INTRO

Single-use plastics are damaging our ecosystem. People know it but still do not take measures

We are surrounded by plastic everywhere, though it is harmful to our environment, we use them on a daily basis. It is one of the causes of ecological imbalance on earth. We dump approximately 1 garbage truck of plastic packaging in oceans per minute and it is said to increase by 2 in 2030.

SOLUTION

KEY RESEARCH INSIGHTS

People are unaware about their plastic footprint

I conducted the first round of interviews and a series of experiments to understand how people perceive living with plastic waste.

STRATEGY

I handpicked a target group, studied them and implemented a process in which the users were taken from start of the problem to end of the solution. I was inspired by the 3A’s strategy of language development. Metaphorically there were similarities in language learning and habit forming models, hence I incorporated the 3A’s strategy in this scenario to create a habit of carrying their own reusable alternative.

Making people aware of their plastic usage - Autonomy

I designed a pocket size tally sheet in the form of a business card that contains the tally of commonly used plastics and handed it over to 12 people. The target audience were students and young professionals as they tend to purchase takeout orders a lot. I received back the cards after a week and the observation was that people were starting to notice their usage patterns and realizing the problem.

Educating people about the plastic problem - Awareness

I created an audio-visual piece to bring awareness about existing single-use plastics and how their day-to-day usage is impacting at a larger scale.

Providing a way for people to take measures - Action

One interesting strategy considered for this purpose is using a model of peer pressure. It is known to compel people to do tasks that they generally tend to ignore. Another interesting strategy considered was providing small rewards for even less involvement drives them both intrinsically and extrinsically to further contribute to the cause.

DESIGN SOLUTION

A blue theme for admiring the oceans

The theme is inspired by the oceans as this project is about reducing plastic that is being dumped in oceans and in turn helping the sea creatures survive.

An app to get rewards, track your progress and compete with peers

The idea here is to build a mobile application that rewards users for carrying their own sustainable alternatives to plastics at take-out stores. Also, in order to make this a habit and maintain retention of the app, I made use of successful psychological models such as peer pressure, gamification and empathy to create a fruitful proposition.


Let's take an example of Wilson's journey:

An easy task flow to register items and track progress

SOCIAL IMPACT

Everyone's a winner!

The stakeholders involved are users and cafe/restaurant businesses. Everyone involved has a hand in contributing to the cause in their own way and still individually be benefited out of this app. Users would receive discounts just for using their own reusable alternatives whereas businesses would attract traction through the app and as well proudly announce that they support such a huge social cause.

NEXT STEPS