Hello Nairalanders,

I would like to share an article i just published with you guys.

Application of emotional design thinking to propose efficient changes to the specifications of technology, with the aim of reducing their negative environmental impact.

The article highlights the negative environmental impact of using white themed papers within the digital landscape as a result of the unconscious emotional attachment humans have with technology.

Please share and spread the light.

Comments and feedback are welcome

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Letter to my Dad

Its the middle of a cold night, and I am staring at my PC screen, glancing at an email received from my Dad about 3 weeks earlier. Notwithstanding the broad darkness that wrapped herself around the vacant Lagos streets, I found myself actively searching for the mental strength to draft a supposedly long-awaited response to him. A reluctant effort that required significant struggle, I must say. However, despite the formidable internal battle with hesitation & procrastination, letters turned into words, words to sentences, and sentences became a scanty but precise 1-pager with contents well dressed up to mask feelings of hurt, disgust and bitterness.

Strangely though, completing the herculean task of drafting a response didn't bring the mental & emotional reward I was expecting. Rather, I felt uncomfortable just thinking of the possibility that the recipient will end up printing my email. What a waste of beautiful trees, I thought. This was someone who had the habit of printing everything. Those little ecological friendly text signatures located at the bottom of emails advising recipients to refrain from unnecessary printing wouldn’t cut it.

My Approach

Out of my genuine love and connection with earth, I prompted to protect Her beauty in my own little way by editing the email response before sending. My aim was to reduce the probability of the recipient printing my email. I changed the page background color to black, changed the color of the text/content to white. Exported as a PDF, hit Send. Oh, I included a footer & header text stating the following;
This document was created with a black background intentionally. Reduce Deforestation. Save the Earth

A drop in the Ocean

Albeit a personal effort towards making a positive impact on the environment, an effort which is largely insignificant when compared with the current prevalent environmental conditions, most especially the. effect of paper waste. According to statistical data at theworldcounts’s online website, the global consumption of paper from 2001 to 2019 amounts to 386 million hectares of forest lost . This loss represents 10% decrease in trees since year 2000. Considering that about 93% of paper comes from trees, this amounts to a huge loss of our beautiful nature.

This loss fueled my desire for a more sensitive and emotional approach towards the use of paper. An approach that’s applied at the roots of the human mind, rather than at the roots of beautiful trees.

A sad Acceptance

I noticed a link between the rate of deforestation and the emotional attachment humans have with paper. Its one of unconscious acceptance of social/technological norms. We are so used to seeing white background themed papers on the digital screens that we do not cringe at the sight of piles of wasted paper within our personal space. Talk less of hectares of forests amounting to millions.
This “collective unconscious” acceptance of a digital theme spirals into series of occurrences that have far-reaching negative impact on our physical environment. One could argue that such dilemma is one of the hidden negative impact of technology on society,
A sad fairytale, I must say. The erosion of human freedom, dignity, and potential by technology.

The illustrations below describe the various emotional states towards different scenarios.



Image 1 above describes the emotional state of an individual observing a digital screen with white page.



Image 2 above describes the emotional state of an individual observing piles of wasted paper (white page background), and with varied ink usage /coverage.



Image 3 changes the scenario significantly by filling 98% of the white paper with ink. So basically, imagine walking into an office space and seeing piles of wasted paper all covered in ink. Front and back sides, including the top, bottom and side borders. All covered in ink.

Images 2 & 3 could capture the same amount of paper but deliver very different emotional responses. Surprisingly though, the emotional responses of surprise, guilt and shame become present when there is significant presence of Ink (i.e. absence of visible white paper) as shown in Image 3.

Despite the distinct emotional responses in scenario 2 &3, the loss of beautiful trees is the same.

A black background changes human behavior, consciousness and awareness towards the effects of waste, by placing the processes that instigate the required emotional responses before the relevant actions (such as printing) are committed.

Collective drops of Empathy

Altering a behavioral pattern that’s been unconsciously accepted by majority on a global scale would require major effort from much of the population. A united and consequential endeavor hinged on the waves of sensitivity for planet Earth and Her inhabitants. The required drive for change will involve major shift in how we think and feel towards ourselves.

Imaging turning on your device, launching Microsoft Office Word or PowerPoint, you are welcomed with a black themed paper. Your expressions are recorded on the screen as white text outlines. Hitting Ctlr-P becomes a decision that requires you to feel & think before you act. You wouldn’t want people to see that you used up the printer ink, would you? Imagine a world where digital signatures are the norm. Internal memos, corporate letter heads, formal & informal letters, quotations, proposals, invoices, bills, etc. All products of digital desktop publishing, mostly circulated and contained within the digital space. Rather than littering, degrading, and destroying our personal space.

Objectively speaking, my actions alone will not be enough to cause significant improvement in the reduction of deforestation and the overall effects of climate change. Nevertheless, my experience and subtle plea could shed light on the possibilities achievable when humanity feels rather than thinks.

#blackpaper
#000000


Thank you.
Akinwale Arokodare

Edit*

I couldnt find out how to edit the main post to include the images.

So i decided to try uploading them in this post;

Image 1;
[img]https://imagizer./img923/4417/rLzwud.jpg[/img]

Image 2:
[img]https://imagizer./img922/9706/9HFskV.jpg[/img]

Image 3:
[img]https://imagizer./img923/4872/DHDcDD.jpg[/img]