How Might We Raise Awareness About the Importance and Value of Re-cycling In A Social Housing Neighborhood?

Type of Work: Situating Social Design

Collaboration Partner: Provas (a waste collection agency)

Design Team: Xiaochu Chen, Sara, Basia, Lisa

WHAT?

This is a “home-sorting system” kit that aims to help residents raise awareness about the importance and value of recycling.

HOW?

By creating a playful and awareness-raising campaign to change residents’ behavior of recycling and sorting waste.

WHY?

Most of the residents are not sorting their waste. This has resulted in high costs for the waste collection agency "Provas" to dispose of non-sorting waste.

Discover

Field trip to Haderslev

Key points:

56.000 people in Haderslev kommune.
Residents mostly from the Middle East - Long term residents.
Sorting organic waste in 2023. Hopefully Haderslev in 2021.
Many different nationalities, who’re thinking different.
Residents broke into the containers.
There is no clear information in English on the containers.

Interview

“We should start at home to separate the waste. And the best way is sorting your waste at home.”

— Resident from Haderslev.

Define

Insights:

They don’t think recycling is their responsibility.
There are signs down there. But they are getting worn out.
People don’t want to open the bins, so they just throw it.
One of the biggest problems is they always put everything in one trash bag.
There is just one trash bin in their homes.

Ideas for raising awareness:

Meetings or workshops with the residents.
A campaign that raises awareness.
Simple “home sorting system“.
Funny, playful and attractive.

Deliver

A temporary campaign makes the start easier and support the residents from the beginning on. The leaflet gives an introduction in the campaign, how to use the kit and it shows some facts about waste.

A poster on the backside of the flyer, it’s a funny story, to keep the campaign in mind. Sticker and poster are longterm, as a reminder.

Keep the campaign alive

Make workshops, where we together with the residents, create optional bags out of their old clothes with matching prints. Create the feeling that they created something themselves, out of old things, which corresponds with the DIY theme.