Understanding food waste systems to drive positive change in households
Project Overview
Design education is still a long way from making the circular economy one of its central teaching themes. This project aims to address the gap in circular design education and create a community of practice. I focused on connecting with other designers around the world, developing educational content on design strategies for the circular economy, and posting a series of design challenges to elicit circular thinking in designers.
Client
Academic project
Duration
Spring 2022
Methods
Systems thinking, Visual communication, storytelling
My Role
Design Strategist
Team
Lila Conlee
Pranjal Shah
Siyuan Teng
The challenge
Food waste is a threat to the environment, and households are the main problem
Food waste refers to food intended for human consumption that is never eaten and ends up in landfills or other waste destinations. According to the 2021 UN Environment Programme's Food Waste Index Report, approximately 17% of the total global food production may be wasted. This wastage not only burdens waste management systems but also exacerbates food insecurity and consumes valuable resources in its production. In 2019, around 931 million tons of food waste were generated, with households contributing 61% of the waste, followed by food service (26%) and retail (13%).
The opportunity
Social networks are spaces to address issues that design schools ignore
Designers use Instagram to explore topics schools don't teach, connect with like-minded people, and practice their design skills. And while there are initiatives that promote discussion about the profession and help designers practice hard skills like product visualization, there is an opportunity to talk about circular design and create a space where designers can practice and learn about it.
The goal
But how an Instagram community can create positive change?
Providing a space for creatives to learn and practice circular design is a way to get more and more designers interested in this topic and ultimately help them incorporate principles of the circular economy into their daily practice.
The initiative
Circular Designers, an online community for responsible creatives
Circular Designers is an Instagram account that promotes circular thinking in designers through discussion, practice, and education in circular design. By providing tools, workshops and weekly challenges to the community, Cicular Designers promotes design as a key tool to achieve a circular economy.
The growth of the community is a sign of the relevance of the project
Since its creation in March 2019, the community has grown satisfactorily and has become a benchmark for circular design.
