Plastic Century is a project documenting the increase in plastic production. Check out their recent installation, featuring plastic-filled water dispensers that visualize the amount of plastic produced from 1910 to the projected amount in 2030.

Plastic Century - photo by Mike Estee

Dirty White Trash (With Gulls), 1998

Their newer stuff is nice, too.

From the site description:

"Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money. Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition."

PET bottle recycled into a coin purse

• "Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away."
• "Unconsumption means... find[ing] a new home for the functioning VCR you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage."
• "Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition."

Old bathtub converted into chaise lounge

This is a philosophy Design Less Better stands firmly behind. Creating less waste and getting more use and enjoyment out of the things we have is a fine example of good design ethics.

To their advice about re-purposing and recycling used things, we would also add, from an earlier post:

• Instead of buying cheaply made things that will fall apart quickly, start by making an investment in quality design (and take good care of it!!).

Via.

I was confronted the other day by this image of a prosthetic seat for a broken chair. It made me think about all the broken things I’d tossed out or seen tossed out over the years and what a waste that was. Waste is a real concern of mine lately, both from a design ethics standpoint and an economic one.

Most consumer goods today are so cheap that repairing them hardly seems worth it. Things move so fast that there is inevitably something new and improved to replace it. The new thing is bound to be cheaply made, as well. The cycle repeats itself.

In a way, I suppose, these broken things help fuel the economic engine. People keep buying replacements and designers keep making them. This is, of course, terrible because it’s a tremendous waste of resources.

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