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:: Specific Design Brief PRODUCT DESIGN UK - ISSUES Apart from unsightly litter, plastic bags are responsible for widespread environmental damage. They are difficult to recycle, do not degrade, can damage wildlife and can be washed up on remote islands. They must be one of humanity’s worst inventions! Products have been designed that allow used plastic shopping bags to be used as bin liners and as ‘stuffing’ for bean bags. It’s possible that a re-use strategy might be developed following this line of thinking. A key development in the plastics field is BioPlastic --the production of plastics from grown materials such as corn and potato starch, and perhaps these provide some possibilities. Further details of these products can be found at the following websites.
http://www.nrf.org.uk However, biopolymers may not be the way forward. Before the introduction of throwaway plastic shopping bags, there were many durable designs. Perhaps, it is the convenience of just being able to drop into a shop without taking a bulky bag with you, which is the key factor? If so, there are new strong, foldaway materials available like those used for travelling towels. Perhaps shopping bags could be fitted into key rings or mobile phone cases or something most people carry. Or, perhaps there’s a better solution … something that could be kept in the boot of a car? Is this really such a hard problem to solve? Some issues that the design must address
• the design must be acceptable to the majority of shoppers so that it is an
effective alternative to throwaway plastic bags |
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