Brainstorming & Choosing the Problem Space
At the beginning of October, as we sat down in the Grand Challenges classroom, the first thing our teacher said was, “Homeless shelters perpetuate homelessness.”
Silence followed. Wondering at how the solution designed for homelessness could perpetuate it, we launched into a discussion that concluded even though homeless shelters are beneficial to those in need, they do allow people to continue staying homeless. Rather, it is resources such as interview lessons, resume building, and technology classes that allow people to gain the skills needed to acquire a job and consequently, a home.
To find the solution to any grand challenge, we not only need to consider the breadth of the problem space, but also depth. We need to dig deeper and explore all avenues.
As our team began to brainstorm the present-day grand challenges, with the goal of focusing on a specific problem and developing a solution, we made sure to first address a large breadth of problem spaces. We determined early on that we wanted to address issues related to the environment.
One major problem that we discussed was improper agricultural practices causing nitrogen run-off and topsoil erosion. Another was the negative environmental effects of meat production. We examined global warming and how it is causing rising sea levels and weather phenomena, explored ocean pollution and acidification, and brushed upon food waste. We talked about shrinking biodiversity and how we can “save the bees.”
After this first round of brainstorming, we settled on the problem of single-use plastics. Plastic never fully degrades, contributing largely to the build-up of waste and harming wildlife on land and in oceans. Developing biodegradable plastics is a growing industry.
“Wrong. There is no market for anything related to recycling.” That’s what our teacher said when we stepped into the classroom. “Plastic is cheap. Companies are always going to want to make money, and there is plenty of land for landfills. There is no market.”
Thus, we returned to square one. This time, we arrived at the problem space of food waste. Food waste in landfills produces large amounts of methane, contributing to global warming and climate change. Processing food, only to not consume it, waste a great amount of fresh water. 50,000 liters of water are used to produce one kilogram of beef. “1.4 billion hectares of land, which is roughly one-third the world’s total agricultural land area, is used to grow food that is wasted,” according to Move for Hunger, not to mention the negative impact on biodiversity whose habitat is being converted to farmland.
Based on our fermi estimate, a 12.5% reduction in downstream food waste equates to a 10% reduction in U.S food waste overall. This equates to $21.8 billion dollars, which is a $180 average household cost. The environmental savings would equate to a 0.25% CO2 emissions decrease and 1.7 trillion gallons of freshwater saved, just to highlight a few.
Ultimately, we decided to focus on the grand challenge of food waste. Having explored a large breadth of problem spaces, we then began to explore the depth of downstream food waste through the “Who’s,” “Why’s,” and “So What’s” and our systems map.
https://moveforhunger.org/the-environmental-impact-of-food-waste
