Sustainability
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To solve climate change, it’s not only what we eat, but how we eat

Eating less meat and reducing waste will require a major change in behaviour. Designers are starting to envision products that could help.

Eddie Hamilton & Katie-May Boyd
6 min read

It has been a year of unprecedented food crises. Record heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere have caused extraordinary droughts and wildfires. Grain stuck in war-torn Ukraine has led to extreme food shortages. Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has forced restaurants to close and families to skip meals just to make ends meet. Even before the events of this year, 10% of the global population went hungry.

So far, much of the conversation has been centered on altering what we eat . . . but what about how we eat? Food needs a rethink, and it’s not an easy task. When it comes to the sustainability challenges, the most privileged are the ones most significantly contributing to the problem. The U.S. tops the global food waste ranking, with roughly 30%-40% of the national food supply wasted annually. But with such privilege comes the ability to explore new technologies and interventions. Innovators are now exploring these challenges at a systems level, looking to find the right leverage point to create a scalable difference.

The future of your kitchen

At this year’s Milan Design Week, Swedish appliance brand Electrolux presented GRO: a conceptual future kitchen, helping users cook food that’s optimized for sustainability and nutrition. The science behind the project comes from the EAT-Lancet report, a global collaboration of world-leading researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability, and policy.

[Photo: Electrolux]

The report proposes the ideal diet, which balances planetary and human health and involves “doubling the consumption of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts and a greater than 50% reduction…of less healthy foods, such as added sugars and red meat.” Considering this is a huge shift in eating habits, the way we cook will have to change, which is exactly what innovations like GRO are helping to achieve.

The kitchen is comprised of nine different modular appliances, including some for fermentation, smoking, and algae production. The point of these appliances is to introduce new cooking processes to the home chef, where users can turn humble vegetables into eco-friendly meals with a depth of flavour; specifically, we are told, umami. A “Jewelry Box” refrigerator module showcases resource-intense ingredients, such as meat and cheese, in an aim to nudge users to buy high-quality proteins in smaller volumes.

[Photo: Electrolux]

We interviewed Tove Chevalley, head of innovation at Electrolux, who described how they use a behavioral science approach, like nudge theory, combined with collaboration from top chefs and users, in an effort to make “healthy and sustainable eating the preferred choice.” She explained how the project isn’t necessarily about new technology, but more about positively influencing behavior through designed interventions. Although this is currently a conceptual project, the work is already influencing real commercial products in their pipeline. For instance, the nordic smoker would transform plant-based food prep. Current options are largely only available in professional kitchens, or through fairly complicated devices. The Electrolux concept proposes a countertop option which, in an effort to elevate plant-based cooking, may be an upcoming product innovation.

Looking beyond the plate

Berlin-based “How We Eat” is an educational design project that hosts interactive dining experiences, with the goal of educating participants on complex food systems. Diners enjoy a five-course meal, with each round designed to make a food-based concept tangible. The first course of bread and butter, for example, demonstrates the degenerative nature of the wheat and dairy industries.

[Image: How We Eat]

As participants work their way through the meal, the courses and related discussions cover everything from organic farming to GMO, demystifying the jargon with tangible evidence on the plate, as they progress. Users learn of food systems, ranging from “degenerative” to “green” to the holy grail of “regenerative”—techniques that actively improve the ecosystems they depend upon.  

For many people, these topics exist in obscurity, somewhere beyond the supermarket. But crises such as the war in Ukraine and climate change are bringing new attention, as they have a very real impact on our lives. Ashley Scarborough, one of the designers of the experience, told us that the project isn’t “pushing an agenda or finger wagging”; it’s quite literally laying it out on the table for an informed discussion. As they scale up, the ultimate goal is to develop a database that links people seeking more sustainable diets to recipes, suppliers, and education. The designers have documented their approach so that others can follow the format of the dinners and host their own, spreading the educational messages far and wide.

Reducing waste

As mentioned earlier, the United States discards more food than any other country. This represents a colossal environmental toll and the economics are eye-watering, with $218 billion worth of food wasted each year.

[Image: Winnow]

Winnow is bringing AI to the trash can, with a smart food waste system. They’ve developed AI-based tools to track food waste in restaurant kitchens. This consists of a touch screen, mounted above a weight sensing bin, with some smarts in the cloud connecting it all up. The theory is that by accurately understanding the food waste leaving a kitchen, chefs can make better decisions to stop it becoming waste in the first place. It’s working—with the help of Winnow, IKEA UK saved the equivalent of 1.2 million meals in 2020, and Hilton Dubai saved $65,000 through reducing food waste.

[Photo: Lomi]

When it comes to food waste at home, we’re seeing an increasing number of solutions that compost food waste in 24 hours, so you can feed your plants and garden with nutrient rich material. The exciting thing about devices such as Nomi is that you can also compost bioplastics in the devices—a feature which is not currently widely available.

Eddie Hamilton is an Industrial Designer and Sustainability Lead at Seymourpowell. Katie-May Boyd is a CMF Strategist at Seymourpowell.

Sustainability
Sustainability
arrow icon
Return to LAB

To solve climate change, it’s not only what we eat, but how we eat

Eating less meat and reducing waste will require a major change in behaviour. Designers are starting to envision products that could help.

Eddie Hamilton & Katie-May Boyd
6 min read

It has been a year of unprecedented food crises. Record heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere have caused extraordinary droughts and wildfires. Grain stuck in war-torn Ukraine has led to extreme food shortages. Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has forced restaurants to close and families to skip meals just to make ends meet. Even before the events of this year, 10% of the global population went hungry.

So far, much of the conversation has been centered on altering what we eat . . . but what about how we eat? Food needs a rethink, and it’s not an easy task. When it comes to the sustainability challenges, the most privileged are the ones most significantly contributing to the problem. The U.S. tops the global food waste ranking, with roughly 30%-40% of the national food supply wasted annually. But with such privilege comes the ability to explore new technologies and interventions. Innovators are now exploring these challenges at a systems level, looking to find the right leverage point to create a scalable difference.

The future of your kitchen

At this year’s Milan Design Week, Swedish appliance brand Electrolux presented GRO: a conceptual future kitchen, helping users cook food that’s optimized for sustainability and nutrition. The science behind the project comes from the EAT-Lancet report, a global collaboration of world-leading researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability, and policy.

[Photo: Electrolux]

The report proposes the ideal diet, which balances planetary and human health and involves “doubling the consumption of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts and a greater than 50% reduction…of less healthy foods, such as added sugars and red meat.” Considering this is a huge shift in eating habits, the way we cook will have to change, which is exactly what innovations like GRO are helping to achieve.

The kitchen is comprised of nine different modular appliances, including some for fermentation, smoking, and algae production. The point of these appliances is to introduce new cooking processes to the home chef, where users can turn humble vegetables into eco-friendly meals with a depth of flavour; specifically, we are told, umami. A “Jewelry Box” refrigerator module showcases resource-intense ingredients, such as meat and cheese, in an aim to nudge users to buy high-quality proteins in smaller volumes.

[Photo: Electrolux]

We interviewed Tove Chevalley, head of innovation at Electrolux, who described how they use a behavioral science approach, like nudge theory, combined with collaboration from top chefs and users, in an effort to make “healthy and sustainable eating the preferred choice.” She explained how the project isn’t necessarily about new technology, but more about positively influencing behavior through designed interventions. Although this is currently a conceptual project, the work is already influencing real commercial products in their pipeline. For instance, the nordic smoker would transform plant-based food prep. Current options are largely only available in professional kitchens, or through fairly complicated devices. The Electrolux concept proposes a countertop option which, in an effort to elevate plant-based cooking, may be an upcoming product innovation.

Looking beyond the plate

Berlin-based “How We Eat” is an educational design project that hosts interactive dining experiences, with the goal of educating participants on complex food systems. Diners enjoy a five-course meal, with each round designed to make a food-based concept tangible. The first course of bread and butter, for example, demonstrates the degenerative nature of the wheat and dairy industries.

[Image: How We Eat]

As participants work their way through the meal, the courses and related discussions cover everything from organic farming to GMO, demystifying the jargon with tangible evidence on the plate, as they progress. Users learn of food systems, ranging from “degenerative” to “green” to the holy grail of “regenerative”—techniques that actively improve the ecosystems they depend upon.  

For many people, these topics exist in obscurity, somewhere beyond the supermarket. But crises such as the war in Ukraine and climate change are bringing new attention, as they have a very real impact on our lives. Ashley Scarborough, one of the designers of the experience, told us that the project isn’t “pushing an agenda or finger wagging”; it’s quite literally laying it out on the table for an informed discussion. As they scale up, the ultimate goal is to develop a database that links people seeking more sustainable diets to recipes, suppliers, and education. The designers have documented their approach so that others can follow the format of the dinners and host their own, spreading the educational messages far and wide.

Reducing waste

As mentioned earlier, the United States discards more food than any other country. This represents a colossal environmental toll and the economics are eye-watering, with $218 billion worth of food wasted each year.

[Image: Winnow]

Winnow is bringing AI to the trash can, with a smart food waste system. They’ve developed AI-based tools to track food waste in restaurant kitchens. This consists of a touch screen, mounted above a weight sensing bin, with some smarts in the cloud connecting it all up. The theory is that by accurately understanding the food waste leaving a kitchen, chefs can make better decisions to stop it becoming waste in the first place. It’s working—with the help of Winnow, IKEA UK saved the equivalent of 1.2 million meals in 2020, and Hilton Dubai saved $65,000 through reducing food waste.

[Photo: Lomi]

When it comes to food waste at home, we’re seeing an increasing number of solutions that compost food waste in 24 hours, so you can feed your plants and garden with nutrient rich material. The exciting thing about devices such as Nomi is that you can also compost bioplastics in the devices—a feature which is not currently widely available.

Indicators
Mireille Steinhage
Solar Empowerment

In an effort to bring renewable energy to those who need it, design graduate, Mireille Steinhage, has invented a self-heating, solar-powered blanket which is made from conductive yarn.

Studio Floris Schoonderbeek and Sweco
Local Food Systems

The Circle Farming project, from Studio Floris Schoonderbeek and Sweco, provides a comprehensive solution to bridge the gap between urban and rural food production. This community revolves around agricultural-circled fields and provides housing, nature, and recreation on the fringes of the green space.

Sunne by Marjan van Aubel
Designing with Sunlight

Sunne, by Marjan van Aubel, is a solar-powered, indoor light which stores, produces, and captures light. It harvests energy from the sun during the day: at night, it brings light inside.

Luma Arles Arts centre
No Space for Waste

Designed by Frank Gehry, the Luma Arles Arts centre in France has been clad with a progressive palette of locally produced, natural materials, including salt, algae, and sunflower waste.

Syntropia Re-FREAM
From Seed to Shoe

The Syntropia Re-FREAM project, initiated by Sophia Guggenberger and Eugenia Morpurgo, explores the regeneration of ecosystems through circular manufacturing, from 'seed to shoe'. The shoe's framework is unique, designed to be flexible and modular, made from bio-based materials harvested from one polycultural field.

Indicators
Nowhere
Combatting Inequity

A Metaverse meet-up platform has been designed to combat social inequalities which exist on other Web 3.0 platforms. Nowhere developers have designed the platform to remove barriers to access: you don't need an NFT or crypto wallet to join, thus reducing financial and technical requirements. The 3D voice chat feature increases the volume of a user's voice as they move closer to you, making contact more authentic and frictionless.

Soul Machines
The 'Digital Workforce'

Soul Machines is a personalized, AI-based simulation service with a Human OS platform. It features a patented 'Digital Brain' which helps deliver human and machine collaboration. It's designed to democratise the service industry, with digital 'people' placed in the WHO and New Zealand police.

SenseGlovel
Meta Touch

Wireless gloves from Dutch start-up, SenseGlove, let users feel the size, weight, texture and density of virtual objects when worn with VR headsets.

Institute of Digital Fashion
Avatar Representation

Research by Institute of Digital Fashion shows that people want more choices for diverse representation in online spaces. There are clear demands from consumers for: better accommodations (including text to accompany audio) and avatar customisation which takes into account bodily differences.

Indicators
Miele
Tech Repair

At the Salone del Mobile 2022, Miele's 'Longevity Lab' used an exploded installation to communicate the brand's inherited value around longevity. The brand celebrated their policy of keeping spare parts available for fifteen years after a home appliance is discontinued, encouraging everyone to care for and repair their home equipment.

Yamaha x ECAL
Reimagined Touchpoints

In a project with ECAL, Yamaha proposes an alternative approach to physical interaction with sound-play devices. Incorporating AI, live-streamed performances and ASMR, the students designed six new music players and accessories which offer a novel music listening experience, as well as physical appeal.

Paul Coenen
Mono Material

Paul Coenen folds a single sheet of steel to create furniture which is designed to be passed from generation to generation. The mono-material furniture and homeware collection offers superior durability through the use of stainless steel without the need for added coatings, adhesives or fasteners.

Disruptive Berlin
Anti-impulsive Consumerism

Disruptive Berlin offers its community an alternative lifestyle and perspective when it comes to consumerism. With an exclusive password-protected shopping area on their site and Instagram channel, they encourage consumers to question their potentially 'impulsive' decisions before buying new/ second-hand clothing.

Indicators
Bethany Williams
Stronger Together

Bethany Williams is building a practice that seeks to challenge the traditional fashion industry. From garments made from recycled book waste to collaborations with community projects, her work tackles social and environmental issues.

Yinka Ilori
Bright Spaces

Yinka Ilori opens his first a pop up retail store in Shoreditch. Featuring his signature colourful, bright motifs, the space is inspired by West African architecture and features his homeware products. The aim of the space is to explore how we can help customers connect, experience and discover.

Brothers Fearon Fabrication
Playful Furniture

Australian studio Brothers Fearon Fabrication creates funky and tactile aluminium furniture pieces, some with whimsical character faces, showcasing pure fun and enjoyment.

Modibodi
Menstruation for All

Modibodi's new All Gender Collection brings non-binary and transgender men into the conversation around menstruation. The campaign brings inclusive design to the forefront, through the LGBTQ+IA colour palette, and accessible design for all body types and genders.

Indicators
Jonathan Bocca
Curious Forms

Jonathan Bocca uses everyday materials (like paper) to craft strange animal-esque objects. Bridging the gap between sculpture and furniture, his otherworldly pieces take on a personality of their own, pushing the boundaries of traditional forms.

Strange Clay
Expect the Unexpected

Full of weird and wonderful delights, the Strange Clay Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery illustrates the tactile, sensual medium of clay and its endless possibilities: from fantastical creatures and uncanny representations of the everyday to expending the perception of ceramic objects.

Dopamine Land
Dopamine Land

A multi-sensory experience which combines media, technology and play, all in one place. It's an interactive museum which channels the limitless imagination of your inner child into reality.

Ka! Empathogenics
Edible Trips

Ka! Empathogenics are chews which are designed to help users handle moments of stress. It's the first ever natural empathogenic supplement, containing botanicals like Kanna, a South African psychoactive herb, which helps to boost energy, focus and creativity.

Eddie Hamilton is an Industrial Designer and Sustainability Lead at Seymourpowell. Katie-May Boyd is a CMF Strategist at Seymourpowell.

Sustainability
Sustainability
arrow icon
Return to LAB

To solve climate change, it’s not only what we eat, but how we eat

Eating less meat and reducing waste will require a major change in behaviour. Designers are starting to envision products that could help.

Eddie Hamilton & Katie-May Boyd
6 min read

It has been a year of unprecedented food crises. Record heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere have caused extraordinary droughts and wildfires. Grain stuck in war-torn Ukraine has led to extreme food shortages. Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has forced restaurants to close and families to skip meals just to make ends meet. Even before the events of this year, 10% of the global population went hungry.

So far, much of the conversation has been centered on altering what we eat . . . but what about how we eat? Food needs a rethink, and it’s not an easy task. When it comes to the sustainability challenges, the most privileged are the ones most significantly contributing to the problem. The U.S. tops the global food waste ranking, with roughly 30%-40% of the national food supply wasted annually. But with such privilege comes the ability to explore new technologies and interventions. Innovators are now exploring these challenges at a systems level, looking to find the right leverage point to create a scalable difference.

The future of your kitchen

At this year’s Milan Design Week, Swedish appliance brand Electrolux presented GRO: a conceptual future kitchen, helping users cook food that’s optimized for sustainability and nutrition. The science behind the project comes from the EAT-Lancet report, a global collaboration of world-leading researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability, and policy.

[Photo: Electrolux]

The report proposes the ideal diet, which balances planetary and human health and involves “doubling the consumption of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts and a greater than 50% reduction…of less healthy foods, such as added sugars and red meat.” Considering this is a huge shift in eating habits, the way we cook will have to change, which is exactly what innovations like GRO are helping to achieve.

The kitchen is comprised of nine different modular appliances, including some for fermentation, smoking, and algae production. The point of these appliances is to introduce new cooking processes to the home chef, where users can turn humble vegetables into eco-friendly meals with a depth of flavour; specifically, we are told, umami. A “Jewelry Box” refrigerator module showcases resource-intense ingredients, such as meat and cheese, in an aim to nudge users to buy high-quality proteins in smaller volumes.

[Photo: Electrolux]

We interviewed Tove Chevalley, head of innovation at Electrolux, who described how they use a behavioral science approach, like nudge theory, combined with collaboration from top chefs and users, in an effort to make “healthy and sustainable eating the preferred choice.” She explained how the project isn’t necessarily about new technology, but more about positively influencing behavior through designed interventions. Although this is currently a conceptual project, the work is already influencing real commercial products in their pipeline. For instance, the nordic smoker would transform plant-based food prep. Current options are largely only available in professional kitchens, or through fairly complicated devices. The Electrolux concept proposes a countertop option which, in an effort to elevate plant-based cooking, may be an upcoming product innovation.

Looking beyond the plate

Berlin-based “How We Eat” is an educational design project that hosts interactive dining experiences, with the goal of educating participants on complex food systems. Diners enjoy a five-course meal, with each round designed to make a food-based concept tangible. The first course of bread and butter, for example, demonstrates the degenerative nature of the wheat and dairy industries.

[Image: How We Eat]

As participants work their way through the meal, the courses and related discussions cover everything from organic farming to GMO, demystifying the jargon with tangible evidence on the plate, as they progress. Users learn of food systems, ranging from “degenerative” to “green” to the holy grail of “regenerative”—techniques that actively improve the ecosystems they depend upon.  

For many people, these topics exist in obscurity, somewhere beyond the supermarket. But crises such as the war in Ukraine and climate change are bringing new attention, as they have a very real impact on our lives. Ashley Scarborough, one of the designers of the experience, told us that the project isn’t “pushing an agenda or finger wagging”; it’s quite literally laying it out on the table for an informed discussion. As they scale up, the ultimate goal is to develop a database that links people seeking more sustainable diets to recipes, suppliers, and education. The designers have documented their approach so that others can follow the format of the dinners and host their own, spreading the educational messages far and wide.

Reducing waste

As mentioned earlier, the United States discards more food than any other country. This represents a colossal environmental toll and the economics are eye-watering, with $218 billion worth of food wasted each year.

[Image: Winnow]

Winnow is bringing AI to the trash can, with a smart food waste system. They’ve developed AI-based tools to track food waste in restaurant kitchens. This consists of a touch screen, mounted above a weight sensing bin, with some smarts in the cloud connecting it all up. The theory is that by accurately understanding the food waste leaving a kitchen, chefs can make better decisions to stop it becoming waste in the first place. It’s working—with the help of Winnow, IKEA UK saved the equivalent of 1.2 million meals in 2020, and Hilton Dubai saved $65,000 through reducing food waste.

[Photo: Lomi]

When it comes to food waste at home, we’re seeing an increasing number of solutions that compost food waste in 24 hours, so you can feed your plants and garden with nutrient rich material. The exciting thing about devices such as Nomi is that you can also compost bioplastics in the devices—a feature which is not currently widely available.

Eddie Hamilton is an Industrial Designer and Sustainability Lead at Seymourpowell. Katie-May Boyd is a CMF Strategist at Seymourpowell.

Sustainability
Sustainability
arrow icon
Return to LAB

To solve climate change, it’s not only what we eat, but how we eat

Eating less meat and reducing waste will require a major change in behaviour. Designers are starting to envision products that could help.

Eddie Hamilton & Katie-May Boyd
6 min read
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It has been a year of unprecedented food crises. Record heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere have caused extraordinary droughts and wildfires. Grain stuck in war-torn Ukraine has led to extreme food shortages. Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has forced restaurants to close and families to skip meals just to make ends meet. Even before the events of this year, 10% of the global population went hungry.

So far, much of the conversation has been centered on altering what we eat . . . but what about how we eat? Food needs a rethink, and it’s not an easy task. When it comes to the sustainability challenges, the most privileged are the ones most significantly contributing to the problem. The U.S. tops the global food waste ranking, with roughly 30%-40% of the national food supply wasted annually. But with such privilege comes the ability to explore new technologies and interventions. Innovators are now exploring these challenges at a systems level, looking to find the right leverage point to create a scalable difference.

The future of your kitchen

At this year’s Milan Design Week, Swedish appliance brand Electrolux presented GRO: a conceptual future kitchen, helping users cook food that’s optimized for sustainability and nutrition. The science behind the project comes from the EAT-Lancet report, a global collaboration of world-leading researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability, and policy.

[Photo: Electrolux]

The report proposes the ideal diet, which balances planetary and human health and involves “doubling the consumption of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts and a greater than 50% reduction…of less healthy foods, such as added sugars and red meat.” Considering this is a huge shift in eating habits, the way we cook will have to change, which is exactly what innovations like GRO are helping to achieve.

The kitchen is comprised of nine different modular appliances, including some for fermentation, smoking, and algae production. The point of these appliances is to introduce new cooking processes to the home chef, where users can turn humble vegetables into eco-friendly meals with a depth of flavour; specifically, we are told, umami. A “Jewelry Box” refrigerator module showcases resource-intense ingredients, such as meat and cheese, in an aim to nudge users to buy high-quality proteins in smaller volumes.

[Photo: Electrolux]

We interviewed Tove Chevalley, head of innovation at Electrolux, who described how they use a behavioral science approach, like nudge theory, combined with collaboration from top chefs and users, in an effort to make “healthy and sustainable eating the preferred choice.” She explained how the project isn’t necessarily about new technology, but more about positively influencing behavior through designed interventions. Although this is currently a conceptual project, the work is already influencing real commercial products in their pipeline. For instance, the nordic smoker would transform plant-based food prep. Current options are largely only available in professional kitchens, or through fairly complicated devices. The Electrolux concept proposes a countertop option which, in an effort to elevate plant-based cooking, may be an upcoming product innovation.

Looking beyond the plate

Berlin-based “How We Eat” is an educational design project that hosts interactive dining experiences, with the goal of educating participants on complex food systems. Diners enjoy a five-course meal, with each round designed to make a food-based concept tangible. The first course of bread and butter, for example, demonstrates the degenerative nature of the wheat and dairy industries.

[Image: How We Eat]

As participants work their way through the meal, the courses and related discussions cover everything from organic farming to GMO, demystifying the jargon with tangible evidence on the plate, as they progress. Users learn of food systems, ranging from “degenerative” to “green” to the holy grail of “regenerative”—techniques that actively improve the ecosystems they depend upon.  

For many people, these topics exist in obscurity, somewhere beyond the supermarket. But crises such as the war in Ukraine and climate change are bringing new attention, as they have a very real impact on our lives. Ashley Scarborough, one of the designers of the experience, told us that the project isn’t “pushing an agenda or finger wagging”; it’s quite literally laying it out on the table for an informed discussion. As they scale up, the ultimate goal is to develop a database that links people seeking more sustainable diets to recipes, suppliers, and education. The designers have documented their approach so that others can follow the format of the dinners and host their own, spreading the educational messages far and wide.

Reducing waste

As mentioned earlier, the United States discards more food than any other country. This represents a colossal environmental toll and the economics are eye-watering, with $218 billion worth of food wasted each year.

[Image: Winnow]

Winnow is bringing AI to the trash can, with a smart food waste system. They’ve developed AI-based tools to track food waste in restaurant kitchens. This consists of a touch screen, mounted above a weight sensing bin, with some smarts in the cloud connecting it all up. The theory is that by accurately understanding the food waste leaving a kitchen, chefs can make better decisions to stop it becoming waste in the first place. It’s working—with the help of Winnow, IKEA UK saved the equivalent of 1.2 million meals in 2020, and Hilton Dubai saved $65,000 through reducing food waste.

[Photo: Lomi]

When it comes to food waste at home, we’re seeing an increasing number of solutions that compost food waste in 24 hours, so you can feed your plants and garden with nutrient rich material. The exciting thing about devices such as Nomi is that you can also compost bioplastics in the devices—a feature which is not currently widely available.

Indicators
Nowhere
Combatting Inequity

A Metaverse meet-up platform has been designed to combat social inequalities which exist on other Web 3.0 platforms. Nowhere developers have designed the platform to remove barriers to access: you don't need an NFT or crypto wallet to join, thus reducing financial and technical requirements. The 3D voice chat feature increases the volume of a user's voice as they move closer to you, making contact more authentic and frictionless.

CES Page 07

Soul Machines
The 'Digital Workforce'

Soul Machines is a personalized, AI-based simulation service with a Human OS platform. It features a patented 'Digital Brain' which helps deliver human and machine collaboration. It's designed to democratise the service industry, with digital 'people' placed in the WHO and New Zealand police.

CES Page 08

SenseGlovel
Meta Touch

Wireless gloves from Dutch start-up, SenseGlove, let users feel the size, weight, texture and density of virtual objects when worn with VR headsets.

CES Page 09

Institute of Digital Fashion
Avatar Representation

Research by Institute of Digital Fashion shows that people want more choices for diverse representation in online spaces. There are clear demands from consumers for: better accommodations (including text to accompany audio) and avatar customisation which takes into account bodily differences.

CES Page 10

Indicators
Miele
Tech Repair

At the Salone del Mobile 2022, Miele's 'Longevity Lab' used an exploded installation to communicate the brand's inherited value around longevity. The brand celebrated their policy of keeping spare parts available for fifteen years after a home appliance is discontinued, encouraging everyone to care for and repair their home equipment.

CES Page 12

Yamaha x ECAL
Reimagined Touchpoints

In a project with ECAL, Yamaha proposes an alternative approach to physical interaction with sound-play devices. Incorporating AI, live-streamed performances and ASMR, the students designed six new music players and accessories which offer a novel music listening experience, as well as physical appeal.

CES Page 13

Paul Coenen
Mono Material

Paul Coenen folds a single sheet of steel to create furniture which is designed to be passed from generation to generation. The mono-material furniture and homeware collection offers superior durability through the use of stainless steel without the need for added coatings, adhesives or fasteners.

CES Page 14

Disruptive Berlin
Anti-impulsive Consumerism

Disruptive Berlin offers its community an alternative lifestyle and perspective when it comes to consumerism. With an exclusive password-protected shopping area on their site and Instagram channel, they encourage consumers to question their potentially 'impulsive' decisions before buying new/ second-hand clothing.

CES Page 15

Indicators
Bethany Williams
Stronger Together

Bethany Williams is building a practice that seeks to challenge the traditional fashion industry. From garments made from recycled book waste to collaborations with community projects, her work tackles social and environmental issues.

CES Page 17

Yinka Ilori
Bright Spaces

Yinka Ilori opens his first a pop up retail store in Shoreditch. Featuring his signature colourful, bright motifs, the space is inspired by West African architecture and features his homeware products. The aim of the space is to explore how we can help customers connect, experience and discover.

CES Page 18

Brothers Fearon Fabrication
Playful Furniture

Australian studio Brothers Fearon Fabrication creates funky and tactile aluminium furniture pieces, some with whimsical character faces, showcasing pure fun and enjoyment.

CES Page 19

Modibodi
Menstruation for All

Modibodi's new All Gender Collection brings non-binary and transgender men into the conversation around menstruation. The campaign brings inclusive design to the forefront, through the LGBTQ+IA colour palette, and accessible design for all body types and genders.

CES Page 20

Indicators
Jonathan Bocca
Curious Forms

Jonathan Bocca uses everyday materials (like paper) to craft strange animal-esque objects. Bridging the gap between sculpture and furniture, his otherworldly pieces take on a personality of their own, pushing the boundaries of traditional forms.

CES Page 22

Strange Clay
Expect the Unexpected

Full of weird and wonderful delights, the Strange Clay Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery illustrates the tactile, sensual medium of clay and its endless possibilities: from fantastical creatures and uncanny representations of the everyday to expending the perception of ceramic objects.

CES Page 23

Dopamine Land
Dopamine Land

A multi-sensory experience which combines media, technology and play, all in one place. It's an interactive museum which channels the limitless imagination of your inner child into reality.

CES Page 24

Ka! Empathogenics
Edible Trips

Ka! Empathogenics are chews which are designed to help users handle moments of stress. It's the first ever natural empathogenic supplement, containing botanicals like Kanna, a South African psychoactive herb, which helps to boost energy, focus and creativity.

CES Page 25

Eddie Hamilton is an Industrial Designer and Sustainability Lead at Seymourpowell. Katie-May Boyd is a CMF Strategist at Seymourpowell.

Sustainability
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It has been a year of unprecedented food crises. Record heat waves across the Northern Hemisphere have caused extraordinary droughts and wildfires. Grain stuck in war-torn Ukraine has led to extreme food shortages. Inflation and a cost-of-living crisis has forced restaurants to close and families to skip meals just to make ends meet. Even before the events of this year, 10% of the global population went hungry.

So far, much of the conversation has been centered on altering what we eat . . . but what about how we eat? Food needs a rethink, and it’s not an easy task. When it comes to the sustainability challenges, the most privileged are the ones most significantly contributing to the problem. The U.S. tops the global food waste ranking, with roughly 30%-40% of the national food supply wasted annually. But with such privilege comes the ability to explore new technologies and interventions. Innovators are now exploring these challenges at a systems level, looking to find the right leverage point to create a scalable difference.

The future of your kitchen

At this year’s Milan Design Week, Swedish appliance brand Electrolux presented GRO: a conceptual future kitchen, helping users cook food that’s optimized for sustainability and nutrition. The science behind the project comes from the EAT-Lancet report, a global collaboration of world-leading researchers in nutrition, health, sustainability, and policy.

[Photo: Electrolux]

The report proposes the ideal diet, which balances planetary and human health and involves “doubling the consumption of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables and nuts and a greater than 50% reduction…of less healthy foods, such as added sugars and red meat.” Considering this is a huge shift in eating habits, the way we cook will have to change, which is exactly what innovations like GRO are helping to achieve.

The kitchen is comprised of nine different modular appliances, including some for fermentation, smoking, and algae production. The point of these appliances is to introduce new cooking processes to the home chef, where users can turn humble vegetables into eco-friendly meals with a depth of flavour; specifically, we are told, umami. A “Jewelry Box” refrigerator module showcases resource-intense ingredients, such as meat and cheese, in an aim to nudge users to buy high-quality proteins in smaller volumes.

[Photo: Electrolux]

We interviewed Tove Chevalley, head of innovation at Electrolux, who described how they use a behavioral science approach, like nudge theory, combined with collaboration from top chefs and users, in an effort to make “healthy and sustainable eating the preferred choice.” She explained how the project isn’t necessarily about new technology, but more about positively influencing behavior through designed interventions. Although this is currently a conceptual project, the work is already influencing real commercial products in their pipeline. For instance, the nordic smoker would transform plant-based food prep. Current options are largely only available in professional kitchens, or through fairly complicated devices. The Electrolux concept proposes a countertop option which, in an effort to elevate plant-based cooking, may be an upcoming product innovation.

Looking beyond the plate

Berlin-based “How We Eat” is an educational design project that hosts interactive dining experiences, with the goal of educating participants on complex food systems. Diners enjoy a five-course meal, with each round designed to make a food-based concept tangible. The first course of bread and butter, for example, demonstrates the degenerative nature of the wheat and dairy industries.

[Image: How We Eat]

As participants work their way through the meal, the courses and related discussions cover everything from organic farming to GMO, demystifying the jargon with tangible evidence on the plate, as they progress. Users learn of food systems, ranging from “degenerative” to “green” to the holy grail of “regenerative”—techniques that actively improve the ecosystems they depend upon.  

For many people, these topics exist in obscurity, somewhere beyond the supermarket. But crises such as the war in Ukraine and climate change are bringing new attention, as they have a very real impact on our lives. Ashley Scarborough, one of the designers of the experience, told us that the project isn’t “pushing an agenda or finger wagging”; it’s quite literally laying it out on the table for an informed discussion. As they scale up, the ultimate goal is to develop a database that links people seeking more sustainable diets to recipes, suppliers, and education. The designers have documented their approach so that others can follow the format of the dinners and host their own, spreading the educational messages far and wide.

Reducing waste

As mentioned earlier, the United States discards more food than any other country. This represents a colossal environmental toll and the economics are eye-watering, with $218 billion worth of food wasted each year.

[Image: Winnow]

Winnow is bringing AI to the trash can, with a smart food waste system. They’ve developed AI-based tools to track food waste in restaurant kitchens. This consists of a touch screen, mounted above a weight sensing bin, with some smarts in the cloud connecting it all up. The theory is that by accurately understanding the food waste leaving a kitchen, chefs can make better decisions to stop it becoming waste in the first place. It’s working—with the help of Winnow, IKEA UK saved the equivalent of 1.2 million meals in 2020, and Hilton Dubai saved $65,000 through reducing food waste.

[Photo: Lomi]

When it comes to food waste at home, we’re seeing an increasing number of solutions that compost food waste in 24 hours, so you can feed your plants and garden with nutrient rich material. The exciting thing about devices such as Nomi is that you can also compost bioplastics in the devices—a feature which is not currently widely available.

Indicators
Nowhere
Combatting Inequity

A Metaverse meet-up platform has been designed to combat social inequalities which exist on other Web 3.0 platforms. Nowhere developers have designed the platform to remove barriers to access: you don't need an NFT or crypto wallet to join, thus reducing financial and technical requirements. The 3D voice chat feature increases the volume of a user's voice as they move closer to you, making contact more authentic and frictionless.

CES Page 07

Soul Machines
The 'Digital Workforce'

Soul Machines is a personalized, AI-based simulation service with a Human OS platform. It features a patented 'Digital Brain' which helps deliver human and machine collaboration. It's designed to democratise the service industry, with digital 'people' placed in the WHO and New Zealand police.

CES Page 08

SenseGlovel
Meta Touch

Wireless gloves from Dutch start-up, SenseGlove, let users feel the size, weight, texture and density of virtual objects when worn with VR headsets.

CES Page 09

Institute of Digital Fashion
Avatar Representation

Research by Institute of Digital Fashion shows that people want more choices for diverse representation in online spaces. There are clear demands from consumers for: better accommodations (including text to accompany audio) and avatar customisation which takes into account bodily differences.

CES Page 10

Indicators
Miele
Tech Repair

At the Salone del Mobile 2022, Miele's 'Longevity Lab' used an exploded installation to communicate the brand's inherited value around longevity. The brand celebrated their policy of keeping spare parts available for fifteen years after a home appliance is discontinued, encouraging everyone to care for and repair their home equipment.

CES Page 12

Yamaha x ECAL
Reimagined Touchpoints

In a project with ECAL, Yamaha proposes an alternative approach to physical interaction with sound-play devices. Incorporating AI, live-streamed performances and ASMR, the students designed six new music players and accessories which offer a novel music listening experience, as well as physical appeal.

CES Page 13

Paul Coenen
Mono Material

Paul Coenen folds a single sheet of steel to create furniture which is designed to be passed from generation to generation. The mono-material furniture and homeware collection offers superior durability through the use of stainless steel without the need for added coatings, adhesives or fasteners.

CES Page 14

Disruptive Berlin
Anti-impulsive Consumerism

Disruptive Berlin offers its community an alternative lifestyle and perspective when it comes to consumerism. With an exclusive password-protected shopping area on their site and Instagram channel, they encourage consumers to question their potentially 'impulsive' decisions before buying new/ second-hand clothing.

CES Page 15

Indicators
Bethany Williams
Stronger Together

Bethany Williams is building a practice that seeks to challenge the traditional fashion industry. From garments made from recycled book waste to collaborations with community projects, her work tackles social and environmental issues.

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Yinka Ilori
Bright Spaces

Yinka Ilori opens his first a pop up retail store in Shoreditch. Featuring his signature colourful, bright motifs, the space is inspired by West African architecture and features his homeware products. The aim of the space is to explore how we can help customers connect, experience and discover.

CES Page 18

Brothers Fearon Fabrication
Playful Furniture

Australian studio Brothers Fearon Fabrication creates funky and tactile aluminium furniture pieces, some with whimsical character faces, showcasing pure fun and enjoyment.

CES Page 19

Modibodi
Menstruation for All

Modibodi's new All Gender Collection brings non-binary and transgender men into the conversation around menstruation. The campaign brings inclusive design to the forefront, through the LGBTQ+IA colour palette, and accessible design for all body types and genders.

CES Page 20

Indicators
Jonathan Bocca
Curious Forms

Jonathan Bocca uses everyday materials (like paper) to craft strange animal-esque objects. Bridging the gap between sculpture and furniture, his otherworldly pieces take on a personality of their own, pushing the boundaries of traditional forms.

CES Page 22

Strange Clay
Expect the Unexpected

Full of weird and wonderful delights, the Strange Clay Exhibition at the Hayward Gallery illustrates the tactile, sensual medium of clay and its endless possibilities: from fantastical creatures and uncanny representations of the everyday to expending the perception of ceramic objects.

CES Page 23

Dopamine Land
Dopamine Land

A multi-sensory experience which combines media, technology and play, all in one place. It's an interactive museum which channels the limitless imagination of your inner child into reality.

CES Page 24

Ka! Empathogenics
Edible Trips

Ka! Empathogenics are chews which are designed to help users handle moments of stress. It's the first ever natural empathogenic supplement, containing botanicals like Kanna, a South African psychoactive herb, which helps to boost energy, focus and creativity.

CES Page 25

Eddie Hamilton is an Industrial Designer and Sustainability Lead at Seymourpowell. Katie-May Boyd is a CMF Strategist at Seymourpowell.

Sustainability