In the United States, more than 100 million plastic utensils are used every day, and they can take up to 1,000 years to decompose. With the rise of online food shopping and delivery, the demand for single-use plastic utensils keeps growing. Also, given the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, people nowadays prefer using single-use utensils to assure a high level of hygiene on tabletops. Apart from generating wastes, consuming plastics also creates many negative impacts on our planet, such as water pollution and wildlife endangerment.
We did some causal observations around the campus. We went to a Coffee Shop "Foxy Loxy" and observed how people use plastic utensils.
We designed a survey on the Usage of Plastic Utensils for people in the US. Here are some of the research questions:
We researched and analyzed newspaper articles, journals, scholarly sources, and videos to build a foundation of knowledge about the circular economy, and the plastic utensils use in the USA.
We designed a one-hour-long workshop and invited 4 participants to share their views and experience about plastic utensils. We also showed them existing utensils and different materials and got their opinions on them.
We grouped and cluttered all the data into different categories to find out any meaning correlations
We create different profiles for our interviewees to understand their user journey and feeling
We listed out the pull factors that can motivate people to use more reusable utensil. Meanwhile, we listed out the push factors that can discourage people to use plastic utensils.
Based on the level of feasibility and impact, we positioned all possible solutions and decided which one to develop further.
About the concept:
Build a website that allows customers to create their own utensils by themselves. It can provide the benefits below: