Our plastic problem

I studied marine biology during a study abroad in Puntarenas, Costa Rica, where I saw firsthand the devastating impact plastic has on our environment and ourselves. After returning to school, I felt energized to incorporate sustainability into my focus as a product designer. This led me to explore hands-on experiments with 3D printing, plastics manufacturing, and sustainable design to see how these concepts connect.

From water bottles to relationships, it seems like things are easily replaceable and disposable. This consumerist mindset is harmful, not just to the environment but to our lives as well. Through this project, I wanted to understand our relationship with plastic better, see what others are doing to address the issue, and find out how I could contribute as a designer.

Week 1: Plastic Collection

Over one week I gathered single-use plastic I came in contact with and kept track of my own personal use. It opened my eyes to the depth of the problem. I also gained understanding of recycling, and the greenwashing of that process.

So I started to bake

I took the collection and experimented with shredding then melting the #2 plastic. My goal was to create a useful product out of it, but I ended up heading down a different route as I did more research into bioplastics.

Bioplastics

I dove into research more about alternatives to plastic. I found some youtube videos that inspired me to create a batch of my own bioplastics. Since I could create these from scratch I attempted to pour the liquid into a 3d printed mold…

Model for mold

Cooled bioplastics & 3D printed mold

Successful failures…

Unfortunately I never yielded the desired part but these experiments helped me gain understanding of the manufacturing process and learning the benefits of bioplastics.