Ethics and Sustainability

Ethics

Concerns:

Potentially difficult for users with disabilities to operate

Improvements:

Addition of a motor to raise and lower the back storage system
- This would also potentially allow us to remove expensive and environmentally unfriendly zinc pulleys

Sustainability

Benefits:

Based on the materials of our product, we estimate it has a use life of at least 10-12 years

Concerns:

We used pulleys with zinc coating, which has poor environmental consequences and adverse health effects

Improvements:

We will ideally use materials that have lower environmental impact and can be easily recycled

Okala Impact Factor Chart for Materials

Although the Okala impact factor for our AdjuSTATION prototype is high, it is offset by the fact that the product's lifespan is long—ideally more than 10-12 years—which diminishes the time this product would turn into waste. Additionally, further design iterations of the AdjuSTATION will ideally use more sustainable materials that will decrease the Okala impact factor: for example, we will ideally replace the zinc pulleys with a more sustainable material, as well as the steel conduit pipes.