Waste infrastructure is largely non-digital and resists mapping and datafication. Waste itself can be seen as material information, revealing of its creators, which is lost along with the material resources that are thrown away. Design and HCI can unlock this information.
Most people’s engagement with waste begins and ends at the domestic dustbin, with minimal consideration of what is wasted and where it goes. When aggregated waste practices have significant sustainability impacts. Digital technologies designed to raise awareness of environmental issues compete for our finite cognitive capacity with the demands of everyday life.
To address this challenge, this paper uses speculative design of domestic waste devices. These speculative ‘data objects’ build on work in speculative design, sustainable HCI, and waste infrastructure mapping. The aim of this pictorial is to provoke debate on digital technology’s ability to engage us with consumption and waste, resulting in behavior change and reduced environmental degradation.