Creative process
Concept: Message ON a bottle
Plastic bottles are everyday items that are used for a short time before being thrown away, despite the fact that the material is much more durable. Their widespread presence in the environment has led to emergency situations, and the issue has become increasingly important to public opinion in recent years.
Starting from a problematic situation, it was decided to turn the characteristics of durability and reusability of plastic to our advantage through the implementation of a circular economy in which, through the active participation of the various entities involved, waste, when properly disposed of, returns to being a raw material.
In this sense, the bottle itself becomes the bearer of the message. The ‘message ON a bottle’ campaign aims to engage the whole of society. A simple action, such as disposing of a bottle properly, is essential to bring about real change.
Thus, the bottle becomes a symbol of something new and a possibility, as it can be given a new life by being transformed into something else and then something else again.
Implementation
Exhibit Design
Large events and trade fairs are ideal venues for conveying this message.
The idea was to give out small bottles of water at the start of these events and encourage visitors to come to the Plustic stand.
Once there, visitors could view infographics on the walls displaying data on the circular economy in Italy, the targets to be achieved and the progress made during the year.
Alongside the general data for Italy, there is also data relating to the trade fair itself and the number of plastic bottles that have been correctly disposed of during the event.
There is also a communication machine that can only be activated by returning a plastic bottle for disposal.
Once activated, the machine enables visitors to print a personalised message on their bottle, thus completing the cycle of the circular economy.
The machine
The machine was made from recycled materials [mostly recovered from old printers] with some components specially designed and 3D printed.
The software that controls it was written in C++ using the Arduino and Processing platforms.
