Towards the end of our trip to Costa Rica, we presented our material studies to EARTH students in two groups to get their feedback on possible paths to explore. Our group quickly realized that they could tell us, not necessarily how rice straw can be used as a material, but how it could potentially fit in with their local environment and community. The best responses came out of questions we asked about lifestyle, everyday activities and people. Xavi translated our conversations, which was immensely helpful. Though this did not provide the type of feedback we expected, we came back from the presentation of a better sense of the local way of life.
Later, we took a tour of EARTH's agricultural space. We saw where they grew mangoes, rice and other crops. The manager of La Flor, who gave us this tour, told us about EARTH's efforts to use precision agriculture, which involves the early detection of problems occurring to the crops. The allows them to reduce the amount of herbicides and pesticides used, which, in the end, is much better for the plants and for us. They are also careful to only use as much water and fertilizer as they need. Too much of water can lead to eutrophication, which occurs when excess water carrying high amounts of nitrogen and other nutrients drains into local streams and ponds, creating algae blooms that divert oxygen from fish and other marine life, ultimately killing them.
After seeing the farms at EARTH, our tour guide/manager gave us some feedback on our materials. Like Carlos, he quickly identified needs these materials could fill. He was very excited about our work and made us excited in return. It's becoming more evident that there are numerous local problems that we can investigate through our material experimentation.
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