Students' sculptures help the environment

A giant stiletto and an oversized green beer can are helping to highlight the impact rampant consumerism is having on the environment.The sculptures, created by students from the University of Wollongong chapter of Engineers Without Borders, will be on display at the university this week to encourage students to think about their habits as consumers.Programs manager Rachael Lappin said students rarely thought about the consequences of being a throw-away society."The shoe represents induced consumption and that 'have to have it impulse' that drives trends," she said."Six months down the track, it will be out of date and out of fashion ... we want students to see this stiletto and stop and think about what trend they really want to set." Ms Lappin said e-waste, discarded computers and electronic goods, was among the fastest-growing waste in the world (five times normal waste rates) and was likely to reach 40 million tonnes a year."That is enough to fill a line of garbage trucks stretching halfway round the world," she said.Engineer graduate David Wajchman said there was too much focus on marketing new gadgets and gizmos without considering what consumers would do with their old versions."It is a process of planned obsolescence where companies build things to be thrown away in six months," he said. "We want people to stop and think about the part they play."