Ge Song
SEABOOK
How might we make the garbage classification experience for university students more motivating, efficient, clean, sustainable?
Seabook focuses on Beijing's garbage classification problem and delivers an efficient, clean, sustainable and motivating way for university students living in residence to do classification and make it a habit. It does this through a booklet that has “tearable” pages that students can fold to make small garbage bins suitable for different types of waste. What’s more, the design elements of each type of bin reinforce the garbage-classification system and motivate students on a subconscious level to repeat the behaviour. Finally, the bins are fully biodegradable and environmentally friendly. The primary raw material used to make each bin is seaweed, which is overgrown on China’s seashores, causing pollution. In short, Seabook not only helps people have a better experience with waste classification, but it also creates a sustainable recycling system.
Insight
From research, interviews, and observation, I summarized some important insights: first, behaviours and awareness gradually assimilate with people if those in their environment do not classify well. If not, then the value of their labour becomes lower and less meaningful, often causing them to give up. Second, hesitation or reminders before disposal enhance the rate of classification. Third, classification is a non-beneficial and unnecessary behaviour for individual to participate in, thus they are difficult to convince into changing this behaviour. Finally, the provided experience and facilities are inefficient, since plastic bags must be removed before disposing into the kitchen garbage bin, but this is a very messy, unappealing job.
Idea
The concept behind Seabook is to use seaweed-made material to make a playful, tearable, foldable, low-cost garbage bin set. It is meant to encourage users to dispose of garbage separately by using different textures, appearances, and featured materials for the bins. The bins for other garbage have more paper texture, so that when users dispose of wet kitchen garbage, they would subconsciously think this may soften and destroy the bin, and so dispose it correctly. When disposing, they do not need to worry about removing bags, since the bins are fully biodegradable. The project provides a clean, efficient, but also encouraging and sustainable method.
Impact
More people have now begun to recognize the significance of garbage classification. In Beijing, we have implemented this policy recently, however people would not follow the directives properly without long-term supervision. The classified garbage would have more uses, for example, kitchen garbage could become fertilizer while other garbage could be burned to generate energy. However, if they are not well classified, they would generate harmful gas when burned together or result in landfill disposal instead; proper classification from each person is the most efficient way. The material for Seabook is bio degradable seaweed, so the manufacturer would be environmentally friendly and create a sustainable cycle.
Biography
Ge Song is a creative Industrial Designer with a Chinese background. Having expertise in product and interaction design, Ge has a great interest in environment-friendly and innovative user experience. She focuses on designing products that will bring more convenience and humanity to end users, with a desire to make a strong contribution to society. Ge’s various handicraft and textile skills broaden her imagination, and enhance her products' material, form, and structure. With a strong interest in physical products, Ge has been looking for natural, interesting, efficient, practical and convenient methods of interaction between users and products. She believes that creating products that offer a unique tactile feeling and real interaction encourage a straightforward and elemental experience.