The Brief: design a product or service to reduce WEEE- group work

Research

Touchpoint

  • Expanding on the research techniques developed in the Mind the Gap brief, my teamate and I set out researching all about WEEE
  • I was shocked to see the insanity unfold at how wasteful us humans can be!
  • One point I found interesting is that recycling is often thought of as the best option, however this may be a form of greenwashing as infact preventing something from becoming waste in thh first place is most valuable in terms of both energy and physical material consumption
  • We decided to explore this avenue, primarily looking at electric tools

 

Ideation

Touchpoint

  • The decided upon idea is one that I thought of. The concept focuses on the fact that most households own an array of affordable electric tools, to be used on very rare occasions. Due to their affordable price, build quality often suffers, causing breakages. The cheap price of the tools mean it makes more sense for people to throw them away and buy a new one, rather than repairing it.
  • It would make much more sense to have communal tool sharing. For the rare occasion that most people need to use power tools, it is very likely one will be available and nearby. Additonally, tools can be of higher quality/ regularly maintained, preventing the need for recycling/ discarding them. 

 

Idea Validation

The Final Result

Conclusions and Forecast

I have thouroughly enjoyed learning about how I can use design to have a positive impact on the longevity of our planet.

WEEE is a pressing issue and I am glad to be aware of its impact for the development of my design career!

 

The outcome of this project looked at reclaiming and restoring tools to use in the communal tool lockers. While this is good, it is not the best option on teh Waste Heirarchy. To futher develop the idea, it would be interesting to explore designing a bespoke range of tools for use in the lockers. They would be designed to last, and companies would use a subscription based model to earn profit rather than relying on planned obsolescence to bring customers back. Using this model and looking at material and energy consumption, it would be in the companies best intest to make a product which lasts the longest. Sadly, the opposite is often seen in our day to day products.