A green pickle-shaped plastic object with a button is promoted. “Batteries included.” So after the unpacking ritual, you can -maybe after you discarded the plastic and cardboard packaging- immediately enjoy the yodelling. “Hours of mindless entertainment.”
Design for Waste. Plastic, electronics, and batteries combined in a mindless product. Or we can buy a cute little umbrella, that clicks on your phone, against the sun. Or what about the little lights for on your crocs? Products with no real functional addition to your life. There are websites full of those. So there are also designers who apparently love to design waste.
But these are the easy ones to spot. On a more subtle level, we also design products with extra electronics, features and gimmicks, to give more comfort. Sometimes necessary, sometimes just for laziness. Because we can. So I don’t need to walk 2 meters to turn my light on. Don’t have to waste time in the morning as the coffee is ready when I wake up. I don’t have to change my alarm as I lay myself sleepy in my bed, as I have already done this sitting on my couch while watching tv. And no cleaning the soap dispenser because of dirty fingers, because the soap automatically drops as I put my hand underneath it.
Oh well, I don’t have that soap dispenser, the timer on my coffee machine is already broken, but I do love my alarm clock with all functionality and extra comfort.
And then comes Earth Overshoot Day on August 2nd. Would it be time to also think about which level of comfort we really need? How many extra electronics are necessary? Where is the tipping point? Not just for our choice whether we need an electronic version of a pepper mill, but also the tipping point of too much waste? “Great gift for the person who has everything except a yodeling pickle.”
In two weeks it is World Overshoot Day. Part is because we are designing waste. And I love comfort, the more the better, but I do have an uncomfortable feeling about it. So maybe we should, as designers, stop designing Yodelling Pickles?
