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Capstone Project Paragraph on packaging material

REI is dedicated to conserving nature particularly in how they package their merchandise in their distribution warehouses. During my brief internship at one of REI's warehouses, I was thought how to use as little packaging space as possible, so the customer would not have to pay extra for shipping costs. But this practice also helps them save on cardboard boxes and packaging material which will help achieve the company's goal of becoming a zero waste-to-landfill organization by 2020. When I was researching for this paragraph, I discovered this company called Ecovative Design which uses dried up fungi as a Styrofoam substitute. Styrofoam being a petroleum based product is not biodegradable at all while EcoCradle which uses the ingredient in the mushroom root called mycelium to use as bonding agent and will be binding as well as being biodegradable. The foam is as strong as most materials, but its main strong suit is how well it ages. When put under simulated aging tests, EcoCradle does not degrade with age and gets stiff when subjected to heat while most plastic based foams do not. Plus, Ecovative Design founder and chief scientist Gavin McIntyre says that the material will be no more expensive then Styrofoam. If all goes well, McIntyre says that Ecovative Design’s foam will be in automobiles within the next 12 to 18 months.

Fish, Eric, “Fungus Foam”, Automotive Design and Production, Vol. 123, Issue 6, 2011, Nov/Dec 2011

Last day on the job 05/14/12

My last day on the job was a bit uneventful to say the least. I almost arrived late because my mom went the wrong way to the distribution center. Afterwords, everything went normal as expected. Like last week, I was on my own in terms of asking questions about stuff although I did get some help on a few things. Unfortunately I was not able to get all of my work done on that day, but that has happen before so I knew what to do. I thought this job was pretty good once I got into it. I would not to think of it as a permanent job, but it would be something nice to fall back on in case something goes wrong with my dream job.

Week 3 on the job 05/07/12 & 05/09/12

I cannot really remember anything of significance that happen this week. The best thing I can think of was that Wednesday I gave my supervisor and the management little cards thanking them for providing me with this work experience. Another notable event was that I did recall using my supervisors assistance as much last 3 days. That's all I can really think of at the moment, but if I think of something, I'll add something. Until then, enjoy these photos of me on the job.



Week 2 on the job 04/30/12 & 05/02/12

I'll first start this post of with a picture of the REI werehouse that I forgot to put in last week.

Now that's out of the way lets begin. I must say not much happen on Monday except that I learned what to do if I encounterd products that were already in boxes. Basically what I did is I put those boxes into bigger boxes. On Wedensday, I went to a different work station. Not much changed, but I did learned what I needed to do if I forgot to put a collate in the shipping box along with the order. So that's what happen in week 2. Not much, but hopefully there will be more stuff to talk about next week,





First day on the job 04/25/12

My first day on the job went rather well I believe. I did kind of cut it a little late getting finished, but I don't think I myself should be to blame. My job is a domestic wrapping clerk at the REI(Recreational Equipment Inc.) shipping werehouse in Sumner. My job as a DWC is to be responsible for accurately processing the maxinum number of Direst to Consumer orders without jeopardizing the quality of the packaging. What that means is that plastic creates called totes will come to my station via converyor belt. I then scand the tote into the computor which finds out what should be in it. Now normally to save on space, the totes have these cardbored dividers to seperate each order, but this is not always the case. I scan the iteim(s) from the tote and the computer finds who ordered said iteim(s) and prints me off a label and a recipt. Then I pick either a box or a plastic bag to put the iteim(s) in and sometimes they require a different kind of box and/or bag for priority mail. After picking the box with the right size I then tape the bottom end with a little device that helps me know what length I need. After taping the bottom end, I then put the recipt in first and then put the iteim(s) in. Some iteim(s) require having some packaging paper inside for safty. After putting the order in, I tape the box shut, put the shipping label on, and then I put the package on another convyor belt where it will go to another station. So that is what I did on my first day on the job and hope to do again for another 3 weeks. Below is a picture of my work station followed by a link to REI's website. See you until next week!

http://www.rei.com/

All About Me

I was born on May 17th 1991 at the Good Samaritan hospital in Puyallup. I have been living in Orting for my entire life along with my parents, Larry and Jada. I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism at age 3. While autism has given me an ability to take in great amounts of information, it has also caused me to be sub-par at such subjects such as math. After graduating from high school in 2011, I enrolled in the ACHIEVE program at Highline Community College.


My work history has included many libraries’ including the Highline College Library and the Washington Soldier’s Home library. I am going to be in an internship at a warehouse in Tacoma for one month. My hobbies include collecting issues of the Seattle Gay News, reading books, collecting fan-art from around the web, and playing various games both video and internet. According to the most recent political spectrum quiz that I have taken, I am a left social moderate with also being a light non-interventionist and culturally liberal. I know how to use PowerPoint and public transportation. My dream job is to work at The Walt Disney Company as a writer and producer of movies, television shows, video games, rides, and more.