Greengineers
Evan Hernandez
Pawel Klim
Jamie Schuberth
Jill Shah
Week of 11/15/13
Moving forward with our idea dealing with properly disposing of plastic water bottles,
we narrowed down our project to focusing on disposing the plastic bottle caps. Our idea as of
now is to create a system which implements the psychological approach to make removal of the
cap before recycling the bottle more fun. Looking at the “fun theory,” people were more
enthusiastic and willing to use the stairs to go up or down a floor level rather than using an
escalator because it played piano notes when walking on each step. With more people using the
stairs rather than the escalator, a greater amount of electrical energy was saved. Pondering on
this idea, we thought that if it could be possible to make proper disposable of plastic water
bottles more fun, people would be more likely to follow it. Going back, we knew how many
people did not take the time to remove the cap off of a bottle before recycling, or some do not
recycle bottles period. Having a fun sound or lighting rewarded in exchange for disposal of the
cap in one container and the disposal of the bottle in another would increase the efficiency and
numbers of those who properly dispose of this item. An added plus is how this would work for
any age group because it is after all fun and you are being rewarded for your actions. Working
off of this, our ultimate goal is to create a system for separately disposing of plastic water bottles
and their caps, given a rewarding sound or lighting for doing so. Looking at this in the grander
scheme of things, we started off with some research. We knew how greenhouse gases have been
a major concern lately, especially with the rise of global warming and increase in carbon
emissions. We narrowed it down to how these plastic water bottles are disposed in landfills, and
we found that it is safe to argue that plastic will never biodegrade. Finding that in America alone,
60 million plastic bottles are used every day, it is not okay to have millions, if not billions, of
plastic bottles laying around in landfills. Also, because of these landfills, methane is released,
one the main factors of global warming. By simply disposing of plastic bottles properly, the
amount of methane that is released would decrease and contribute to a decrease in the rate global
warming. This research gave us a start to how we could be impacting the environment and also
how this could relate to our Lexus Eco Challenge topic, yet to be announced.
Furthermore, the timeline was created by our group this week to help layout all the tasks
and due dates for this project throughout the year. With the timeline, the leaders of each task
were assigned based on the skills of each person (Evan has communication, administrative,
presentation, and programming skills; Pawel has sketching, technical, and programming skills;
Jamie has CAD, sketching, administrative, and documenting skills; Jill has documenting,
technical, interpersonal, and PowerPoint skills).
Also, roles and responsibilities were assigned, considering the skills of each person. Evan
was chosen as the leader, Jamie and Jill were chosen as the scribes, and Pawel was chosen as the
timekeeper. With this, the team constitution was created to focus on team development. The
Greengineers
Evan Hernandez
Pawel Klim
Jamie Schuberth
Jill Shah
basic of the constitution incorporated doing your part as a team member, including completion of
any assigned tasks and attending team meetings. Also, no idea or member is to be judged or
blamed, and once a decision is made, it should be supported by each member.
The next task worked on this week was the development of the problem statement. This
was done by Jill and Evan. The problem statement is to be generic so as to not give away our
idea or solution but simply present what we believe is the problem. The statement we came up
with is as follows:
Greenhouse gases contribute to global warming because of the emissions that are
released. An efficient method of reducing the use of greenhouse gases in everyday life
can help reduce the rate at which global warming increases the earth’s temperature.
This statement provides the information that global warming and greenhouse emissions is our
topic of focus for this project. It, of course, is narrowed down to proper disposal of plastic water
bottles using a fun method as of now.
The background was created by Evan and Jill with information giving insight to the
problem affecting the environment in general, or the big picture. The background included facts
concerning the following:

What global warming is

What greenhouse emissions are

What methane and fossil fuels are

The affects of the reduction of greenhouse

Statistics dealing with these topics
Research was done to find this information, the resources attached. This information, specifically
the statistics, was used to help justify the problem along with the facts on how much energy and
money would be saved by reducing greenhouse gases, as simple as disposing of plastic water
bottles properly. (Note: statistics and facts are attached at end).
A Gantt chart was created by Pawel to act as a visual aid for the timeline so that it is
easier to see each task in subsequent order and to keep track of each deadline and milestone. This
is to be submitted with the timeline.
Greengineers
Evan Hernandez
Pawel Klim
Jamie Schuberth
Jill Shah
Week of 11/22/13
We began this week by finishing the scope to be finished on November 18th. The only
information left to add included our determined team meeting times and locations, along with the
tools and materials that would be necessary to complete this project. These included shop tools
such as saws, screwdrivers, hammers, soldering irons, and so forth, along with wire, solder,
breadboards, and the rapid prototyping machine or something similar of the sorts. Adding this in,
the scope was completed and turned in, along with the timeline.
The deliverables were the next thing on our timeline to complete in order to move
forward with our project efficiently. This was mentioned in our scope so not much editing was
needed aside from details. Our deliverables included those needed for the Lexus Eco Challenge.
A testing statistical data analysis is due in part to the Lexus Eco Challenge by January 18th, along
with a 15-slide “Action Plan” Process PowerPoint. These deliverables were documented.
Brainstorming was the following task that each team member worked on to compile
before November 20th. The main topics of focus dealt with the following:

psychological aspects
◦ classical conditioning
◦ attribution theory
◦ diffusion of responsibility/bystander effect/social loafing
◦ social influence/conformity
◦ motivation
◦ social learning theory

electrical systems/electricity/circuitry

global warming
◦ factors causing global warming
◦ greenhouse gases
▪ trends for greenhouse gas emissions
Greengineers
Evan Hernandez
Pawel Klim
Jamie Schuberth
Jill Shah
◦ current policies addressing global warming

human neglect towards the environment
◦ environmental factors
◦ sociological or cultural factors

Bartlett’s condition in regards to environmental responsibility
The questions listed under each section or subsection were documented and will be answered
during the research that is conducted next.
Week of 11/29/13
We continued working on our research, putting more focus and emphasis on the questions
created in the brainstorming section. Our initial starting point was with the brainstormed
questions listed previously. We decided to split up the questions among each team members.
With each question to be answered, statistical research had to be done to support each answer
that is given for our research. Statistics are inarguable and would be helpful in justifying our
problem as well as giving information with which way our project is headed. The major statistics
and information that we found include the following:

landfills are 17% of the reason for methane emissions

plastic takes up to 1,000 years to degrade in a landfill

Americans throw away 35 billion plastic bottles every year and only about 25% of these
bottles are recycled

methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas in the United States
◦ 9% of emitted methane gas is attributed to human activities and 20% worldwide;
when compared to carbon dioxide, methane is 20 times more influential to climate
change over a 100 year period
Finding this information, along with other details, we now know that plastic is clearly not being
disposed as it should be and it takes up a large portion of landfills. We also know that landfills
cause methane emissions, which cause greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn cause global
warming. Seeing this pyramid effect, we realized how even the smallest thing like properly
Greengineers
Evan Hernandez
Pawel Klim
Jamie Schuberth
Jill Shah
disposing of plastic water bottles can lead to a smaller percentage of plastic in landfills, smaller
percentage of methane emissions, smaller percentage of greenhouse gases, and ultimately a
reduction in the rates of global warming.
We agreed to work on research over break, focusing on the questions created while
brainstorming. Also, as we find more information regarding our project, we should begin to
apply it to our prototype ideas, and the specific criteria and constraints should be considered.