School Graffiti Classes in Crawley

During the summer a school in Crawley ran a class for young people age 8 and upwards which encourages them to participate in graffiti as an art form. The classes came as part of a council plan to combat problems the area has had with tag graffiti and instead educates them on the difference between graffiti as an art form and tag graffiti as criminal damage.

While this has been a controversial move with residents, it is an idea that embraces creativity in young people. Liz Hart, from the council's community arts team, said: "Graffiti is a really popular with young people. It is considered an art form. Graffiti projects that we have run in the past have been very popular and successful which is why we are running another one this year.

The fundamental thing to see is that it is a legitimate art form, we tell them it is not to be done outside the workshop and the young people who take part would not consider going out to tag a bus stop, wall or whatever. When we do the workshops we provide canvas for the young people to work on. They love it. It is a really positive thing. They use the sessions to promote messages, such as anti drugs posters, sex and relationships. I can understand that some residents may be worried but I can assure them the young people will be told the difference between vandalism and graffiti as an art form."

Local newspaper, Crawley News reports that the move has been unpopular in the community, "One resident, who did not want to be named, contacted the News to express his anger at the graffiti class.

The Southgate resident, who says his area has been plagued by graffiti recently, said: "It is disgusting, it beggars belief really. I can't believe they spend all this money a year on clearing the mess up, and having a hotline for residents to report the graffiti, only to hold a workshop encouraging children to do it. What next? How to break into someone's car?"

Graffiti has been a problem in the area and the council spent spent £37,700 towards clearing graffiti in the town in between 2008 and 2009. However I feel this is an idea that I feel areas with graffiti problems should consider. Firstly the tag graffiti that residents fear is done by the least skilled graffiti artists. By teaching children spray painting skills, they become more talented painters who are more likely to showcase these skills in a more constructive way.

In providing the young people with the materials and a canvas to paint it means that they are less likely to spend the same time spray painting on the streets. Learning about graffiti as an art form and some of the famous artists and projects that have been created from graffiti is likely to encourage them to want to get involved in constructive projects. Giving young people a place to display and enhance their creative talents is key to reducing the problem of criminal damage. In my opinion this should only be the starting point and while graffiti is so relevant to young people they should be allocated free walls to graffiti and offered the opportunity to contribute their work to spaces in schools and playground areas.

This idea is obviously still in its early stages and we will see in time to come if it has a positive or negative effect on the town of Crawley but if it is a success this idea could be exported as far globally as local councils will allow. If any country has a graffiti problem and has a budget to spend on reducing the problem rather than just clean up operations then they could adopt an idea of this sort.

http://www.thisissussex.co.uk/crawley/news/politics/Crawley-council-offers-classes-teach-young-people-create-graffiti/article-1219144-detail/article.html

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2575366/Town-gives-kids-graffiti-classes.html

Junk mail! Opt out... Tonic Mailstopper

Tonic Mailstopper is company that is able to reduce the amount of junk mail that its customers receive, by giving them control over what mailing lists they deem to be useful and what they deem to be junk. Tonic provide its users with the direct mailing lists that their information has been included on and enables them to decided which marketers they would like to receive information from.

Mailstopper not only "gets you off lists, we keep you off — by monitoring key direct mail lists monthly and making it easy to resubmit requests." The process of eliminating junk mail is done by filling out request forms, which are done either by mail or online applications. Tonic provide this to their users in exchange for $20 dollars per year.

Whilst this seems like quite a lot of money to pay to reduce junk mail it has advantages. Firstly by receiving less junk mail there is less impact on the environment. Tonic expand on this, "Junk mail reduction offers a host of positive side effects. Less mail means less paper is produced, and fewer trees are sacrificed.

For you, a smaller recycling pile means a smaller waste footprint for your household. And, less junk mail means you save time and effort, sorting through mail you don't want. By signing up for MailStopper, you support important environmental causes that make a difference in the world, as well as your mailbox with efforts like reforestation, sustainable harvesting and rainforest conservation."

To emphasise the environmental nature of this project, they will plant five trees through their tree planting partners for every $20 fee paid. There is also the more material security advantage of keeping, "unsolicited personalized mail out of your mailbox."

While I would begrudge paying money to free myself of junk mail, I do think it is something that most people would like to do. Being able to decide which marketers are able to contact you is something that I feel would be utilized much better if it was a free service. If this was the case I could see it being something that most people would take the time to do.



In poorer countries there is probably less of a need for such a service, because there is less disposable income which may well result in less direct marketing. However it is something that is common in many countries and the principle of this service is interesting. It asks the question as to whether we would be more responsive to direct mail, if it contained messaging that was more likely to interest us.

Making direct mail more specific is something that would perhaps be of interest to advertisers and with a service like this it gives the user more control over what they would like information on. This is perhaps an idea that needs development but is certainly an interesting one nonetheless.

http://mailstopper.tonic.com/

RecycleBank

RecycleBank is an American based recycling incentive scheme, however where it differs from something like a reverse vending machine is that the company comes to you to recycle your waste, rather than you having to go to them. This in itself is another incentive that I feel could give RecycleBank an edge over most existing recycling schemes.

The idea of Recyclebank is that they will reward you with vouchers of an amount based upon how much waste you recycle per collection. They have their own refuse collection team, who provide users with larger recycling containers than most of America and the UK. Their philosophy is that the majority of our waste can be recycled, so why should the recycling be the smallest of our refuse containers.



Where RecycleBank has provides its users with a further is the simplicity of the recycling, which is achieved by some very important technology. The New York Times describes, "it was important to spare households the tedium of separating glass, paper, plastic and metal. They (RecycleBank) signed on with the Philadelphia-based Blue Mountain Recycling, which uses sorting technology employing fans, gravity, magnets and manual picking." This technology makes recycling so user friendly that it is even simpler the current schemes employed by most local councils.

The New York Times also discuss the need to be able to weigh the amount of waste being recycled. "One problem for the RecycleBank was trying to find a way to measure the volume of recyclable goods generated by a household and credit that amount to participants. Through Web searches and phone calls, the men identified Cascade Engineering in Grand Rapids, Mich., which provided free several thousand 35- and 64-gallon bins embedded with RFID (radio frequency identification) technology as part of its research and development budget.

The "smart waste" tag, a combination computer chip and bar code, enables the bins to be scanned and weighed and the amount linked to a household. The information is channeled from an on-board computer in the garbage trucks into a databank. The LTS Scale Corporation of Twinsburg, Ohio, was able to configure scales and a tipping mechanism for the containers, which fit on the back of the trucks so the bins can be weighed and easily emptied.

Why not cheat by adding a bowling ball or other heavy nonrecyclable items to the trash? RecycleBank came up with a button on the on-board computer that workers can press to flag the address if they notice contraband. This happens less than rarely."



RecycleBank are funded by money that governments save on recyclable items not being put into landfill, as well as advertising revenue from their website. They then pay their users in vouchers for stores including Starbucks, Home Depot and Bed Bath & Beyond. Users can earn a maximum of $25 per month and $400 per year, whilst being able to check their recycling balance online, which really is quite an incentive. Over 125,000 households participated in 2007 with more being added every year.

In my opinion a system like Recyclebank could really make a huge difference to the way that we think about recycling. Its incentives in terms of money, simplicity and convenience make it a more desirable way of recycling than anything I have previously encountered. Its success on a global scale would be dependent on government attitudes to recycling and its willing to fund such a program.

In the long run saving are likely to be made for these governments, but there will also be a fair cost involved based on the technology that is used. However I believe that this really is a viable alternative that could really get people excited about recycling, understanding the importance of it in the process. If governments already have a refuse and recycling budget that could cater for this scheme, such as some of Europe's richer countries then this is something I could see being introduced on a much larger scale.

https://www.recyclebank.com/

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/business/businessspecial2/21recycle.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin/&adxnnlx=1254855610-5iojVckqWQYLuQWWg8E1Fg