Sustainability Project: Benches

To create benches that where lighter, sturdier, and more mobile; the goal of our sustainability project. We faced a problem that has been seen over time, how do you create a quality product for the lowest cost as well as doing it quickly? Doug and Cece helped us refine our design for the benches. Thenwe gathered wood that we thought we could use, including what we could scavenge from the old benches. Next Lucy, our math girl, added up all the number of pieces we would need and their dimensions. We then started working on first dismantling the benches and cutting the pieces we would need. Then we put them together. It seems simple enough, but it wasn’t all that easy. In our design we made the legs of the benches into squares with a longer board made of plywood on the bottom so that it acted like a snowshoe and wouldn’t sink into the mud. We added triangle pieces of plywood and screwed them to the legs so that they were sturdier. The braces coming from the legs act as a support to more evenly distribute the weight. We ran into a few bumps along the way. Mostly we dealt with technical difficulties like being unable to get the saw to work and dead batteries. But with the help of Doug and Cece we were able to get back on track. If we could have done one thing different we would have planned more thoroughly. It would have made the whole process go a lot more smoothly. That’s is the advise we would give to future students, plan more than you ever have in your life. Leave space for mess-ups. Make time for getting lost. Getting stuck doesn’t have to be the end of the world, so long as you left space in which it’s ok to get stuck. Here at Woolman we are encouraged to get stuck and to get confused beyond belief.  We definitely had our mess-ups but the end result turned out just the way it was supposed to.