Reporter
London’s Design Museum hosts an exhibition exploring design can do to tackle the critical problem of waste
Words by Emily Martin
Visitors to this exhibition at the Design Museum are invited to explore how designers are redefining fashion, construction, food, electronics, packaging and more by designing out waste, creating a more circular economy and showing what design can do to tackle the critical problem of waste and its environmental consequences across the globe.
Divided into three sections, visitors will be confronted by the epic scale of global waste: making the case for urgent change; learning about the raw materials used in everyday products; and viewing experimental designs that introduce a whole new world of clothing, products and packaging made from natural materials such as coconut, algae and corn husks.
In the ‘Post Waste’ section of the exhibition, the Bin Burger Project examines the problem of food waste. Image Credit: FELIX SPELLER
A timely exhibition, it is no less an eye opener. It shines a light on how mass production and our consumption habits contribute to growing landfills, and visitors will be able to follow their rubbish across the globe through a large-scale waste tracker. The exhibition examines how we arrived at today’s throwaway culture, one in which 80% of products are discarded within their first six months of life.
For innovation, visitors will see how sustainable materials are being used in fashion by Stella McCartney, Adidas and Bethany Williams; construction materials such as the K Briq by Kenoteq, which uses almost 90% less carbon than a regular brick; and new lives for plastic like the S-1500 chair by Snøhetta, made from discarded fishing nets.
For more information and tickets, see the website.
