"Hypothesis": ­­­what do I expect to find?

I expect to find that our transfer station is doing well, that the transparency of the system is lacking (reality of numbers, hours, legalities associated with TS, etc. aren't well­known), that we aren't prepared for the future of waste and recycling and reuse and regenerative design... I think we could cut down on the cost of things dramatically with better design. I think the redesign is going to be met with lots of push back and opposition, but with proper presentation could be accepted.

What do I expect to learn?

I expect to learn that our waste system is even more complicated, inefficient, and ecologically unsound than I think now. I will probably find that most transfer station attendants don't care much for the ecology of the land and water in the vicinity of the TS and even less for the land and water where the materials are eventually dumped. I will learn a lot about dealing with very disparate viewpoints and finding middle ground. I will learn about presentation and mediation between large groups of people with different objectives and situations.

Why is this important to me? to the community? to the world?

This is important to me because I see a lot of wasted resources at the TS. I have gotten a lot of furniture, kitchen supplies, etc. from the dump and know that many of my neighbors and townspeople have too. I care about the ecological footprint of the TS, especially with the bog nearby. I care about the ecological damage caused by the waste that is trucked away, recycled, burned, buried, transported multiple more times, and left to deal with when it becomes a "big enough problem". I think it is important to the community for the sake of resilience­ ­­we cannot continue with the linear "take­make­waste" system for much longer, and the community needs to be prepared to not purchase as much "stuff", fix what is broken, reuse and reuse again (often changing the intended use of a material/object), recycle, give, donate, lend, etc. It's important to the world because we are at a point where our trash is taking over our water, land, bodies, and on and on and on.

How will I make this replicable?

I will make the budgeting, the design ideas, the resources, the interview questions, the steps for integrating the community, and the vision all public and "fill in the blank".

How will I present this?

At Town Meeting in March of 2015 I will put up a display with my findings and stand with it to answer questions. My budgetary findings will be shown in the Town Report. I will write an article in the Beacon (the local newspaper, a monthly printing) that will come out on January 12th, 2015 that includes the design, the budgeting, the interviews, etc.

Who will be my supporters in this?

The Andover Energy Group; Reggie Roy, Debbie Guinard, and Red (TS attendants); Marj Roy, Town Administrator; Vicky Mishcon (previous BOS); Jim Danforth and Duncan Coolidge (current BOS); Jon Corriveau (partner); Town of Andover; other towns' transfer stations and their attendants; AEMS, Jane Slayton

What design tools will I use for the OP:

OBREDIMET

Looby McNamara's Design Web

SADIM

SWOT

PNI (positive, negative, interesting inspirations)

What design tools will I use for the project:

Input/­output analysis

PC Ethics and principles

Zones and sectors

Base maps, overlays­­­ TOADS (Title, orientation, author, date, scale)

Looby McNamara's Design Web

SWOT

PNI

SADIM

OBREDIMET

Patrick Whitefield's Design Process

NASA's design process (1­8)

Yeoman's Relative Permanence scale and Keyline Planning

0. Climate

0. Land shape

0. Water

0. Roads

0. Trees

0. Buildings

0. Fences and boundaries

0. Soil

Incremental design

Flow diagram

Web connection

What am I excited about in this process?

Meeting different TS attendants, coming up with solutions, proposing regenerative design, the community engagement and interaction, the blank slate approach, the cost­cutting potential, the chance to teach people in town....

What am I nervous/apprehensive about in this process?

the research, the time (especially driving to the TS in different towns and talking to strangers), the pushback from community members, the potential of cutting hours at the TS, the large chance that nothing gets implemented or even considered, the possibility that I get discouraged and do nothing/very little, the time constraint for the OP, budget season, and town meeting (March 2015), my lack of understanding of the equipment, the processes, the legal issues (including staffing and insurance and zoning, etc)...

Reflections from Jon (think and listen, nov. 19th): "Everything you're

involved in shows me what a revolution looks like"