Team:TEC GenetiX CCM/HP/Gold
Gold medal requirements
INTEGRATED HUMAN PRACTICES
After researching about how important was the plastic industry in Mexico, asking people about how well informed they were regarding the safety of plastic products, looking at the economic impact our project would have were it to be implemented and, of course, researching statistics related to plastic waste, we decided to integrate all of the information into our wet lab and into a big report in the form of a business plan and a law proposal. However, most of this was theoretical, due to different reasons such as a lack of money, or need for more people to support us. We did not let this stop us from integrating Human Practices into our project, because we did whatever we could, even if it had a small impact in the world around us.
For example, the recycling campaign was a way for people to get involved with our project and give us feedback, which we would later implement into our investigation and into our wet lab. We identified what worried people the most about the dangers of BPA, phthalates, PCB and PBDE and decided to investigate more about those issues. Afterwards, we did a social media campaign in which we reached more people than in the recycling campaign.
Another even that integrated our project into our society was the Beakman event and the nanotechnology conference. However, our most important educational effort were the visits to the middle school that allowed us to connect with both young generations and their parents, and by increasing their interest in science in general. In Mexico, science is often thought of as a really difficulty discipline, and thus showing teenagers, children and adults that science can be a good way to help others and the environment.
