trashure hunters
social impactThroughout my relatively short life- time I already approximately produced a mere 10 tons of ‚trash‘.1 As an average citizen of an industrialized country that’s normal. As a product designer, I’m not an average citizen anymore, but suddenly I’m the one who designs and invents what is soon-to-be ‚trash‘. By now, signs of human existence, symbols of our civilised world, can be found in the furthest corners of our planet (and beyond).
Looking back I can do nothing but wonder how it took me 23 years to stop considering walking- past-trash as normal. With the project trashure hunters I want to motivate people to become active, to convey knowledge about recycling and to connote the perception of trash in a new way.
Current assumptions estimate that between 4.8 and 12.7 million tons of plastic annually end up the oceans. It seems inconceivably much, but it’s a mere 0.6-1.5 kg per capita. So statistically speaking, we can halt the plastic flood by picking up what we find on a 10 minutes walk.
Every bar comes with an embossed serial number, that once entered on trashurehunters.org allows access to photos and information on the clean up location and thereby creates an emotional value for the owner.
