CHALLENGE FUTURE: COMPETTITION 2011IT AIN´T HAY

(An idea worth more then worthless hay)

Intraduction/ visionVisionStraw bale construction and design is a modern concept, but there even exists evidence that straw was used to make homes in African prairies as far back as the Paleolithic times.Alternative natural materials, specifically their applications, have only recently made their wayinto more common use.The ideas of being green and sustainable in response to global warming and climate change shifted more of a focus onto the materials and methods used to build our city scape and homes interrior. As enviromentally conscios decisions became common place, the use of alternative natural materials instead of typical natural materials or man-made materials that rely heavily on natural resources become promiment.

I went with my friend on holiday. It was in the mountains on a farm where his grandfater lives. One day we saw his neighbour who lived alone and was traying to move strawbales in his hayloft. He was really old so me and my friend decided to offer him help so the job would be done sooner. After a couples of houres we finaly finished what we started. We were really tired so we take a rest on one of the strawball and enjoy an end of a hard working day. In that moment we started to talk how comfortable is on this strawballs and the qouestion came almost itself:Why people dont use hay for filling their cauches, sofas and beds??In addition the old farmer told us that the sad thing is that he dont have anywhere to use this hay, because he doesnt have animals on his farm anymore and nobody else doesnt need it.

InterviewsHow do you see fun can be connected to sustainable development ?

1. A competition. We could have compettitions for collecting waste in nature , the one who collects the most, wins. Maybe some nice prices for the best three would attract even the lazy ones. (Miha, 25 years old)

2. I would implement a hidraulic device on the children´s playground so while they would play they would also produce energy. The quontity of energy would be negligible but the way to educate children about sustainability would be simple and fun. ( Niko, 27 years old)

3. Shering. Car sharing, bikes, any kind of tools or toys . (Iva, 30 years old)

4. Dancing floor wich produce elektricty while people would dance on it. They would use their kinetic energy for making electricity. Thats fun and sustainable…

( Blaz, 24 years old)

5. High taxes on gasoline prices wich would be used to subsidise public transportation. ( Marko, 27 years old)

Who, what and whyFor further research i would like to interview profesor dr. Miha Humar from Biotechnical Faculty, department of wood or his assistants. Profesor Humar also works in Institute for testing and certifcation of furniture, outside toys and sports gear.If the contact with profesor would be requred i would ask him how can we explore: - Dimensional compliance- Ergonomic features- Stability of the product- Mechanical and strustural properties-Durability of the product- Impact on the health of the users-- The impact on the environment

The use of straw bales can have a huge impact on our natural resources and air pollution. Each year, the U.S. alone burns or disposes of 200 million tons of ˝ waste straw˝, producing massive amounts of carbon dioxide.The use of straw as insulation or filling materaol for beds, sofas reduces the need for initial energy outputs in regards to manufacturing. There is less embodied energy in straw as it is available in almost every local market, thereby reducing transportion costs and efforts. Straw is renewable resource that has one year growth/ harvest cycle. By using this local, agricultural by- product as a building material, we can reduce energy expanditures, the amount of straw burned and the use of fossil fuels needed for material transportation