream in the world.² The UN has called it a tsunami of e-waste.

According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2017, in 2016, a staggering 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste. This is equivalent to just over six kilograms on the planet for every person contribute to annually. Europe and the US alone almost one-half of the total e-waste generated were generated. Globally, society only deals with 20%of e-waste appropriately, and there is little data on what happens to the rest, which for the most part ends up in landfill, or is disposed of by informal workers in poor conditions.³ Material efficiency, recycling infrastructure and scaling up the volume and quality of recycled materials to meet the needs of electronics supply chains will all be essential.

If the sector is supported by the right policy mix and managed in the right way, it could lead to the creation of millions of decent jobs worldwide.

A new vision for the production and consumption of electronic and electrical goods is needed. It is easy for e-waste to be framed as a post-consumer problem, but the issue encompasses the lifecycle of the devices everyone uses. Designers, manufacturers, investors, traders, miners, raw material producers, recyclers, consumers, policymakers and others have a crucial role to play in reducing waste and retaining value within the system. The prevailing “take, make and dispose” model has consequences for society, a negative impact on health and contributes to climate change. In the short-term, electronic waste remains a mostly unused, yet growing, valuable resource.

1.3 Environmental and Social Impacts of E-waste Harmful and toxic waste is generated at every stage, starting from the extraction of metals to the end-of-life stage. Primary interface between electrical and electronic equipment and the environment takes place during the manufacturing, reprocessing, and disposal of these products.

2,3. A New Circular Vision for Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot. https://jp.weforum.org/reports/a-new-circular-vision-for-electronics-timefor-a-global-reboot

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The emission of fumes, gases, and particulate matter into the air, the discharge of liquid waste into water and drainage systems, and the disposal of hazardous wastes contribute to environmental degradation.

Electronic waste(e-waste), which contains hazardous material, is much more expensive and difficult to dispose of and recycle than other kinds of common garbage. E-waste has raised many concerns world widely due to its rapid generation; trans-boundary shipment from developed countries; improper recycling in developing countries; environmental impacts and health hazards. Recycling of valuable elements, such as copper and gold, has become a source of income, mostly in the informal sector of developing countries. However, basic recycling techniques to burn the plastic from electronic goods leaving the valuable metals (melting down lead in open pots, or dissolving circuit boards in acid) lead to adult and child workers, as well as their families, exposed to many toxic substances.â ´

Global E-waste Monitor, 2017 4. Electronic waste | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/electronic-waste

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1.2 Composition of E-waste E-waste typically contains valuable, as well as potentially toxic materials. The composition of e-waste depends strongly on factors such as the type of electronic device, the model, manufacturer, date of manufacture, and the age of the scrap. Scrap from IT and telecommunication systems contain a higher amount of precious metals than waste from household appliances.

For instance, a mobile phone contains more than 40 elements, base metals such as copper (Cu) and tin (Sn); special metals such as lithium (Li) cobalt (Co), indium (In), and antimony (Sb); and precious metals such as silver (Ag), gold (Au), and palladium (Pd). Special treatment of e-waste should be considered to prevent wasting valuable materials and rare elements. Metals such as gold and palladium can be mined more effectively from e-waste compared to mining from ore. Circuit boards found in most of the electronic devices may contain arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), mercury (Hg), and other toxic chemicals. Typical printed circuit boards treated with lead solder in electronic devices contain approximately 50 g of tin-lead solder per square meter of a circuit board. Old refrigerators, freezers, and air conditioning units contain ozone-depleting Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). The prominent materials such as barium, cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, and other rare earth metals are included in end-of-life (EOL) cathode ray tubes (CRTs) in computer monitors, and televisions.

Extraction Site, Anatomy of AI system, https://anatomyof.ai UNU, 2015; UNI, 2014, A New Circular Vision for Electronics: Time for a Global Reboot

ALL ABOUT E-WASTE

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CHAPTER 2 Glitches with the System

GLITCHES WITH THE SYSTEM

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2.1 Design Electronic products are designed to be obsolete. Presently they are not created in a way that they can be taken apart and reused easily. The construction of many new items makes dismantling for component use extremely difficult. Treatment of WEEE and recovery of material requires sophisticated technology and cannot be done cheaply.

Design can be deployed to correct the flaws in the current waste-stream system.¹ Rethinking the design of products is critical to enabling the economic reuse of assets, as well as their components and materials.

However, if users continue to landfill their products after the first use, or simply store them in a closet in perpetuity, the impact of better design is limited. Therefore, adopting new business models and deploying efficient reverse cycles is instrumental in realising greater product circularity.

2.1 Consumer Relationship With Electronics Like fast fashion and fast food, electronics can involve a rapid turnover in style trends, with revenues dependent on selling the latest products, which are increasingly affordable. Rising smartphone adoption rates are fuelling global demand. ² There is also a significant trend towards flat panel TV screens in developed markets and adoption of 3G and 4G in developing economies; electric vehicles are also on the rise. More clothes, furniture, toys, sports equipment and toothbrushes have complex electronic components. This pattern of consumption means more mining, more fossil fuels extraction, and more refining, with all of the direct and secondary environmental and health impacts that come with these processes.

‘Anonymous Smartphones’ by Noud Sleumer. https://www.noudsleumer.com/paginas/brokenphoneseries.html 1. Broken Nature portrait #1: Formafantasma—Ore Streams. http://www.brokennature.org/broken-nature-portrait-1-formafantasma-ore-streams/ 2. A New Circular Vision for Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot. https://jp.weforum.org/reports/a-new-circular-vision-for-electronics-time-fora-global-reboot

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2.1 Lack of Recycling E-waste is not biodegradable. The lack of recycling weighs heavily on the global electronic industry, and as devices become more numerous, smaller and more complex, the issue escalates. Currently, recycling some types of e-waste and recovering materials and metals is an expensive process. The remaining mass of e-waste – mainly plastics laced with metals and chemicals – poses a more intractable problem. The waste stream is complex, containing up to 60 elements from the periodic table. In some cases, it contains hazardous chemicals, such as flame retardants, of which some are Persistent Organic Pollutants listed under the Stockholm Convention.³ Along with that, there is uncontrolled recycling of WEEE known as “backyard recycling” by the so-called informal sector is the primary concern in non-OECD countries such as India, China, etc. Informal recycling is the most pressing environmental issue associated with e-waste. Relevant case-studies about informal recycling of e-waste performed by pointed out that primitive tools and methods such as open burning of plastic waste, exposure to toxic solders, and acid baths to recover valuable materials and components from WEEE with little or without safeguards to human health and the environment result in the pollution of the land, air, and water.⁴

2.1 Transboundary Movement of E-Waste A total of 67 countries have legislation in place to deal with the e-waste they generate.

This typically takes the form of Extended Producer Responsibility, when a small charge on new electronic devices subsidises end-of-life collection and recycling. The legislation covers about two-thirds of the global population. However, many countries do not have national legislation on e-waste. In many regions of Africa, Latin America or South-East Asia, electronic waste is not always high on the political agenda, and often not well enforced. When it comes to the export of e-waste to developing countries, it is regulated under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, which has been ratified by 188 countries, other similar conventions exist at a regional level.⁵ Even with the agreement in place, however, large amounts of e-waste continue to be shipped illegally. The difference in enforcement of conventions and transposing e-waste legislation globally means the regulatory environment can be complicated and fragmented.

3,5. A New Circular Vision for Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot. https://jp.weforum.org/reports/a-new-circular-vision-for-electronics-timefor-a-global-reboot 4. The Generation, Composition, Collection, Treatment and Disposal System and Impact of E-waste. https://www.intechopen.com/books/ewaste-in-transition-from-pollution-to-resource/the-generation-composition-collection-treatment-and-disposal-system-and-impact-of-e-waste

GLITCHES WITH THE SYSTEM

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2.1 Intellectual Property Laws and DMCA Intellectual property laws (or IP law, a catchall term for copyright, patents, and trademarks) and The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Section1201, laws like these are a significant roadblock to security research, fair use, and repair and tinkering. They prevent people from truly owning their own devices; and, as Litman put it, “prevents licensed users from making licensed uses.” A warped development in copyright law has made it illegal in many countries to modify or even look at the software built into the products you own, also if you’re doing it for entirely lawful purposes. Copyright’s legal reinforcement of digital locks, paired with extreme criminal penalties for infringement, has intimidated a generation of would-be researchers, tinkerers, and inventors. And ongoing expansions of copyright law are often decided in secret, closed-door meetings before the public is ever allowed to debate them. ⁶

“Unfortunately, litigious copyright and patent owners can abuse the law to inhibit fair use and stifle competition.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation

6. Creativity & Innovation | Electronic Frontier Foundation. https://www.eff.org/issues/innovation

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GLITCHES WITH THE SYSTEM

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Systems Map of Electronic Devices Center image: Getty images

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WHY COMPONENTS?

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CHAPTER 3

Why Components ?

17 rare earth elements makes the components and other parts of the electronics. ¹ They are embedded in laptops and smartphones, making them smaller and lighter. They play a role in colour displays, loudspeakers, camera lenses, GPS systems, rechargeable batteries, hard drives and many other components. But the precise configuration and use of these minerals is hard to ascertain. The contemporary processes for using minerals in devices are protected behind NDAs and trade secrets.

The unique electronic, optical and magnetic characteristics of rare earth elements cannot be matched by any other metals or synthetic substitutes discovered to date. While they are called ‘rare earth metals’, some are relatively abundant in the earth’s crust, but extraction is costly and highly polluting. ² David Abraham describes the mining of dysprosium and Terbium used in a variety of high-tech devices in Jianxi, China. He writes, “Only 0.2 per cent of the mined clay contains the valuable rare earth elements. This means that 99.8 per cent of earth removed in rare earth mining is discarded as waste called “tailings” that are dumped back into the hills and streams,” creating new pollutants like ammonium. To refine one ton of rare earth elements, “the Chinese Society of Rare Earths estimates that the process produces 75,000 litres of acidic water and one ton of radioactive residue.” Furthermore, mining and refining activities consume a vast amount of water and generate large quantities of CO2 emissions. In 2009, China produced 95% of the world’s supply of these elements, and it has been estimated that the single mine known as Bayan Obo contains 70% of the world’s reserves.

Apple’s supplier program reveals there are tens of thousands of individual components embedded in their devices, which are in turn supplied by hundreds of different companies. For each of those components to arrive on the final assembly line where it will be assembled by workers in Foxconn facilities,³ various components need to be physically transferred from more than 750 supplier sites across 30 different countries. There is a complex structure behind how and where these components are made, assembled and discarded.

In the current recycling systems, these components and parts are completely shredded. The problem is that most of these components are correctly working, but they are not designed in a way that they can be dismantled and reused easily. Significant components (RAM, hard disk, CPU, etc.) are being reused in the current system, although the degree to which this is happening is not precise. Components are both reused by companies in official refurbishment operations, and are also exchanged by users on other platforms. However, the lack of standardisation of components and the fast pace of technological change are two factors that hinder reuse.

Different projects have touched upon various topics related to e-waste. Ore streams by Formafantasma which is an investigation into the recycling of electronic waste, and a reflection and analysis on the meaning of production and how design could be an essential agent in developing a more responsible use of resources. The Great Recovery project by RSA and Common Sands by Studio Plastique, are about material recovery and finding value in waste. Analysing such projects, I found a gap where components by itself where not be reused and no design project had tackled this issue before

(IM)MATERIAL TELEPHONE by Noud Sleumer. https://www.noudsleumer.com/paginas/immaterialtelephoneheadpage.html 1,2,3. Anatomy of an AI System. https://anatomyof.ai/

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“There’s an edge missing, that rough-and-ready, DIY feeling.”

Imaginary Forces Max Radler, The Radio Listener, 1930. Lenbachhaus Munich. Photo: Lenbachhaus. https://www.lenbachhaus.de/en/discover/collection-online/ detail/der-radiohoerer-30004664?tx_mmslenbachhaus_displaymms%5Bausstellung%5D=118&cHash=6e70493849c1e043519a226cbe1c996

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CHAPTER 4 Why Radio ?

Radio was the first wireless communication which actually began as “wireless telegraphy”. Radio is a conventional technology now which some of us are not even bothered about. However, Before the 19th century, wireless radio communication in everyday life was a thing of fantasy. Even after the development of the radio in the late 1800s, it took many years before radios went mainstream and became a household fixture. Radio changed how the world connected and communicated from distances both far and near.

Radio was invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895 as “wireless telegraphy” -- a means for sending Morse code through the air. But on Dec. 24, 1906, a few wireless operators on ships in the North Atlantic heard not the usual dots and dashes but a voice reading from St. Luke’s Gospel. It was Reginald Fessenden, an American who had devised a means for radio waves to carry signals for a range of sound. “Wireless telephony” had arrived.¹ Soon, amateur radio operators in the United States and elsewhere were using this technology to chat with each other. After World War I, radio’s future seemed to be in transmitting long-distance telephone calls, and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company made sure it rounded up the essential patents. Some radio buffs set themselves up as broadcasters, playing music or reading newspapers to anyone who tuned in. But, as the historian Daniel Czitrom wrote, “virtually no one in the scientific, amateur, military or corporate communities had expected broadcasting to become the main use of wireless technology.”²

Amateur Radio: 100 Years of Discovery by Jim Maxwell. http://www.arrl.org/files/file/About%20ARRL/Ham_Radio_100_Years.pdf 1,2. How the Earlier Media Achieved Critical Mass: Radio;From Dots and Dashes To Rock and Larry King. https://www.nytimes.com/1995/11/20/ business/how-the-earlier-media-achieved-critical-mass-radiofrom-dots-and.html

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Pirate radio has been massively influential in shaping British music culture. Communities whose tastes weren’t catered to would often turn to pirate radio stations. One important factor as to why pirate radio embodies DIY creativity is the sense of ownership and camaraderie it presents. DIY creative expressions present a direct means of ownership that is not necessarily afforded in some of the higher, more affluent positions in the mainstream media. If you make it big chances are that your freedom of control over your creative production is going to be limited due to the demands of your audience demand or label restrictions. The freedom that comes with DIY ‘making’ is something that breeds countercultures, and for some, it can become an entire way of life.³ Radio technology was the foundation for all forms of wireless communication that we have, ranging from mobile phones to baby monitors. It was about going back to the base and understanding the technology and the significance behind it too. “You can’t build a great building on a weak foundation.

You must have a solid foundation if you’re going to have a strong superstructure.”- Gordon B. Hinckley Well, that was one reason, and the other purpose is the current crisis the whole world is currently facing: a pandemic.

The current situation got me thinking about what we had to face an apocalypse? How would people communicate in a post-apocalyptic world if all forms of internet and mobile commutations were down and we were in a situation where we couldn’t leave our houses? What will be the genuine source of information to know what was happening around the world?

Answer: A Radio. So that’s why.

Knowing how to make a radio and through this process of making discover the value of materials and think about why we as consumers are not a part of this making and endings of products that surround us every day.

“If you push people hard enough, they’ll find a mode of expression.” Dugs, 2017

3. Pirate Radio & Diy Culture by Naima Sutton. https://shadesofnoir.org.uk/pirate-radio-diy-culture/

WHY RADIO?

Zoonar GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo. https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-03/rise-and-fall-pirate-radio-station-wbad

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CHAPTER 5

Making the Radio

MAKING THE RADIO

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5.1 Dismantling and Sorting Disassembly of electronic products is difficult and impossible in some cases due to the sheer complexity of the products. To make a working radio, first I had to get the right components to make the circuitry of the radio. This turned out to be a really complex first step. To make a basic FM receiver, these are the following components that you need: 1x LM386 1x 10kΩ, 1x 4.7kΩ Resistor 1x Variable Capacitor (1-30pF) 2x BF199 Transistor 1x 25kΩ Potentiometer 2x 100nF Capacitor 1x 10µF, 1x 470µF Capacitor These values of capacitors and transistors are not written on the components directly, but instead, they have a different number coding and colour coding system for it. Once I got hold of that with the help of my expert, Peter Marks, I was able to find most of the components in the e-waste that I mostly comprised of computer screens, laptops, DVDs, and phones.

Now to dismantle the components from the circuit board itself, I had to unsolder the parts using a soldering iron. Before going forward, I should explain what soldering is and what a soldering iron is. Soldering is a joining process used to join different types of metals together on a circuit board. This process is done by a soldering iron, which is a hand tool used to heat solder, usually from an electrical supply at high temperatures above the melting point of the metal alloy.

This process is absolutely painstaking. It took me 15 mins to unsolder each component.

It took me a total of 3 hours, just to unsolder a few components and break a few. It took this long cause I had to do this really carefully as these components are tiny, and their legs are even smaller and fragile. With the rapid growth in technology, these parts are becoming smaller and smaller by each day to make the products as slim as possible.

Going through this process, I understood why no one would want to do it. Also, when you can buy new parts with just a click, why would anyone go through this frustrating process till the time their life is not dependent on it.

These components were never designed to be disassembled. They were never intended to reused.

And they were never meant to be repaired.

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MAKING THE RADIO

Process of Dismantling and Sorting, Anisha Sharma.

E-waste collected from Central Saint Martins and Angel Pawn Shop.

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5.2 Reconstruction

Definition of Bricolage, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bricolage Quote by Levy Strauss, The Savage Mind

MAKING THE RADIO

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In other words, the bricoleur recuperates materials, devices, structures, and methods and adjusts them to the current needs when nothing more suitable is available. Bricolage is not only a form of design and construction alternative to the classical principles of engineering and architecture. Bricolage is also a different way to see the world, given the unbreakable bond between knowledge and action. In other words, it has a deep epistemological significance. Actually, since it forces us to rethink the traditional model of rational planning and design, bricolage makes us discover cognitive (micro)processes typical of design but are usually hidden in the standard engineering model. š Inspired by Tom Sachs, I will be constructing the radio, keeping this philosophy in mind considering the impact that the pandemic has caused to our world. Having said that, it fits quite appropriately with what I intend to achieve with this project through the power of making.

Coming back to the radio, it is interesting to observe that in general, users of technical instruments are not in the least interested in understanding their functioning, they only wish to use them. Technology is vital for what it allows us to do, not to understand.

Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of radio, was looked at with a certain amount of haughtiness by contemporary physicists. They considered the radio as the result of ingenious improvisation rather than of serious studies on electromagnetism. Actually, some academicians had maintained that the radio could not work.²

1,2. The Epistemological Turn: Technology, Bricolage. https://noemalab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/longo_epistemological_turn.pdf

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Design is an essential agent in developing more responsible use of resources. The process of designing and making can lead to a change in approach for the better. The project identifies ways in which design can be deployed to correct the flaws in the current system.

The radio is constructed re-using the components from e-waste and the Amazon delivery cardboard boxes. Due to the current crisis, the only safest way to buy products was through Amazon delivery. Though it is very convenient and reliable, it also produces a lot of waste packaging which has no use after the product has been delivered.

At first, the object appears to be strange and imperfect. Yet within moments, familiar elements begin to emerge. As you look closer, you start noticing usual details like the knob, the speaker, and the antenna that gives a sense of association of a radio.

It is not just about the radio but rather the journey of making this imperfect object itself and the sense of attachment you have when you make it with your own hand.

‘Imperfections can be endearing and help to create a bond with the user.’ The concept of experience, where the subject and object meet and merge with one another, is a vital issue in designing emotionally meaningful products. This is because experience is a space in which all faculties, especially emotions, are activated.

“If a designer wants people to become attached to his/her product, the present study suggests that s/he should facilitate ways to form associations between the product and people, places, or events (memories), or s/he should design an object that evokes enjoyment.”

These days, a flat-screen Trinitron TV lies face down, discarded like a spent cigarette, in the wet space between pavement and road; an abandoned refrigerator stands outcast in a dark suburban alleyway; an Apple Macintosh from the beige era garnishes a skip filled with construction rubble. So, this process of creating a radio will evoke a sense of enjoyment and the memory of making it. You will have an attachment to this radio, which was just a piece of the object before this experience. You will remember the hardship and the value of materials that goes into making these flawless looking objects.

This experience will make you question the current system of “Take, Make and Dispose,” our role as a consumer, and why we don’t design endings or reusability in a design life cycle.

Scalability was never the main intention of the project. Neither do we have the efficient tools to do that, nor are the products designed for reuse. The project is successful when you start to question the system and yourself about how, as a designer, you can create emotional durability in lifeless objects and design-conscious ending or reusability for all the materials involved in making these objects which are far too important to ignore.

MAKING THE RADIO

Close-up details of the Radio Remade

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Radio in the Living Room Remade Radio 1

MAKING THE RADIO

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MAKING THE RADIO

Radio on the Bedside Table Remade Radio 2

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Radio Remade1&2 Close-up image of the components

MAKING THE RADIO

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“Anything beyond the limited physical and digital interfaces of the device itself is outside of the user’s control.

It presents a sleek surface with no ability to open it, repair it or change how it functions. The object itself is a very simple extrusion of plastic representing a collection of sensors – its real power and complexity lies somewhere else, far out of sight.”

Anatomy of an AI system

CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

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The increasing complexity and miniaturization of our technology is causing harm to humans and nature in every aspect that it can, and it is not getting the attention that it should.

This complex issue demands a variety of responses to achieve reduction and reusability. There is an urgent need to change the system of production and our approach to the ills of consumption.

The trouble with the current system is that they generate conflicting messagesbuy more, then feel guilty. We need to create meaning inside the consumer experience that stimulates action in the context of consumption. We are offered little information from the producers about what to do with a product once they reach their end-of-life.

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We really don’t know what to do about the poisonous metals in our gadgets and how to protect the personal data in them.

The most significant improvement will be if we are aware of the endings in our consumer life cycles. We will notice their absence or recognize their presence and quality. We will need to consider what quality is and what we are aiming for.

Jonathan Chapman, argues that “design must challenge our social desire for a scratch-free, box-fresh world,” he thinks “the onset of ageing can concentrate, rather than weaken, the experience of an object.”

“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed.” Gandhi

CONCLUSION

Yet human need is also insatiable and may quite possibly be situated beyond the reach of complete and total satisfaction. This is because new needs emerge the moment old needs are met, thus nurturing the infinite sequence of desire and destruction, so characteristic of the modern world.

The project questions the contrast in scale between the products we use and the industry that produces them. The laboriousness of producing the most basic material from the ground up exposes the fallacy in return to some romantic ideal of a pre-industrialised time.

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RADIO REMADE

In Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design, Chapman touches upon some fundamental issues when it comes to object attachment in relation to the self. First, following Erich Fromm (1979), objects in general (and not just design products) ‘provide an archaic means of possession by enabling the consumer to incorporate the meanings that are signified to them by a given object’ (Champan, 2009, p34). In this context, ‘ possessions are symbols of what we are, what we have been, and what we want to become’ (ibid.). Thus, beyond functionality, products ‘provide important signs and indicators in human relationships’ (ibid).

“Waste is a design flaw. As in nature, it doesn’t exist.” Stella McCartney

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In a world filled with consumerism, ‘adoration rapidly mutates into a resentment of a past that is now outdated and obsolete’ (ibid., p34). At the industrial level, Chapman argues for a holistic form of ‘emotionally durable design’ (ibid., p34) that increases ‘ the resilience of relationships between consumer and product’ (ibid.). I believe through the process of making objects by your own hands and engaging with the material culture enables this vital self-defining process to occur. In this way, the object will behave as a powerful memory cue and remind us of our achievements, relationships, and become extensions of our self. Now is the time for an optimistic vision of life’s destiny in this world. We need to think globally, we need to think rationally, we need to think long-term.

FURTHER READING Many authors have written in much more depth on topics of palnned obsolescence, e-waste, reuse, and circular economy related to e-waste. These books, articles, and journals have inspired me and I highly recommend them for further reading: • Packard Vance, The Waste Makers, 1960, http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/bitstream/1/2027517/1/HS1273. pdf • Braungart, Michael. Mcdonough, William. Cradle to Cradle. Remaking the Way We Make Things, 2002 • Malpass Matt, Critical Design in Context: History, Theory, and Practices, 2017 • The Generation, Composition, Collection, Treatment and Disposal System and Impact of E-waste. https://www.intechopen.com/books/e-waste-in-transition-from-pollution-to-resource/the-generation-composition-collection-treament-and-disposal-system-and-impact-of-e-waste • A New Circular Vision for Electronics : Time for a Global Reboot. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/ WEF_A_New_Circular_Vision_for_Electronics.pdf • Chapman, Jonathan. Emotionally Durable Design : Objects, Experiences and Empathy, 2015 • Macleod, Joe. Ends. Why we overlook endings for humans, products, services and digital, And why we shouldn’t. 2017 • Baker-Brown, D. , The Re-Use Atlas: A Designer’s Guide Towards the Circular Economy, 2017 • Chapman, Jonathan. Routledge Handbook of Sustainable Product Design, 2017 • The Restart Project, https://therestartproject.org • iFixit, https://www.ifixit.com • The Fairphone, https://www.fairphone.com/en/ • The Story of Electronics, https://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-electronics/ • ToxiCity: life at Agbobloshie, the world’s largest e-waste dump in Ghana, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=mleQVO1Vd1I • Ore Streams. http://www.orestreams.com/ • Anatomy of an AI System. https://anatomyof.ai/