The world faces a climate and ecological crisis, and finding solutions to these environmental challenges has become a crucial topic in contemporary design. The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) unveiled the "Taiwan-Denmark Environmental Education Cooperation and Environmental Design Competition Exhibition" yesterday (31st). Winning entries from the "Environmental Care Design Competition" were exhibited at Taipei's Nishi Honganji Temple, along with entries from Denmark's Index Award.
The renowned "Ocean Cleanup Array" marine waste removal project was a recipient of the Index Award. The Environmental Protection Administration's "Environmental Care Design Competition," a competition themed on sustainability and innovation, was launched in 2015 and has been held for four years. The exhibition runs from now until February 5th.
The Index Award: The Nobel Prize of Design. Recent Winners Tend to "Co-create with Nature."
The Index Award, sponsored by the Danish nonprofit The Index Project, is known as the "Nobel Prize of Design." With a total prize of €500,000, it's the world's richest design award. Past winners and finalists include not only renowned brands like Tesla and Lego, but also numerous startups.
Charlotte Høeg Andersen, Education Director of The Index Project, stated that the renowned Ocean Cleanup Array, which won the Index Design Award in 2015, collects marine debris through ocean currents and floating booms. The project has entered development of its third-generation system and continues to collect debris from the Pacific Garbage Patch. The project aims to remove 90% of marine plastic waste by 2040.
The "Plastic Smoothie" project provides the public with a solution to "recycle plastic at home." As long as you have discarded PLA plastic, a blender, a small oven, baking paper, a laser cutter, and a mold, you can DIY it yourself to crush and melt the plastic into new products.
Anderson also observed that “in recent years, more and more designers are treating nature as a ‘co-creator’ rather than a ‘resource’. This strategy is particularly important for creating a regenerative society.”
For example, the 2021 award-winning BIOHM uses 300 fungal mycelium species to grow building insulation materials, which can be used in furniture, soundproofing, and other architectural elements. Because it's 100% biomass, it easily decomposes and returns to the bioprocess. Meanwhile, the 2019 award-winning Project Coelicolor leverages the pigment-producing properties of Streptomyces coelicolor, allowing the bacteria to grow directly on textiles or materials. This dyeing process requires no chemical treatment and uses 500 times less water than traditional dyeing methods.
Environmental Protection Department launches environmental design competition; past case study "Diapers Turned into Gold" successfully mass-produced
Since 2015, the Environmental Protection Administration has also organized a biennial "Environmentally Concerned Design Competition" modeled after the Index Project, sending winners abroad to compete in the Index Design Awards. These Taiwanese examples, along with recent Index Design Award winners, will be exhibited at Taipei's Nishi Honganji Temple from today until February 5th.
The Environmental Protection Agency stated that many of the winning entries from previous "Environmentally Concerned Design Competitions" have already reached mass production. For example, the 2017 first-prize winner, "Diapers to Gold," recycles dirty diapers into recycled materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and paper pulp. The 2019 first-prize winner, the "Vita Eco-Water Purification System," further addresses diaper-washing wastewater by using coating technology to transform microorganisms into solid particles, releasing several beneficial bacteria to optimize water quality.
Huang Sichun, one of the designers and a distinguished professor at the Department of Industrial Product Design at Chung Hua University, said in an interview that diaper recycling technology is already very mature in Taiwan. The demonstration plant in Dayuan, Taoyuan can process about 1 ton of dirty or NG diapers per day, and the new plant is expected to be put into use this year.
Furthermore, traditional oyster sheds often use styrofoam as floats. Typhoons often result in a large amount of discarded oyster sheds and styrofoam polluting the ocean. This led to the design of a new oyster aquaculture float, which won second place in the 2017 Environmental Care Design Award. The new float is made of polyurethane and features a retractable bellows that can be lifted and placed in the harbor during typhoons. It also incorporates a remote intelligent management system to minimize wear and tear.
The fifth annual "Environmental Care Design Competition" closed its submission deadline in November 2022. The top three and honorable mentions will be announced on April 21, 2023, and exhibited in Taiwan. The Environmental Protection Administration stated that the number of entries doubled from 513 in the first competition (2014) to 1,149 in the fifth. The top 20 entries will be selected on March 3rd of this year and nominated for the 2023 Index Design Awards.
Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/235997)
