(Archive) Rethinking Plastic

Dealing with plastic differently

Lampshades from agricultural waste. Plastic-like material based on human hair. And flower pots made from recycled bottle caps fished from the Amsterdam canals. With Rethinking Plastic in a surprising and stimulating way Yksi Expo shows how we can look at plastic differently and deal with this world's most maligned material in a different way.

The urgency of plastic as an environmental problem is clear, but at the same time we can hardly imagine a world without plastic. See the applications in the medical field, in the field of electricity, in cars and planes and in household appliances. So we have to start thinking differently about plastic as a material and dealing with it differently. Designers can help with that. With alternatives from renewable materials, or by such designs that plastic products last longer and can be separated better and therefore are easier to recycle. They can also think of ways to reuse plastic. And they can create plastic products with (emotional) value, which creates a different experience.

The urgency of plastic

The urgency of plastic as an environmental problem is clear, but at the same time it is hard to imagine a world without plastic. See the applications in the medical field, in the field of electricity, in cars and airplanes and in household appliances. So we have to think differently about plastic as a material and deal with it differently. Designers can help with that. With alternatives of renewable materials, or by designing in such a way that plastic products last longer and are easier to separate and therefore easier to recycle. They can also think of ways to reuse plastic. And they can create plastic products with (emotional) value, which creates a different experience.

Rethinking plastic program

Rethinking Plastic is an extensive program of more than two years at Yksi Expo with changing exhibitions, lectures, workshops and education programs. Students and young designers from various design courses are working on the theme of plastic. The surprising results of their projects can be seen at Yksi Expo. There are various design competitions that show their prize winners and the Rethinking Plastic house gives a look behind the scenes at what our house can look like with innovative examples of how we can deal with plastic differently.