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The mechanical transformation and environmentally conscious behavior

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2014

Jay Jungik Son  and
L.H. Shu
Jay Jungik Son
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
L.H. Shu*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
*
Reprint requests to: L.H. Shu, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada. E-mail: shu@mie.utoronto.ca
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Abstract

The aim of this work is to explore the relationship between products that mechanically transform and individual environmentally conscious behavior (ECB). Our qualitative study led to observations on how each of the three transformation principles, expand/collapse, expose/cover, and fuse/divide, specifically supports ECBs. As expected, expand/collapse enables better portability of products. Increased portability of reusable products (e.g., travel mugs and shopping bags) reduces reliance on their disposable counterparts. A less expected observation is that increased portability also increases the spontaneity by which ECBs could be carried out. While there are fewer ECB supporting products that incorporate the expose/cover principle, we believe that it enables one to include, yet hide potentially unaesthetic, features that support ECB in often-used or worn items. Finally, we found fuse/divide to enable portability beyond what is possible with expand/collapse alone. Fuse/divide may also make possible other product transport and reuse strategies. We conclude that mechanically transformable products support and enable ECBs, especially when existing infrastructure presents obstacles. Such products may increase the rate of participation in ECB, which then justifies improvements to the shortfalls in infrastructure for which they compensate.

Keywords

Environmentally Conscious/Significant BehaviorProenvironmental BehaviorTransformation Principles
Type
Special Issue Articles
Information
AI EDAM , Volume 28 , Issue 2: Design Computing and Cognition (DCC'12) , May 2014 , pp. 193 - 203
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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